Apt remarks by philosopher Paul Schofield (Bates) on Twitter; a couple of highlights:
The ad is written with a specific candidate in mind, who the department intends to hire. That candidate is not you.
The department thinks you're too much like, or not enough like, the other members of the department (somehow, both of these are reasons for throwing out a candidate and you never know which it is when you send an application off).
There's another candidate on the market exactly like you and departments are picking between you and that person, perhaps arbitrarily or perhaps on the basis of some leg up that that person has. You are otherwise perfect, but this person's existence ruins your year/career.
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