Made a similar comment above, but that was entirely true for myself. I have worked on amazing things as we all have in life, petabyte databases, and just the most incredible setups.

But when it comes to an interview, I cannot get a job several levels below my own (without referrals).

With referrals, I am offered the moon and the stars, complete pick out of a tremendous number of amazing jobs.

But any random interview, and I totally bomb it. I wonder how many out there are like that as well. It feels rather strange from my perspective, but maybe it's fairly normal?