I mean no offense -- this is not meant as a personal slam -- but I would rather hire people that worked full-time to earn their PhDs in their middle-age years than hire anyone that got a free ride to their PhD before they were even 30.

And a doctorate is a great thing, no arguments there. But how did you get through school?  Did you work to pay your way through school, or were you one of the lucky ones to have someone else pay your way for you?  Did you ever get your hands dirty learning to appreciate the value of manual labor, or did you consider manual labor to be solely the responsibility of those less fortunate than yourself?

Education and work-experience are not the same thing, although either may be derived from the other.  It's the difference between theory and practice.  Sorta like expecting a celibate priest to give useful advice and counseling on marital relations.