Big fish, small pond

In the late 70's there was a TV show called "Eight is Enough."  I wouldn't even remember that it was about a family with eight kids EXCEPT that the series title is helpful in that respect.

But I do recall seeing an episode whose narrative arc's punchline has stayed with me.

One of the elder brothers was a guitar player in a local (Sacramento) area band.  He got a dream opportunity:  A chance to audition for a big label recording session in Los Angeles (mecca for the music industry for decades).

He arrives slightly early for his audition, and hears the guy auditioning before him.  The other guy is "way better" than anyone our hero has heard in Sacramento.  And it turns out this guy has been auditioning around town all day, and not getting hired.

The moral?  Perspective.   Our hero was a great player in the Sacramento circuit.  And getting a single audition slot in L.A. was a big break.  Except that the competition easily outclassed our here -- both in musicianship and in access to endless audition opportunities -- and was not even employed, let alone a rock-n-roll superstar.

This is why experienced managers and HR professionals take a job candidate's self-reported prowess with a grain of salt until we have some context.  And this is why job titles at small revenue companies are often quite "inflated" from what they are at large revenue companies -- so you'll see a VP become a Senior Manager and vice-versa at times.

The best guitar player in a random middle America town MIGHT be the next Jimmy Page.  But for the other 99.99%, they're probably not even employable as a session musician in Los Angeles, circa 1980.