It's Time to Remove Industry Experience from Your Interview Process

After six years in the United States Navy, I was a damn good industrial electrician. I was even awarded a Navy Achievement Medal for my consistent and outstanding work aboard my ship where I spent 4 and a half years. It took a few jobs, including delivering pizza, before I landed an incredible opportunity working for a newspaper in Norfolk, Virginia. Within weeks of starting my job, some of the old guys in our machine and electric shop took me aside and told me it was time to slow down... I was making everyone else look bad.

I didn't slow down. The Navy had created a sense of pride and urgency in my troubleshooting experience that was now part of my DNA. I was quickly promoted through the ranks at the newspaper and my media career was launched.

I had zero industry experience.

For the next decade, I was witness to the demise of the newspaper industry. Overcounting circulation, undervalued journalism, over-priced advertising, and a refusal to invest in digital technologies destroyed the industry. I often share with people that the industry committed suicide, it wasn't a murder. When newspaper profits were 40%, they did nothing to reinvest those profits in new technology.

Even worse, I'd attend meeting after meeting where the executives would be hired based on industry experience. I've been gone for over a decade and it still is. All of my friends are being shuffled around the industry like the furniture on the Titanic. They're able to get promoted because of their industry experience but then dismissed a few years later. They're champions at defending their jobs by stating they're not failing as fast as the overall industry.

Is it too late for newspapers? I actually don't believe so, they just have to recognize their value... journalism. Not full-color ads, not circulation, and not pages per visit (where they make you click next 4 times to read an article).

Great journalism has survived the newspaper industry. Readership of news isn't down over the years, it's up. The number of publications has skyrocketed. Unfortunately, it's the newsroom that's been depleted as newspapers continue to staff and centralize operations for efficiency. It's a constant move by those leaders with industry experience.

Interestingly enough, I've watched great editors and journalists leave the industry and get hired by companies who have evolved their publishing efforts - and they're thriving. The most talented staff from newspapers are now being successfully deployed in modern marketing and public relations departments across the country. I have a colleague who is an editor at a technology company in town. He had no industry experience and is thriving at his job and highly respected and valued by his peers.

Look Outward for Innovation

If you're looking to energize your business in this coming year, its time to remove industry experience from your criteria. Energize your business by hiring talent from outside your industry to bring their best ideas to your organization.

And remember, that talent can be from some of the oldest or most challenged industries. I would never hesitate to hire a veteran, who's been taught to react effectively, overcome, and adapt to stress or change. I would never hesitate to hire a newspaper professional, who are incredibly resourceful in budget-challenged environments. It's not about where they came from, it's the knowledge and talent they have that they can bring to your organization.

Leading a digital marketing agency, it's not a secret that we're moving at breakneck speed. New channels, new tools, and resource-shy marketing teams are everywhere. As I look to our next set of hires, I want to bring as much diversity of thought to our workplace as I possibly can. That's the only way we're going to compete and be successful in our industry. And I won't be looking for anyone with industry experience who want to do things the way they've always been done.