I work in engineering consultancy. Some of our best consultants come from non-engineering backgrounds. Two in particular - one is an architect by training, the

I work in engineering consultancy. Some of our best consultants come from non-engineering backgrounds. Two in particular - one is an architect by training, the other an ancient historian, with a background in reconstructing ancient power hierarchies from the inscriptions on funeral carvings. In my field, the transferable skills from academic research are far more important than the domain knowledge.