I've been working now for 19 years (Jesus! That's the first time I've sat down and thought about that). In that time I've worked in 8 posts (12 if you include movement within an employer). An average time in post of just over 2 years. And I'm told by many recruitment consultants that my CV is not an extreme example.
I'm a consultant and the advice I provide to client may not be rigurously tested for up to 4 years, if at all. That means if I make a massive cock-up even at the start of my work in a post, there's better than a 50% chance that by the time it's discovered I'll have moved on to a different post.
With those sorts of odds it would be entirely possible for someone to survive in this industry (and many more, for that matter) for a reasonable amount of time with nothing but bluff and swagger. I recall there being one of those pocket books that WH Smith used to sell (and may still do) called The Blagger's Guide to VAT. I bought my sister one when she first became a VAT consultant.
Luckily, I'm working with a large group of experience people. Someone without the right background would quickly be found out simply from the office conversation. However, there's a great many people in my industry working within firms where they are the only professed expert in the field.
For the first time today though, I realised why some of the people I speak to within my industry don't seem to have the technical knowledge or experience I would expect of them.
I had a point when I started this. I've kind of lost it in the writing somewhere though.
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