Na-Na, Why Don't You Get A Job?

Have you ever applied for a job that seems like a little bit more than you would like to take on? I threw my name in the ring for a couple of them back at home. The jobs are at Stanford and Berkeley so that means a ton of people applied for them. Also, the reviewers will certainly get a chuckle out of my six months worth of experience in student services. Otherwise, my application was dynamite. I got all philosophical in my writing sample where they asked for the components I would include in a leadership training program for students. To justify conflict management training, I wrote:

Conflict management is another vital component because public service is seldom done alone, and good teamwork is necessary for a group to have success. Virtually no group conducts itself entirely free from disagreement, but student leaders must be able to act as moderators, diplomats or even confidants so that the completion of the service goal and group mission remains both the focus and the result.

Huh? HUH? Is that too dull? I think it's something that would interest the application review committee. Anyway, there's two pages of that stuff so we'll see if I at least get an interview out of it. Watch me have to eat my words when I get one of those "The position has been filled" emails instead.

Anyway, back to the point...what does one do if offered a job that's a bit of a reach for him (Governor of California)? Perhaps the credentials are solid on paper but the practical experiences just don't add up to enable the person to perform well (General Manager, New York Knicks). Do you decline after going through all of that trouble? Or do you accept the job and stumble embarrassingly through it? I won't worry about it, as it probably doesn't happen that often. Plus, if it were really, really out of my league I wouldn't have bothered.