I donu2019t know about nationally, but i personally spend close to an hour per application, including tailoring a cover letter and resume for each specific position.For example, Liberty Mutual application might take a bit longer because of the different assessments integrated into the application. Other Fortune-500 companies might have psychological or problem solving assessments as well.As a recent graduate, i filled out 250+ applications, and received only 1 interview. Therefore, around 250 hours are wasted only on applications. (I spend 100+ hours to write a compelling resume and 50+ hours for a generic cover letter, which i later tailor to each position).Total: 400+ hours. If i spend 6 hours per day applying, then i wasted around 70 days. ( I havenu2019t found a job yet )I truly believe that if you run a regression model, then you will see that there is a positive correlation between the number of hours spent on job search and School Rankings. Better School = Less Hours RequiredBackground: Non-target 3.95+ GPA, Major: Finance, solid extracurriculars, good internships. My generic CV and CL were checked by industry professionals, so i donu2019t think it is the issue. The Issue is a non-target school and stiff competition in Boston area. I feel that at this point it is useless to apply without having a connection or referral in the company.