Common sense beats process

Table of Contents

John Wilkening is the executive vice president at Tech Credit Union

Why experience still wins in today’s hiring landscape

Hiring practices today often seem to lack common sense, with issues ranging from ghosting applicants to excessive rounds of interviews. Change can only come from individuals willing to act.

While ageism is frequently discussed, those who practice it ultimately miss out on valuable talent. The talent pool remains rich and available, and we are all in this journey together.

To those with experience, your contributions are invaluable … experience cannot be faked, and ignoring it is a mistake. In the hiring process, it’s essential to empathize with applicants. It’s time to move past the games and make decisions.

The hiring system isn’t broken; it’s often the people behind it who create unnecessary barriers.

Why this matters

Experience is an overlooked competitive advantage.

Across industries, employers consistently report that older workers bring what younger hires simply cannot replicate: decades of practical knowledge, critical thinking and refined problem solving.

The Columbia University Age Smart Employer study repeatedly highlights that older workers possess a depth of skill that takes years, sometimes decades, to build.

Many technical roles, such as jewelers, embroiderers, cabinet makers, and specialty service providers, require long periods of apprenticeship and hands-on mastery that older workers uniquely offer. Experience isn’t an opinion. It’s an asset.

Older workers stay longer

In a labor market plagued by churn, older workers bring stability. Workers aged 55 to 64 have a median job tenure of 10.4 years, compared to just 3.0 years for workers aged 25 to 34. That’s not a small difference, it’s transformative.

Industries infamous for high turnover, such as retail and restaurants, report a clear preference for older workers because they show up, stay longer and take the job seriously. When employers are forced to replace staff repeatedly, productivity suffers and culture erodes. When they hire experience, the opposite happens: teams strengthen, customers notice and operations stabilize.

Older workers don’t just stay; they show up. Case studies highlight older employees who are:

The first to arrive
The last to leave
Rarely absent
Willing to step up in crises, even when not required

This isn’t theory. It’s lived behavior documented by employers across dozens of industries. Reliability is not age specific, but it is age earned.

Institutional knowledge

The hidden currency of high-performing teams is institutional knowledge.

Older workers hold irreplaceable knowledge about customers, processes and organizational history. Many businesses I’ve interviewed credited longevity with consistent quality, strong customer loyalty and operational continuity.

In long established shops, restaurants, manufacturers and service businesses, older workers are part of the brand. Customers return because they trust the people. That trust has been built over years, not onboarding cycles.

Technology myth needs to die

One of the most damaging misconceptions in hiring today is that older workers can’t adapt to new technology. The truth? When given proper training, older workers often outperform expectations. The tech gap isn’t a capability issue; it’s a leadership issue. Training works. Support works. Experience plus new tools is a powerful combination.

Multigenerational teams win

Research shows something simple and powerful: mixed-age teams outperform age homogenous ones. Older workers bring context, intuition and mentorship. Younger workers bring new perspectives and energy. Together, they create balance, something every high-performing team needs.

Companies that intentionally build multigenerational teams report smoother operations, better decision-making and stronger internal culture.

Americans working longer, better

The average retirement age for men has risen to 64, driven by improved health, greater education levels and less physically demanding work. Today’s older workforce is healthier, more capable and more motivated than any generation before. They’re not slowing down; they’re contributing more.

Ignoring this talent pool is more than an oversight. It’s a strategic failure.

Start making decisions

Hiring should be human. It should be decisive. And it should value experience, not filter it out.

The talent is out there. The green circle on LinkedIn proves it every day. What’s broken is not the system, it’s the unnecessary friction people insert into the process. When you remove the games and trust your judgment, great hiring happens fast — just like the eight days it once took me to hire a great candidate.

Experience wins. Common sense wins. And the companies that embrace both will win too. •

Read more stories from the current issue of Northwest Indiana Business Magazine.

John Wilkening
Tech Credit Union -
John Wilkening is the executive vice president at Tech Credit Union. Named the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions’ 2019 Executive of the Year and CUCollaborate’s 2020 Top Growth Leader in the United States, Wilkening has built a reputation for driving record growth and profitability at every institution he has served. He has led financial institutions to over $2 billion in career growth. He is also the creator of the award-winning Financial Physician Program, an initiative that reflects his com-mitment to financial empowerment and consumer education. In 2003, he was the first Junior Achieve-ment volunteer from Northwest Indiana to receive Chicago’s Above and Beyond Award.
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