Imagine this: You get one too many condescending work emails and decide you've had enough, so you apply to half a dozen new jobs in the next hour. Not too hard to imagine? Rage applying, which went viral on TikTok earlier this year, is a fresh name for a familiar feeling: Being so exasperated with your current role that you rapidly apply to any relevant job you come across.

What makes the concept applicable for Gen Z workers, who feature themselves in videos depicting their frustration due to a missed promotion or unfair compensation, is how easy it is to apply for jobs online. A profile on most online job boards enables any job seeker to click a single button and send their resume to a potential employer. But that doesn't mean it's an effective way to blow off steam.

A 2022 ZipRecruiter survey of 2,550 US employees found that half of the respondents heard back from employers who eventually hired them within three days of applying. The other half of job applicants, who don't hear back quickly or get flatly rejected, must decide whether it's constructive to go through another wave of rage applying or, rather, apply for targeted positions—or even try to find happiness in their current role.