I think about the applications I've made in the past, and their outcomes has either hinged on a coin flip, I was the only applicant, or because I already knew the guy from another guy.
Don't take it too personally, just keep flipping those coins and (I dread to use this word) "networking".
> Don't take it too personally, just keep flipping > those coins and (I dread to use this word) > "networking".
Me too on the dread. People tend to be such that 'networking" really means "schmoozing" - if not "conning".