Managers involved in recruitment can be very smug. Sometimes they haven't even thought of a candidate profile at all but merely go on some personal whim of their own. The outcome may be that a poor fit between the job and the capacity of a new starter. They may be too good for the job, not capable of doing it or simply the job is ill-suited to their needs and interests. We may apply invalid, irrelevant criteria which applicants from, say, female or particular ethnic groups, are less able to satisfy.
Discrimination can be direct or indirect.
In January 1997 Ford UK was found to have discriminated against non-white applicants who wished to take up employment as Ford delivery fleet drivers. The drivers were predominantly, if not all, white. Recruitment from this restricted group served to deny open access to others. Non-white employers of Ford who wished to have opportunity to become drivers brought and won a claim for indirect discrimination arguing exclusion rather than rejection.