Every once in a while, I hear about some co-worker of mine who I knew or worked with, and found to be bad at their jobs — often, really bad, to the point where I felt they should have pursued other work, like underwater salvage diver — gets hired somewhere for some massive amount of money. Sometimes they’re great interviewees, and some people do well by hopping from job to job, but more than anything else, it’s a demonstration that the world is not a meritocracy, and we are all not rewarded according to our efforts.

And it’s not just that. It’s also that I know people who do good work, but who might not be good in interviews, or who aren’t good at finding and going after jobs, who would be better at those jobs. It’s unjust. And there’s nothing anyone can do about it.