Hard qualifications are only one component to be considered when hiring people. I've had a number of employees who are well-qualified but who are complete nightmares to work with; some bad enough that they've end up being let go due to personality problems.

Yes, that sounds like an extreme case, but even in the not-so-extreme cases - you need to be able to get along with others in order to work well. Not just get along, but get along well. Collaboration is a huge part of many professional jobs and if you just don't jive with the rest of the group, then you're not going to be able to reach your potential. Of those who leave their jobs within the first 6 months, over half of them do so because they just didn't feel like the company was a good fit for them. For professionals who have complex jobs that's a lot of training and getting someone up to speed down the toilet only to have to do it all over again.

This is why most interviewers will do their best to assess fit as well as skills. This is not discrimination unless your race, religion, gender is the *only* reason you aren't hired. I've turned away highly qualified people because I knew they were going to fall apart in our mayhem because he needed a lot of structure to his work. Another team at my company hired him and he was a complete flop - despite having great qualifications.

Another thing to consider is if someone is overqualified. I've had lower level jobs that I would not hire a senior person to do because they would be so bored with the job in a few months and leave.

As for your other points:

1. In order to leave an impression on your boss, you'd have to be first noticed. I guess I'm not getting what you're saying here.

2. If by "qualifications" you mean only hard skills and not soft skills, then yes, this is absolutely true and it's the way it should be.

3. If you think you've been discriminated against due to your race, gender, religion, then take it up with the right authorities. If you think they just didn't like you and thus discriminated against you, then that's not discrimination at all - that's making a decision based on their own feels (and very possibly there's valid reasons they don't like you).

4. Be more assertive. If you haven't heard from them give them an extra 24 hours then give them a call. People are busy and unorganized, and sometimes are just plain rude. There's no reason you should be left without an answer one way or the other though.

5. If you missed a scheduled phone interview then it makes sense you were out. If you mean they called once to set up an interview and you missed that call, why aren't you returning their call promptly? There's no reason this should take you out of the running unless you don't have any way to take messages (i.e. no voice mail, no one answering the phone).

As for your uncle, the degree is now worthless. Any degree not used in a professional context in 2-5 years isn't worth the paper it's written on. If he's applying for engineering positions he needs to find a way to get his stills and knowledge more up to date. If he's applying for non-engineering jobs he should dumb down his engineering experience lest he appear too qualified. But to not have been employed in any fashion for nearly 30 years? On any application that's a huge red flag as there must be something seriously wrong with this applicant.