Does knowledge of specific tools matter in job search?

For context here: I remember applying for a PM role via a recruiter one time and all of the boxes were ticked off on the job description, except one.

The recruiter asked me: “Do you know how to use Sketch?”

I told her: I haven’t used it yet, but I assume that it’s like most of the other paid and free versions of similar tools out there.

Recruiter responded: Well, they (the organization) are very adamant on using Sketch, so I don’t know if I can get you through.

Long story short: I never heard back from them and just got me wondering, does a tool even matter? I know that as teams grow and things get more complex, and structured is added, you would eventually need .

I’ve used mostly free tools to do quick mock-ups. I’ve used even PowerPoint and Visio shapes to do quick and scrappy screen flows just to get my point across, and I don’t think in my current role we even decided that we all should use Tool X instead of Tool Z.

What’s this community’s stand on this? Does not knowing how to use Jira, Sketch, etc. put you at a disadvantage when trying to apply for a job?

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You probably dodged a bullet. Any culture that is that elitist about tools is a place you don’t want to be in.

Agile manifesto specifically calls out people and interactions over processes and tools. If this company can’t see the value of people beyond a tool, they’re missing the point.

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