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I agree with what maerF0x0 says (best applicant), but wanted to add, that it's partly a marketing thing, a confidence game. If two equally good applicants present, one with self-esteem issues and one who says, with quiet confidence, "I know I can solve your problems and that you'll be happy with my work," then most people will hire the confident person. We're primates; social signal matter to us.

Also, you should consider whether you're experiencing the Dunning-Kruger effect. The way that people get good is by having high standards and then working to live up to them. As Ira Glass says, "Nobody tells this to people who are beginners, I wish someone told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple years you make stuff, it’s just not that good. It’s trying to be good, it has potential, but it’s not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase, they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn’t have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know its normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you will finish one story. It is only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I’ve ever met. It’s gonna take awhile. It’s normal to take awhile. You’ve just gotta fight your way through."

Keep fighting. You'll get better.




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