This is a problem across most roles in most companies: there is a general, endemic, absolute lack of competence in many employees.

Twenty years ago, everyone suddenly decided that you couldn't get a job without a university degree, and that locked many people, including me, out of careers.

So, let me tell you what an "alternative pathway" looked like:

1. Taking up to fifty short courses on Coursera to fill out my general knowledge in business administration, strategy and product management skills

2. Taking a two-year professional qualification online from a bricks-and-mortar trade college. The qualification is regulated by the King's Counsel and Ofqual.

3. Two years' intensive supervision from a highly experienced manager in that practice.

I've had 14 years' experience since, working directly with some of the best research professionals in the business.

When I wanted to move from one research discipline to a very closely linked one, I took a six-month course that appears on the national credit transfer list in several countries and I embedded in a team for at least a year of hands-on practice before applying for a job.

When people rock up after an eight-hour bootcamp (and no other training) and claim to have equivalent knowledge to me, it's just embarrassing.