A referral is the only reason I have a job.
Spent a years getting rejected for roles that seemed a perfect fit at all stages of the hiring pipeline. These were from mostly cold apps and recruiter for jobs doing work aligning very closely with my past work, including trying to go back to a company that I had no issues getting into some years ago.
Ended up getting a referral at one place, hadn’t touched the tech they were using in years, or sometimes at all, had an awkward interview. I was just waiting for the rejection email, but what I got was a call extending an offer.