A guy younger than me just won a job with the Boston Symphony. He hasn't even finished school yet. I'm sure there were guys there with many years of experience playing in major orchestras. And they lost out to a kid.
What lessons can be drawn from this? Theres hope for newbies. Anything can happen. But more appropriately, it doesnt matter how many years of experience or how much education you have, you're still likely to get beat by some 22 year old phenom.