Not a waste of time

I just spent 3 whole hours applying for positions that I felt I qualified for. There are still more that I need to apply to, but I'm exhausted. My head hurts. My eyes are weary. I'm a tad bit frustrated with my employment luck. Back in November, I applied for the position of legislative associate. The firm is organized very much like where I am currently interning at. I never heard from them. I recently checked their website. When I applied, I thought for sure I was going to nail the position. I had the education and skills. I knew how to interact with the key people. I knew all the right lobbyists and staffers. I had everything that would have enabled me to get the job. Apparently not. When I checked the organization's site and saw who ended up getting the job as a legislative associate, I was baffled when I read the biography of my competition. This person dropped out of college after 3 years and had been working as an office administrator in construction for 15 years. Now where in the bio did it state this person's connection with Capitol staffers or their experience in education policies? Or how about knowledge in legislation? None. HUH?! How did this person get hired over me? I'm so confused and irritated.