Well, my profession is a bit more esoteric than that, but the last time I was out of work I deliberately sent a bunch of applications to places that I knew would not hire me. I directed those applications as far into left field as possible so as not to waste people's time with more than a glance.
Why? Because I knew of every single opportunity in my profession within a 150 mile radius, and in the entire 4 months that I was unemployed there were exactly 4 openings, one of which I did get. The usual hiring timeline in my line of work is approximately 12 weeks from application to hire, and I was in the pipeline on three out of the four jobs. Unfortunately, my state's unemployment benefits rules required me to apply for a minimum of 7 positions per week in order to collect benefits. So, I just Monster'd my heart out to the tune of 7 bogus applications a week. I deliberately chose big companies that I knew used screening software, so that I had a fair chance at not wasting the time of any humans.
Your mechanic might have been doing the same thing.
