Or, a person is being unfairly passed over for opportunities for any number of reasons outside their control. Bad companies do exist, and not everyone has their pick of jobs.
It was in their control, they could have gained solid skills in those 20 years to set them apart from a college grad. 20 years is a very long time, you could master several disciplines during that time, so if you fail to master even your main occupation it tells us something about you.
