Courtesy of Twitter
Jennifer Christie, pictured.
- At Twitter, job experience isn't always a good thing in a candidate.
- The company's vice president of people, Jennifer Christie, would rather see someone who's willing to step outside their career comfort zone.
- Some research suggests people who have varied work experience are more successful than those who have stuck to a single path.
- Click here for more BI Prime stories.
Job experience is theoretically an asset when you're applying for a new role. It shows the hiring manager you'll be able to dive right in without much handholding.
But if you're interviewing for a job at Twitter, job experience isn't necessarily a plus.
Jennifer Christie, Twitter's vice president of people, told Business Insider that a red flag in a job candidate is "if the person has done the same exact job before."
In an email to Business Insider, Christie wrote, "While it ensures that they check all the boxes, I question their desire to develop and challenge themselves to try new things. Someone who is willing to go outside their comfort zone and take risks is more appealing to me."
Interestingly, some evidence suggests that professionals who bounce between roles and sectors are ultimately more successful than those who stick to one path.
Read more: Being a jack-of-all-trades can make you a better - and higher-paid - executive
For example, a 2013 study published in the Journal of Financial Economics found CEOs with managerial experience in different areas - within and outside their current industry - were paid about $1 million more a year than their specialist counterparts.
And research from LinkedIn found that workers with experience in different areas of a business are more likely to become top executives than those who've specialized in one area.
It's possible that these people are able to leverage their varied experience and bring new or nuanced perspectives to their roles. If you've spent your entire career in one area, you might be unable to see how things could be done better or differently.
As for Christie, she's observed that professionals who aren't afraid of risk-taking have an advantage over everyone else. She wrote, "Over the course of my career, I have found these people have more impact, even when they don't already have experience or expertise in all parts of the role."