I may be a poster employee for switching industries.  I started in pulp and paper, then came electronics, followed by engineering consulting much of it focused on agriculture, accounting software sales and service, nonwoven textiles, injection molding, and athletic shoe manufacturing.  I have a BS in Engineering Physics from Montana State, and MBA in Operations Research from UC Berkeley, and a PhD in Industrial Engineering from Northwestern in IL.  I think this educational background opened lots of doors if only because hiring managers were curious.  In interviews I always tried to get past human resource managers to the hiring managers, then get them to talk about some of the problems they faced.  Often I could relate to some of these problems either from education or experience.  Lack of direct experience in a new industry was always a hinderance and some of the advice in this article is very well taken.  When you lack direct experience in an industry, it usually takes time to really become productive so some discussion needs to take place up front.  If a hiring manager will commit to a one year minimum and you work hard things should go well.  And the change in subject matter can be very stimulating.