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I remember a friend, who went to a top-10 University, got A* all his life and did thorough research on the companies he was applying to, yet he would always miss out on jobs, to people who were seemingly weaker on paper.

An employee is more than their resume. Even if someone has high academic marks and top qualifications, if they're bad at communicating, personally unpleasant, or a poor fit for the company culture, they may be passed over for someone with a less impressive resume. The fact that someone aced all their exams at a top school does not necessarily mean they will be a good employee at any company they apply to.

I remember a friend, who went to a top-10 University, got A* all his life

I have that friend(s) too. Here are somethings I've noticed that have really hindered him in his professional life

No/Little ability to self-evaluate - This friend continually makes the same set of mistakes. Speaking in terse sentences and forcing teammates to play 20 questions to determine what he means; doing group projects in odd languages like Scala that no one else knows (someone else would re-write); and going off on odd tangents every conversation.

Not getting summer internships to build his professional skills - He took college courses instead of working during the summer. There are other students with the same GPA that have professional experience. They'll get chosen over him.

Can't handle critical feedback - When I brought up several of these issues with him. He argued with me about how it was a waste of time to not be as terse. That Scala is the wave of the future, etc. I didn't bother trying again.

Calling/Implying other's are idiots - He said "That's just stupid" on multiple occasions. He also didn't offer a better idea. Linus Torvalds has realized he can't do this with impunity, this guy didn't.

Most recruitment processes... aren't very good (to use a euphemism).

There's plenty of research on recruitment practices, which shows which practices are effective and which aren't. Still, most companies chose to use horrible techniques.

There are several reasons for that but the most important one is probably that most people tend to "believe their guts" more than objective factors. The problem is "guts" are irrational. E.g. research shows we like - and tend to employ - people that are similar to us. This is a natural thing, but it can be and frequently is counterproductive on the level of the whole organisation, where the people like us don't need to be the people our organisation needs.

Another thing is, people tend to assess extroverts ("charming people") as more attractive and desirable.

This article summarises some problems with job interviews. There are many more.

As a result, the process frequently fails to deliver the objectively best candidate.

However, the fact that hiring managers and HR aren't normally accountable for their recruiting failures (because it's virtually impossible to prove the decision was wrong) doesn't really motivate them to learn and improve.

It's not just about how good somebody is on the theory side of things, it's also about how well they can integrate into a team.l, how well they can communicate with the team, what kind of personality they have, etc.

Not to mention that just because somebody knows the theory doesn't mean they can use it practically or effectively.

Because they are charming!!

Even stupid Dogs are liked better them smart Cats, because Dogs are loyal and fun, and cats are A-holes. Who would you rather spend you day with a loyal an fun Dog or an A-hole cat?!

This is a common issue among newly grads. I sort of - kind of blame schools for not properly preparing students for the "real world." After all we go to school to eventually get a job in the same field.

Anyway, a lot of students simply go to the school, do the work, then when they graduate realize their perfect grade meant nothing because they did nothing. They simply did their work and that was it. Only thing they have on their resume is a good grade. Is that good enough? It only shows you're able to do work that has a known solution.

So your friend would need to practice interviewing. Being able to show understanding and how to articulate that to the interviewer.

Hiring managers are people too. When you pick a computer, you want to get the best one you can afford. When you pick someone to work with you, you want someone qualified but you also want someone you like being around for 8 hours a day.

Fortunately, “charmingness” isn’t something hard-coded into one’s DNA. It’s something that can be developed through study and practice. Check out Daniel Goleman’s bestselling book Emotional Intelligence. It totally changed my life, both professionally and personally.

Resumes can be misleading

Between flat-out lies and exaggerations, one can't fully trust anything written in a resume. If a candidate is unable to have a comfortable conversation about what they did in any given role (which might happen if you're particularly uncharming), that's usually a pretty big red flag.

Resume don't tell much of a story

They typically don't explain in much detail how you did any given thing written on them, nor what challenges you faced and how you dealt with those.

You need to tell them those things, and how well you're able to do that will depend, to a large extent, on how charming you are.

Qualifications are meaningless

Okay, that's an exaggeration, but qualifications often don't say that much about one's ability to actually do a job in the real-world (even just the technical part).

Communication is important

In most jobs you need to work with coworkers. In many jobs you'll deal with clients or business partners.

Being able to communicate "well" certainly falls within the skills required to do most jobs well.

Charm plays on emotion

If you're charming, people will be more likely to want to buy some of what you're selling (so to speak).

Yes, interviews are really just sales pitches, and you're the salesperson and the product. If you're not a good salesperson, you're going to have a hard time selling even the best of products.