Follow up: Just got a call from the hiring manager at a good opportunity that I'm getting an offer and that HR is putting a package together! It can happen! I just interviewed with her boss at the HQ (Euro company) this morning our time, so they moved quickly.
And when it rains, it pours. On Friday, I got a call from the hiring manager at another letting me know I'd hear within a couple days after today's holiday and to keep an eye on my phone. Not something you typically do, in the manner she said it, if they're going with the other finalist.
The former was through networking. I finally swallowed my pride and reached out to key people to grab coffee/a beer and to say that I was actively looking. Universally, the response was, "Why didn't you say something sooner? Let me pass your info around and put you in touch with x, y, and z."
The latter was through AI-assisted applying.
It really is a gauntlet out there, and you either need help from a person or AI. It's nothing like applying to the help wanted ads back in the day, I tell you that.