But who will bell the cat?

Ask The Headhunter's has a series on his $30,000 strategy. If I may summarize: quality, not quantity. Don't send your resume out to 400 companies and hope you get a hit. Instead, spend that time finding the one job you are perfect for, make yourself more perfect, and spend the interview demonstrating your perfection. It sounds like a great strategy, if you happen to have enough information to know exactly what they want, the skills that match up to that want, a lack of competition in that area, and the power to make them interview you the way you want. If you lack any of those...good luck.

So 99% of the population, even in high demand fields, will have to aim a bit lower. I'd love to skip the stage where HR asks me whether I'm good with people, but I'm not the one with the power in this situation. And not everyone has the contacts to get good intelligence on several companies, or even one company. I didn't have two personal-contact-based job to rub together, and he wants me to find their five year business plan and how I can shorten it to four years?

I think do think that the mindset he recommends is a good one: you are not trying to get them to give you a job, you are demonstrating your ability to the job. This starts with the resume and cover letter: personalize (corporatize?) them for the job you're applying to. Brush up on the relevant skills if possible. Go in ready to demonstrate your ability to do it. But have an answer prepared when they ask you what your biggest weakness is too.