> I have virtually no self confidence and esteem even about things I know well and am passionate about. I can have a hundred people say positive things and one person can come along and put me down and he will be the one I dwell on and believe. I wrote this and some other things lately that I knew I'd hear about but my passion about it insisted I write it. I just have a hard time dealing with the negative.

I saw those two comments as being more reactive than on point, more about their own experience in a different direction than so much a comment on you. They didn't quite get that you don't meet the employer, it seemed. It was really about them, not about you. Sometimes it feels really good to be able to draw that line and not take things personally. (Not saying it's always easy or I always do it right.) So, just another way to look at it that can be self-protective.