Is 'industry experience required' overrated?

Comment

Comment by Darlene McDaniel on May 17, 2008 at 10:58am

Hi Alex, i understand your point about cost being an issue, but most good business people are willing to pay for anyone they believe is valuable. Look at the salaries of the CEO's and executives in any of the larger, and even some mid-size to small companies. If they are willing to pay them, they are willing to pay you and I. It comes down to creating value, and being willing to walk away if they are not willing to pay you what you are worth. Money is only one variable in the equation used to hire employees. You can have deficiencies and gaps, but because you created added value to them in the course of the transaction for hiring, you get more money.

Comment by Alex on May 17, 2008 at 8:45am

Darlene, I do agree and understand what you are saying. However, please do not take it the wrong way. I'm not encouraging anyone to lower their value. The purpose of my comment is to highlight that when employers do not take someone up for a post, it may not be that the candidate lack the experience. It may only be a matter of cost. :-)

Comment by Darlene McDaniel on May 17, 2008 at 5:23am

Alex, I would love to know why you would recommend a person to communicate their willingness to take less money? While interviewing you always want to communicate your value. If an organization is not willing to pay you at the market value, why take the job? No matter how desperate you may feel, you don't want to ever minimize your value to an organization or a hiring manager.

Comment by Alex on May 16, 2008 at 11:50pm

While there are many employers being too picky by choosing candidates with "exact criterias", sometimes it is actually a way to pull down your salary expectations.

Let's say the interviewer says, "You don't have experience in [whatever] which we seek."
Tell him straight in the face, "I can work for 20% less than my previous compensation" and you will be surprised that he will offered you the job!!

Comment by Greg Lachs on May 14, 2008 at 12:35pm

I would agree that one of the "best" approaches is to go after the "hidden" job market by contacting employers directly. In those conversations, one can mention more about skills that transfer and give examples. Be SPECIFIC, too. Unfortunately, with the job market as it is, those "posted" jobs can be handled by fussier hiring types. Thus, the advantage is to those who go after the unposted jobs, I think.

Comment by Tom Ruff on May 14, 2008 at 9:41am

Chris,

I own a medical and pharmaceutical sales recruiting firm, Tom Ruff Company, and our niche is a little different. Our clients are typically open to seeing candidates without previous medical or pharmaceutical sales experience as long as they have some type of proven & documented success within outside sales. For some of the higher level or more specialized positions, previous industry experience is required.

I think it varies by industry but with the economy and job market tightening, we definitely are seeing our clients becoming more demanding and selective about the candidates they will and will not interview.

Tom Ruff is President & CEO of Tom Ruff Company
& Author of: How To Break Into Pharmaceutical Sales: A Headhunter's Strategy

Comment by Cynthia Ferrie on May 14, 2008 at 8:22am

Unfortunately, this trend is true across many industries, and for many levels of staffing. I am a human resources consultant, and fully embrace the idea that skills are attainable, behavior is not so much. People still get stuck on resumes and specific criteria, but they forget that if they are going to hire this person that they have to work with their personality, which has a close relationship with their work ethic and ability to adapt (transferable skills). So why hire based on all these credentials if the guy they hire is going to be a jerk and make everyone else miserable?
Also, staying with one position or company for several years is no longer the norm, and when people leave their long-term positions to find another, they will likely change career fields as well. Hiring based on years of experience and specific achievements is an out-dated tactic, and anyone they hire with solely these things in mind will have to be just as out-dated (meaning the company has left little or no room for personal or professional growth - eventually hurting the company's success).
So what to do about your friend? If the people he is applying with are turning him down based on a mismatch between their criteria and his resume, he may need to be looking in harder-to-find places. It would be naive of me to say he should find work that he will be happy with, but he should at least find a company with a little breathing room so he can learn a little (or a lot) along the way.

Cynthia
Senior Consultant
blindSpot Business Consulting Inc.
www.blindSpot.ca

Note - I also have a separate entity (started only this year) that is tuned more to a Generation Y audience, however many of these newer human resources and job search concepts are expressed there. The Revo*Y community can be found at www.revoy.ca.

Good Luck!

Comment by Darlene McDaniel on May 13, 2008 at 10:40pm

Interesting question Chris. I blogged my answer here: http://www.interviewchatter.com/industry-experience-how-important-is-it-in-your-job-search/. Thanks for asking the question. I am available to speak to your friend by phone. He is willing to speak to me, I know I can help. Feel free to share my contact information. My email address is a great start. I will send him my telephone number or I can call him. Let me know.

Darlene
Interview Guru
http://www.interviewchatter.com/

Comment by Karen D. Swim on May 13, 2008 at 9:31pm

In another twist to this topic, not only do employers often stick to industry experience but many are blacklisting applicants from certain industries, such as mortgage professionals. Long term professionals with a degree, business development skills and financial management savvy are finding that some companies have issued directives not to send candidates from their industry.

When I worked in corporate I tired to hire people from outside of my industry who would bring a fresh perspective and innovative ideas. Too often people inside an industry have become so myopic that they simply engage in "me too" marketing. While industry experience can certainly be an advantage, there should also be room for diversity.

Comment by Barry Groh on May 13, 2008 at 8:57pm

Chris,

I think you have hit a chord here that may be more deeply ingrained than we think. In my own experience as a job hunter I have been turned down from many jobs simply because I didn't have any industry experience. However, my work history truly shows not only experience, but numerous years of it. The problem is that you have to see it as transitional, and that seems to be a stumbling block.

I'm very sure that companies are hiring those most like minded to them, those who have had experience in their specific field, but what surprises me is that many companies also don't look at skills gained in other fields that may be EXTREMELY similar to theirs, yet because they are not EXACT matches that person is not considered.

I'm becoming more sure that industry skills and experience, more than any transferrable skills, are what most companies are looking for. I'm afraid that means anyone looking for a way into another field may need to stick it out where they are until the market becomes a bit more open and a bit less overloaded.

Barry Groh

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