In a "hands on" career, I should expect so. I should have clarified, mine are all college grads (aeronautical engineering types). I'm a bit of a mustang, no degree (unless one counts 20+ years in AF maintenance) yet work in engineering. My field involves actually doing work with aircraft and mechanics. One of the first things I take note of when meeting a new hire is their hands. Soft, bony hands usually indicate someone who hasn't "worked". Rough and meaty generally means they have. The new hires are taken aback when I ask to see the hands. My unicorns are usually those who have had to work to get where they are. My last one was the first in his family to get a degree and he worked while doing so.
HR is feeding the beast by only hiring those who check certain boxes. They are killing aerospace because of their woke, biased bull$h!t. Even though there's a probationary period, HR makes it so damned difficult to deal with the undesirables, that by the time we get all the justification past the gatekeepers, it's too late, they're kept on.
Thankfully, the oil patch is a more mission oriented environment. If it does not get results, it's dead weight, and that gets cut quickly. New hires can check all the boxes they want, if they can't get the job done they generally don't last. Most HR types are aware of this, and hire accordingly.
Some will surprise you, and take to the 'doing' aspect well, but generally, I agree. Thin fingers and soft hands aren't a hallmark of folks who work where the rubber meets the road. Farm kids, veterans, and an assortment of determined blue collar folks form most of the crews.
Office hiring may be a tad different, but results still matter.
I have seldom worked in and around that environment, preferring the field.
