You can switch industries – even in this market

In past posts, I have labeled this job market as one of industry specialization, where CEOs tend to hire CIOs who look, sound and smell like an industry insider.  But for those of you who would like to move into a new industry, take heart:  There are definitely exceptions to this rule.

Take Puneet Bhasin, who recently left his IT executive role with Monster Worldwide for the CIO spot at Waste Management, the $14B leading provider of waste and environmental services with 45,000 employees.  Unless I am missing something, Monster and Waste Management bear little in the way of industry similarities.  So, why would a garbage company choose a CIO from an online services company?  “Waste Management’s strategy is to get to know our customers better, to service them better and to interact with them through the channels where they want to interact,” says Bhasin.  “That’s why the executive committee did not consider industry experience important.  What they wanted was someone with experience in a highly customer centric environment who has knowledge of online, CRM, mobile and logistics solutions. I had all of that in my background.”

Regarding how to answer the “but you don’t have industry experience” objections from the interview panel, Bhasin found it to be a non-issue. “Before they even started the search, the executive committee knew that technology would be a huge enabler for this company, and that customer focused experience was critical. No one challenged me on industry background.”

The lesson for those of you in search of a new industry:  when talking with recruiters and others in your network, emphasize your expertise – whether it’s CRM, process improvement, or organizational transformation -- that transcends multiple industries (and find an enlightened senior management team).

Now, onto the news…
Drive-in restaurant chain SONIC , recently announced that Craig Miller has joined the company as CIO. Miller comes to Sonic from his position as CIO of Movie Gallery/Hollywood Video, and before that, he held senior positions with Bank of America and PepsiCo.

Jeff Turner has been promoted to EVP of Operations and CIO of Cost Plus, Inc., a specialty retailer of casual home living and entertaining products. Turner is responsible for information technology, store operations, logistics and the distribution centers.  He joined Cost Plus in September 2007 as CIO and has 26 years of information technology experience, as well as 18 years of retail experience. Prior to joining CostPlus, Turner was Chief Information Officer for Restoration Hardware.

Edward Hanapole has been named CIO of educational services company, Kaplan, where he will be IT leader for Kaplan's educational businesses, which include higher education, test prep, professional training and K12 programs.  Prior to joining Kaplan, Hanapole served as Chief Information Officer for Star TV based in Hong Kong, one of the largest broadcast media companies in Asia and part of News Corporation. He worked earlier for the company in its New York headquarters in 2006 as Vice President of Global Technology.

Brad Hudak has joined Champion Energy as CIO,  where he will spearhead a range of technology-driven internal programs and external initiatives to ensure state-of-the-art systems. Hudak has more than 19 years of experience in information technology, most recently serving as vice president of information systems and technology at NetVersant Solutions, a national provider of converging IT solutions.

Home care and hospice company Amedisys, announced that G. Patrick Thompson, Jr., formerly of The Shaw Group,  is the company’s new EVP of Administration and CIO.

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