I don't know anyone hired in the last few years that didn't do a career fair or have a recommendation sent to pilot hiring. Every single one had their app scored from one of those two methods. I haven't heard of anyone that got an invite out of the blue.

In my case I had my app in for years and heard crickets. I met with recruiters at a career fair and got the interview invite 11 days later. Nothing changed drastically over the previous year except for more TPIC.