I’ve never understood why industry experience is listed as a required qualification for management positions on most job postings. It seems like such a low priority for most roles, especially outside the senior executive ranks, because:
- Compared to leadership and managment skills, industry knowledge is easy to learn
- Compared to technical skills, industry knowledge is easy to learn
- Motivation and a learning disposition has nothing to do with industry knowledge
- In a company, there is likely no shortage of current staff with industry knowledge
I would concede, it’s hard to succeed right out of the gate without industry knowledge.
But why not treat it as a bonus instead of a qualification? It seems to me that most other qualifications are probably a lot more important, and demanding industry experience seems like it’d be a heavy deterrent to otherwise great candidates.
Related from Michael Roberto: http://michael-roberto.blogspot.com/2018/07/should-you-hire-for-cultural-fit-or-not.html
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