Going back maybe 15 years ago, one of the instructors at the school I was doing my PPL at, took 2 weeks off work, printed out a stack of CVs and cover letters, and toured all the head offices of all the airlines, air taxi companies, etc and handed them in in person.
Towards the end of the second week, he was at the HQ for Loganair (IIRC), and asked the receptionist if she would pass this envelope to the chief pilot? “You can do it yourself, he’s over there by the coffee machine” she replied.
After introducing himself, and asking if he could be considered for any pilot jobs, the Chief Pilot had a browse of our intrepid aviators CV, asked how he was getting on as an FI, then said “can you start in two weeks? I’ve just had someone drop out of a type rating and I’ve got a gap to fill”.
Simpler times.