Public administrators engage all aspects of a community and need to be skillful in working with elected officials, citizens, business groups, and government employees who make things happen. Minimum qualifications, which act as a primary screening device for applicants and hiring agencies, are based in part on assumptions of the value of education and experience, but those assumptions deserve more consideration given their role in agency staffing. This paper sheds light on the value of hiring new employees with substantial public sector experience versus those with little or no work history. We use a two-stage qualitative study that asks managers what benefits and characteristics they expect when hiring experienced individuals. We subsequently test those assumptions by giving in-service and preservice public affairs graduate students a realistic problem to solve in an area where none have experience. Their responses highlight the validity of assumptions behind minimum qualifications and differences one might expect when hiring experienced individuals or novices.