I said what I said.
A number of times, I have reached the stage where my resume meets initial qualifications then gets reviewed by the SME (subject matter expert) and doesn't pass. It's never for something where I am way out of my element. Quite the opposite. For example, I applied for a position within my own organization and had this happen. I am an environmental engineer for a medium-size city and was previously managing a stormwater permit for a nearby city. Stormwater dynamics are intimately associated with vegetation/land cover. We use it as a variable in hydraulic&hydrological (or H&H) modeling. When I worked for a water and sewer utility we did this as well. I spent three years as a riparian botanist on a Superfund project doing this and coordinating riparian restorations as part of the remediation.
Yet I apply for this and get rejected. Meanwhile, my state outright includes urban forest management as a compliance and reporting element within the permits I have been managing for for almost 10 years now. I have been the person setting up and running the GIS tools for this shit. Even more, I'm a hydrogeologist and engineer. Kind of critical to understanding the soil and water processes supporting the green leafy stuff above it.
And of course, they claim to embrace “diversity, equity and inclusion” as an organization. Yeah sure. Until it comes to hiring. Then they can't see past the way they've always done it, or the quals of the last guy in the position. Real growth mindset there.