Companies are well-advised to temper their desires for a perfect professional and industry match in the hiring process.

For each opening, decide if a professional specialty is required, preferred or unimportant.   A senior avionics research engineer requires an exact match.  A senior process engineer might have a six sigma black belt, or not.  An entry-level tax accounting position could be filled by any accounting of finance graduate.

If a position has a clear technical career path, the specialty is more important.  If a position often leads to a manager role with broader responsibilities, the specialty is less important.

If the firm competes in a large industry like medicine or distribution, an industry experience screen makes business sense.  If the firm is in a niche industry like timeshare swaps, association management or oil drilling services, the larger candidate pool from a broader range of industries may be wiser.

Within a firm, some functions require more industry experience for success.  Product managers, product engineers and sales managers need to be experts in their field.  Support functions like IT, HR, accounting, legal and facilities may not require industry experience.  Most entry-level positions can be filled by trainees who are eager to learn.

If the firm is in a new, fast growth industry, then hiring from other industries may be a necessity.

If the firm is struggling to compete in an industry undergoing change, hiring from another industry may be required to insert world-class experience and lead that change.

In general, organizations have found that specialized professional and industry experience are good predictors of hiring success.   Adding a pinch of common sense will reduce the search cost and provide superior candidates in some situations.