Bill Carter is an excellent hardware designer, but he wants to move into management to broaden his experience. His manager is supportive and encourages Bill to go to evening classes on management. Bill works hard for two years and graduates first in his class. Soon, there is a management opening in the procurement department. Bill applies for it, but an outside applicant eventually fills the position. Bill is turned down because he does not have sufficient experience in the procurement functions, a stated key requirement for the job.

Bill protests, “But I have better technical knowledge of components than all the procurement engineers put together, and I learned about procurement in my management courses. The only way I will get experience is to work on the job.”

Do you think Bill should have been given the job? How would you have handled this situation differently?