Do You Match Our Sector? Why That's the Wrong Hiring Question
If you're hiring a senior marketing leader right now, there's a good chance "do they match our sector?" is somewhere on your checklist. It's an understandable instinct. But it might be the wrong question to be asking first.
Candidates moving between sectors often worry they'll hit a wall of "you haven't done this before," and hiring managers often reach for sector experience as the easiest filter to apply. But the real question isn't whether someone matches the sector. It's whether they can solve the problem you actually have. And that changes everything, because the problem a company is hiring to solve isn't always the same, even when the job title looks identical from one business to the next.
The Question Behind the Question
The problem a company is hiring to solve isn't always the same, even when the job title looks identical from one business to the next. Before you screen candidates on sector background, it's worth being honest with yourself about what you're really hiring for.
In practice, that means separating the sector-fit question from three more specific ones: is the gap in customer understanding, internal thinking, or fresh perspective? Each of those points you toward a different kind of hire.
When the Gap Is Persona Knowledge
Sometimes the issue isn't market knowledge at all - it's persona knowledge. A tech business might have built a genuinely great product but still not truly understand its buyer. In that situation, someone who's spent years marketing to that exact audience, even from a different type of business, is worth more than someone with the "right" sector badge who's never got close to the customer.
If this is your gap, the sector badge on a CV is a weak signal. The stronger signal is proximity to the buyer you're trying to reach.
When the Gap Is Fresh Thinking, Not Market Knowledge
Other times, the team already has plenty of market knowledge. What's missing is someone who's solved a different kind of problem: built something from nothing, navigated a restructure, or taken a business through a growth inflection point. A team full of people who know the market inside out doesn't necessarily need another person who knows the market inside out - it may need a different kind of experience altogether. Fresh eyes and different experience can be more valuable than another safe pair of hands.
When the Gap Is the Sector Echo Chamber
Sector echo chambers are real. Whole marketing teams that have only ever worked in one space can end up approaching problems the same way and getting the same results. An outsider who asks "why do you do it that way?" can shift things faster than a decade of internal iteration.
If your team has been circling the same challenges without a breakthrough, it's worth asking whether the missing ingredient is more sector experience, or simply a different way of thinking about the problem.
our view
Sector matching is a reasonable filter, but it's rarely the real one. The more useful question is what specific problem you're hiring to solve, whether that's a persona gap, a need for fresh thinking, or a team stuck in its own echo chamber. Once you're clear on that, the right hire often looks different to the one your sector checklist would have produced. If you're currently screening out strong candidates purely on sector background, it may be worth revisiting what you're actually optimising for.
About Karen Lloyd
As the founder and director behind our recruitment approach, I bring almost 30 years of unique expertise spanning both recruitment and marketing. Having placed my first candidate in 1996, I've since built 5 start-ups, served as a Board Director for 25 years and developed recruitment strategies that work in competitive talent markets.
I'm also the host of "Spotlight on B2B Marketing", where I explore B2B marketing trends with industry leaders. My passion lies in helping global businesses grow their revenue-generating teams through strategic hiring and fractional CMO services.
About Armstrong Lloyd
Armstrong Lloyd goes above and beyond being a pure search firm - we partner with your business because we have all stood in your shoes as experienced hiring managers, marketing and operational business leaders. We have a hidden network that goes beyond LinkedIn searches, adverts, or referrals from ex-colleagues to ensure you're getting the top 1% of talent.
Whether you need interim leadership, marketing team building, or executive search across the UK and beyond, the team at Armstrong Lloyd are here to ensure you reach your commercial business goals by building the best marketing team and strategy to give you a competitive advantage.
Ready to transform your marketing team? Let's talk about how we can help you hire the right talent at the right time.
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