I remember several years ago interviewing a young accountant for a
CFO position in one of our companies.  He was bright, intelligent,
capable, energetic — and young.  In fact, he was only 27 years old. 
The current CFO made the following comment to our young applicant: 
“You know, you’re pretty young.  In fact, you could have only been out
of school for five or six years.  In all honesty, I was really thinking
of someone with a little gray in their hair for this position — someone
who’d been around the block a few times.  Why should I hire you over
someone like that?”

That’s a very tough question.  If I’m sitting in the interviewees
chair and the interviewer starts down that road, I’m thinking, “Well,
looks like I didn’t get this one.”  But our young friend wasn’t
flustered a bit by the question.  He looked this seasoned CFO right in
the eye and made the following statement:  “It’s true I only have 7
years of experience.  But to answer your question, I would ask you a
question.  Do you want someone who’s been doing it right for seven
years or someone who’s been doing it wrong for thirty years?”

I was floored.  There couldn’t have been a more perfect answer.  All
those gray-haired applicants we had talked to became suspect in one
instant.  Their experience and wisdom seemed to fade before our eyes. 
Yes, this applicant was young, but he was confident and self assured. 
He was energetic.  He made it clear he thought he could do the job and
we believed him — we gave him the job.

That is a great story on several levels.  He was prepared for the
interview.  He knew how to minimize his weakness to the interviewer,
etc. etc.  But the thing that stands out to me is this:  it’s not just
how many years you have in the business, it’s what you did with those
years.  (It’s kind of like people who assume they’re the best employee
because they work the most hours.  To me, working excess hours week in
and week out usually indicates you don’t manage your time very well.)

So for that reason I say, “It’s not just the length of your
experience that counts.”  Or to put it in the words of a friend from
Texas, “It’s not the size of the dog in the fight that counts — it’s
the size of the fight in the dog.”