Been there with gradients looking too math-y. Trick that helped me was pulling colors from an actual photo of a sunset, then sampling the hex values at random spots instead of eyeballing where stops should go. Also try adding a tiny bit of noise or grain over the whole thing, it kills that smooth digital look real fast. Comments that sting are usually the ones worth reading twice.

Getting in somewhere and working your way up beats sending resumes into the void any day. Back when I worked retail I started as a seasonal stock guy and moved into a lead spot in about a year, just because they knew my face and saw I showed up on time. People sleep on the inside track, but it works more often than folks want to admit.

Faxed signature" is the real tell here, since nobody under 40 even knows what that screeching sound means.