Working in isolated areas is very difficult, the luxury of trying to learn and figure something out - you don't really have. So I could see them preferring greater experienced people.
I remember needing a DB-9 connector and ended up using a paper clip for male pins, all I could come up with. In the cold, everything is difficult to work with. Most multimeters are useless- I mistakenly used an AN8008 at -25°C and it died within 2 minutes
Buttons, test leads, LCD all froze up. It was checking a car's charging system and I don't bring out the good stuff then but I did laugh hard it died so fast.
One remote camp I worked at, a guy was complaining about the cook's food. He didn't like how she was cooking things. So the cook she stabbed him with a knife. It was par for the course because people get nutty when cooped up for months, and people willing to give up "city life" can be a bit borderline personality. Rougher, tougher types. No police out there. Got a new chef though.