I wrote this on another list, as we talk about finding work, about
being overqualified and then being a bad fit among people who
socialize to the exclusion of meaningful work. Hard to get along
with people who are clockwatchers, who leave early because
they came in late (a joke I've used on co-workers who goof off).

Oh, I feel a rant coming on. Better quit while I'm ahead. <g>

People hire folks who are like them, who they like. Period. Folks
with connections, with pull, get hired regardless of qualifications.
Happens all the time. I'm reading about how Daddy Bush and
Baby Bush both were carried by the last Bush with a brain and
wit to use it (Prescott Bush, g'father to Dubya), and how everyone
wonders that either Daddy Bush or Baby Bush are considered
worth hiring by anyone at all! It's horrific, this book!

Next life, pick a family with connections to help launch a career.
Right, next lifetime! -Zer (the trick is to be a FRIEND to anyone
who has a job to offer -- and to your boss on any job -- for that's
all that counts, when accounts are tallied.<g>FRIENDSHIP!<g>)