We hired a fresh grad a couple years ago that had spent almost 20 years as a piano tuner. During the last several years he used his flexible schedule to go back to school for a mechanical engineering degree. I don't know what salary the company offered him, I assume it was on par with other fresh grads. He has definately been a good hire. If nothing else, his maturity is an advantage over a 23 year also fresh out of school. It will be interesting to see how his career progresses, but I bet he advances at a much faster rate than other fresh grads. Perception is everything, he will be perceived as having more experience than the others, just based on age.
