I'm getting the impression that michaelknight and others are perhaps a little afraid of the competition presented by the 35+ year old wannabe.
If it's true that older pilots "struggle enormously" with the demands of a new flying job, then: -
1. Why isn't this picked up during their selection?
2. Why do they not appear to "struggle enormously" in completing their CPL/IR flying training and ground studies?
In my own experience of completing the CPL/IR to licence issue: -
during the flying training, the older pilots performed no worse or no better on average than those in their teens or twenties. However, for the ground studies and written examinations, the older pilots in my course were on average better than the younger pilots. This was reflected in the examination results.
The older pilots seemed more prepared to put the work in, to fully understand a subject, rather than do the minumum necessary to get a pass mark.