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Landing a Management Position without Recent Experience

Kate

Senior Engineering Manager at Block

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The Importance of a Strategy when Transitioning Roles

In my career, I worked first as an engineer, then manager, and then transitioned back to being an individual contributor. After working as a solutions architect for four years, I realized that I wanted to get back into management, which proved to be a difficult task. Even though I previously held the engineering manager role, I was out of the position for four years, and there were no opportunities for promotion at the company I worked at.

I started job searching, looking for a company hiring engineering managers, but I never received any callbacks. With no recent experience, I needed a strategy to refresh my skills and prepare myself to nail the interviews.

Using Education to Land a Leadership Position

Leveraging Education:

To prepare myself, I began taking a bunch of classes on Coursera. I focused on courses because I felt they would bulk up my resume and teach me the needed information. I took a series of classes from University of Michigan that I would recommend to any engineering leader. The classes prepared me for many management situations that I’ve now experienced.

In addition to my classes, I read a few books that prepared me for technical interviews and would refresh my leadership knowledge. I recommend “Work Rules” by Laszlo Bock, the former CPO of Google. It’s a great read for managers because it shares many situations that leaders are placed in and explains the technical interview process.

I used the education to map out which companies I could apply for and land a role. My focus was on startups rather than big tech companies. I’ve mostly worked in big enterprise companies before but was fascinated with the world of startups.

Resume Building:

I was based in San Francisco at the time, meaning there was no lack of startups. To tailor my resume for my ideal role, I tried to highlight my previous experience as an engineering manager. Even though I did not have direct reports in my last position as a solutions architect, I performed many tasks that managers do, such as strategic planning, roadmap planning, and paired with product managers.

I tried to call attention to my management experience in my resume, even if that experience was outside a management position. Adding any additional practical knowledge of leadership improved my resume and skillset from an employer’s point of view.

My strategy eventually worked, and I landed a job at a startup, where I worked for two years before transitioning to a larger enterprise.

Continuing Education After Employment

  • It is ideal to have a strategy to land a job in a demanding field, such as engineering. I felt that my preparation through courses, books, and hands-on experience set me up for success after landing a job.
  • I recommend continuing your education even after landing your ideal role. Books and online courses have taught me how to handle many management situations and have added confidence to my leadership.

Be notified about next articles from Kate

Kate

Senior Engineering Manager at Block


Leadership & StrategyEngineering LeadershipLeadership DevelopmentCommunicationOrganizational StrategyDecision MakingCulture DevelopmentEngineering ManagementTeam & Project Management

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