We recently wanted to hire two candidates (SQL developers with around 5-10 years of experience) to join our team. Since we partner with asset management companies, I wanted to hire people with expertise in asset management. However, my manager, who is much more experienced and a better judge of people, suggested to keep our options open. He did not want to restrict to the  candidates with domain experience.  Here is a brief summary of our reasons.

Hiring Someone with Domain Experience

1.  Expertise and Knowledge:  Candidates with specialized experience bring in-depth knowledge of asset management practices and industry regulations. Not only that, they are aware of the market trends that prove invaluable in making informed decisions.
2. Immediate Impact: Experienced professionals with a solid understanding of the subject matter can quickly contribute to improving processes, minimizing risks, and improving asset performance without the need for extensive training.
3. Reduced Risk: Domain experts are more likely to anticipate potential challenges and issues within asset management operations. This reduces the risk of errors or setbacks. Along with that, the learning curve is very low.
4. Network and Connections:  While this is not always necessary, people with specialized experience often have a network of contacts and connections. This can be beneficial to an organization when hiring other candidates in future (e.g. a new QA resource for our team).

Giving Someone New a Chance

1. Innovation and Fresh Perspective: New recruits bring diverse experiences and new perspectives from other industries, thereby fostering innovation and creativity in overcoming asset management challenges.
2. Adaptability and Flexibility: Even those without industry experience can be versatile and adaptable to the changing technological landscape. This makes it easier to adopt new trends and technologies.
3. Growth Opportunity: Providing opportunities to newcomers promotes a culture of learning and development within the organization, nurturing talent and potentially uncovering future leaders in asset management.
4. Cost-Efficiency: Hiring candidates without extensive domain experience could be more cost-effective in terms of salaries and training expenses, especially if they exhibit strong potential for growth and learning.

In the end, we kept our options open and managed to hire one candidate with domain experience and one without. So far, we are happy with them both and believe that they are enjoying the roles too. However, I am still biased in my thinking and thought to share the views of both the sides.

What are your thoughts? Where do you fall in this debate?