Location! Location! Location!

The recent Business Insider article about remote roles getting “flooded” with applications is not surprising, but it does contain a useful signal for job-seekers: where there is the biggest pool, there is also the stiffest competition.

Remote work widened the market overnight which is great for options, harder to rise to the top. When proximity to a location is removed from the rubric, resume stacks swell and recruiters triage with blunt instruments. When a single role is getting 1000s of applications, no team can reasonably get through all of them and that makes it harder to get noticed, slower to advance through screens, more likely for great candidates to get lost in the shuffle, and lots of ghosts everywhere.

If your goal is to find a job sooner rather than later, one practical lever is flexibility in where you’re willing to work. Specifically: consider hybrid or local, in-person roles as part of your search strategy.

Why this works

Considering hybrid or fully in-person roles can help you stand out in a number of ways:

• Smaller, more local applicant pools. Many companies still prefer candidates who can come into an office regularly or live within a reasonable commute. That preference narrows the candidate pool considerably because while the work isn’t better, the geographic filter excludes large swathes of remote applicants. Fewer applicants means less competition and a higher chance your application will be reviewed thoughtfully.

• Faster hiring decisions. Hiring managers who need someone in the office often move quickly: the urgency of maintaining day-to-day operations and team coordination pushes interviews and offers through faster than the slow grind that can accompany fully remote searches. Also, if the hiring team is serious about being in the office, that is a quick tool to remove a lot of candidates from contention.

• Easier to demonstrate fit. Culture fit and working style are easier to evaluate when teams can meet you in person. A short in-person meeting, a tour of the office, or even an informal coffee with a future teammate can accelerate trust in ways a video call sometimes cannot.

• Local networks have influence. Job leads don’t only come from job boards. Local meetups, alumni groups, and in-person networking events remain powerful channels that aren’t as effective for fully remote seekers. Showing up locally gives you access to those conversations.

How to make it work without giving up flexibility you need

Your life for many years now likely has been built around the fact that you haven’t had to go into an office. Finding the right role with the right circumstances to succeed is really important.

1. Be explicit in your search filters
   • Look for jobs that specify “hybrid” or “onsite” and include a commute-time or ZIP code filter when possible. Use job search sites’ location tools (or advanced search operators) to find roles within a 30–60 minute commute.
2. Signal flexibility on your resume and profiles
   • Put a short line in your cover note or LinkedIn headline like: “Open to hybrid / in-person roles (San Francisco Bay Area)”. This reduces recruiter friction and puts you in the right bucket.
3. Prioritize a short commute over a slight pay bump
   • A $5k/year pay delta is less meaningful than the speed and certainty of landing employment sooner. If your priorities allow, favor roles that reduce friction in the hiring funnel.
4. Use in-person interactions as an advantage, not a concession
   • Treat an onsite interview or coffee chat as an opportunity to learn about the role and demonstrate your working style. Bring thoughtful questions about team rhythms and how the office is used — hiring managers notice candidates who care about how work actually happens.
5. Negotiate for hybrid flexibility later (but not too late)
   • If you need remote days for caregiving, health, or deep-focus work, understand what the organization and hiring team are looking for. If you think there will be issues with what you need, bring them up sooner than later because they can non-starters for a new role. However if you think there is flexibility on their side, then negotiate a rhythm after you’ve proven impact. Managers are much more likely to bend on schedule for someone who’s already delivering.

When remote still makes sense

There are excellent reasons to prioritize remote-first roles: caregiving responsibilities, living in an area with fewer local opportunities, access to specialized roles, or simply a preference for location independence. This advice isn’t a condemnation of remote work, but a tactical suggestion for people who want to shorten their job search horizon.

The hiring market is noisy. The Business Insider article is a useful reminder that supply and demand are uneven and sometimes the best move is geographic: broaden to remote only when it’s a clear fit; narrow to hybrid/in-person when speed and visibility matter. If you’re actively searching, try expanding your radar for local hybrid roles for a couple of weeks and see how the response rate changes. You may find a faster path to interviews, offers, and most importantly a role where you can start making an impact sooner.