It’s a chicken-and- egg scenario. Management roles generally ask for management experience. However, if you’re in a professional practitioner role, how do you acquire it?
In some sectors, management roles may be the only way to increase your salary once you reach a certain grade. The good news is that there are actions you can take to demonstrate your motivation and potential for management roles without formal management credentials. Here are my top tips.
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Support less experienced staff
Do you have trainees or apprentices undertaking placements? Why not offer to mentor or supervise them? This is a good way to cultivate some of the skills managers require.
2. Take on additional responsibility
Volunteering to take on additional responsibility for your line manager signals an appetite for personal and professional development. Your manager will be only too happy to receive an offer of help.
3. Make the most of your annual appraisal
Appraisal provides you with the opportunity to have a serious conversation with your line manager about your career intentions. S/he may also make helpful suggestions on what you can do to improve your chances of progressing.
4. Lead a project
Could you volunteer to take a lead role on a larger project outside your immediate team? This will give you valuable experience, widen your network of contacts and raise your institutional profile. You will develop greater strategic awareness – a key management skill. You’ll cultivate an appreciation of the challenges facing your organisation than you would simply from the perspective of your team. You may also find yourself becoming more sympathetic to the challenges managers within organisations face.
5. Interview staff in management roles
Ask to meet with managers who are one step up from where you want to be. Offer to buy them a coffee. Get the lowdown on what it’s like to be a manager. Quiz these staff on how they’ve succeeded in getting their jobs. Ask them for hints and tips. Find out first- hand what it’s like to switch from a professional role to a management position and what they’ve learned having made the transition.
6. Do some research
There are some great TED talks on management and leadership. The Harvard Business Review has some insightful articles and there are countless books on the subject. Reading will help you prepare more effectively when you apply and interview for roles. You’ll start to think like a manager.
7. Apply for a secondment
Get management experience by covering a maternity post. These posts can be harder for organisations to fill as they may only be available for a few months. However it’s also a way to ‘try before you buy.’ If you decide management isn’t what you thought it was, you’ll still have gained valuable experience. If you enjoyed it, you will have additional ammunition to add to your CV. And if the previous post holder decides not to return you’ll be in a stronger position to apply for the role on a permanent basis.
8. Get involved with your professional organisation
Do you belong to a professional body? Are there opportunities to contribute by leading on an area of work? Submit articles or help organise events? This will raise your profile beyond your employing organisation and increasing your exposure to a wider network of potential recruiters.
9. Reflection
Take time to reflect on yourself, the values and skills you have and those you’ll need to develop as you move into a management role. Some of your skills will be transferable. Others you’ll need to develop.
- What kind of manager do you aspire to be?
- What unique combination of strengths do you have to offer?
- Why do you want to become a manager?
These are all questions you may be asked at interview. The better you understand yourself -your weaknesses as well as your strengths- the better manager you will become.
10. Formal courses
Would your line manager support you attending a management course? Savvy staff will use these opportunities to position themselves favourably when management jobs are advertised. You’re more likely to be granted a place if you’ve taken some of the steps listed above as these will provide evidence of motivation.
Take action!
So- what are you waiting for? One small step today may lead to one giant leap into management tomorrow.
Opportunities don’t happen. You create them.
Chris Grosser
Future posts will focus on some of the many challenges managers face, how you can be prepared for them and how to develop the resilience to survive when things get tough.
