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    MrPendentAndy Orin
    9/22/16 5:08pm

    I had read an anecdote about an editor of a science fiction magazine getting offended when a con attendee said, “Yeah, I write. But it’s not good enough for your magazine.” The editor said, “Who are you to decide what goes in my magazine?”

    When I was out of work right after college, I saw a job in the paper that I was in no way qualified for. But I sent in an application anyway, then went to take a nap. Ten minutes later I got a call to interview. Then I got the job and I have been with this company for 15 years this past June (although I am posting this from work so....)

    Not only is it not your job to say no, you should make that guy who does have that job earn his money.

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      Rule-Breaking MothMrPendent
      9/22/16 5:42pm

      That’s so awesome.

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      MattMrPendent
      9/22/16 5:52pm

      you should make that guy who does have that job earn his money

      I love this so much.

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    AnnaAndy Orin
    9/22/16 6:55pm

    “Make them tell you that you’re not qualified.” Words of advice from a former boss and mentor. I was always afraid to apply for other jobs because I didn’t meet all the qualifications. His logic was that they always write the job descriptions for the perfect candidate, but would evaluate the applications knowing the perfect candidate didn’t exist. I might as well toss my hat in the ring.

    This is the same boss who would ask me when I was going to “go to school so you could get out of here and get a real job.” He was sorry when I finally took his advice on that one!

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    Rule-Breaking MothAndy Orin
    9/22/16 5:41pm

    I was the queen of self-sabotage for sooooooo long. I was raised to be such a perfectionist that in my mind I was better off not even trying if I couldn’t guarantee perfection or 100% success than risk possible failure. I still have instances where I fall back on that mentality but fortunately I have an incredibly supportive husband who is well aware of my history. Blame it on a mother who would constantly berate me if I brought home an A instead of an A+ and constantly being told that second best might as well be last. I also had a huge problem taking a yes, always being far too self-deprecating and discounting my abilities. We limit ourselves so much in life and spend so much time regretting or wondering what-if.

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    alterno2k7Andy Orin
    9/23/16 5:29am

    I will attest to this.

    I come from what you could describe as a developing country, with well over 100 million people in it. When I was studying my bachelor degree, a professor summoned the students with top marks to his office and told us that some fully funded scholarships were available to study in a good american university (fully funded as in room and board + a decent chunck of money for airfare and personal expenses). He wanted us all to consider applying for said scholarships.

    While I was one of the better students in my faculty, there were only 9 scholarships available and my university alone hosted 60 thousand students. I thought there was no way I could actually be selected. I remember thinking: “Isn’t this type of scholarship supposed to go to math geniuses with photographic memory? Of course there are many of those in a country as large as mine, and for sure they are also applying”.

    Long story short, I got pushed to apply by my professor and was the only one who ended up applying. After some language exams and a round of interviews I was selected. That moment completely changed the course of my life, plus showed me that most people don’t bother trying things when things sound somewhat far-fetched. I am sure my toughest competitors didn’t even bother applying.

    I did it once again for grad school and got a full ride in one of Europe’s leading schools - DO NOT SELL YOURSELF SHORT. Your competition is most likely chickening out (surprisingly).

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    Drone820Andy Orin
    9/26/16 9:51am

    Thank you for this. For a long time now, I’ve been wanting to make a career change and other changes, but have this perfectionist streak to me that often halts me. This is exactly what I need to remind myself to just start anyway.

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    UnreallysticAndy Orin
    9/23/16 8:33am

    This is pretty accurate, I’m fighting it now as a musician who’s changed genres and is doing genre bending...I’m like “it’s not good enough yet - people will turn their nose up and never give it a second chance”. However I’ve come to realize that I need the “public reps” to help mold my vision better, so the solution is to “do something”, even if small bits, teasers, proofs of concept, just to keep movement until I’m comfortable enough.

    But I lived most of my life telling myself “no” prematurely, once I hit my late 20s I started to get the old man “f#ck it” attitude, and its helped alot.

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