[djm]

I agree with what you're saying. A person's direction in life can change at any time and it's unfortunate that people judge and discriminate so carelessly.

They are acting rationally though. Take, for example, your anecdote about your friend's employment difficulty. The employer is just trying to get the best person they can for the job. They can't realistically predict future performance of the person they hire so they just rely on credentialism and base the decision on past performance/qualifications in the hope that a person who performed well in the past will continue to do so.

[singular]

Sure, and it's understandable given the number of CVs companies have to filter through, especially the more desirable places - there has to be some way of filtering through.

I think it's very important to highlight that these judgements aren't etched in stone, though, it's a point which is lost in that phrase, hence me not being a huge fan of it.