Ell, There are many who can reply to this topic i believe depending on their own experience, It all depends how you look at the things, In some cases or organizations it may be right that some NUTS are sitting at the top, but everywhere its not the case. Certainly not where I work, A bunch of exteremly skillful people working together are we, and sometimes it is not all about qualifications its about experience too.
I think it all comes down to the definition of "Suitable Candidate", "Qualified", Exceptionally Good",
In one's opinion you/I could be all of the above and in the other glance we could be nothing....
thats all I have to say.