> How much time would it take for a smart, competent and self motivated person to get up to speed on this new but related field? This depends on the position;

> How much time would it take for a smart, competent and self motivated person to get up to speed on this new but related field? This depends on the position; smarts are not a replacement for (domain) experience, because certain knowledge can be learned only through trial and error and/or through long-term exposure to a domain (in other words, experience). I believe that domain experience is the more necessary the higher level the position is (e.g. seniors who can decide on architecture, leads, architects...). Having said that, I certainly agree that in the (hiring) industry it's common to be excessively attached to the specific tools used; I also suspect that smaller companies tend to think like this more than bigger ones.