I’ve seen many early career professionals talk about how to break into cybersecurity, break into data engineering, and break into FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google). To “break into” means to get a legitimate job in one of those arenas. The language implies gatekeeping. It also implies that someone seeking entry must case the joint and look for weaknesses in the defenses like a cat burglar.

Reconnaissance

I’ve been in management for about 15 years now. Back when I was an individual contributor, someone gave me this advice: The promotion from individual contributor to manager is the hardest one to get. Everything before that and afterward is easier by comparison. 15 years later, I tend to agree with that assessment.

There’s a good logical reason for this. When you are an individual contributor, you are responsible for yourself. If you mess up, for the most part, that’s just on you. Sure, your failings will impact your team, but minimally. When you are a manager and you screw up, there’s a whole team that suffers for your incompetence. That’s a much bigger deal.

How do you give someone with zero management experience that responsibility? They are completely unproven! That’s a big gamble, and that’s why the jump is hard. Generally, I’ve always seen people get their first management job within a company. Most companies are unwilling to give an external candidate management responsibility with no experience.

Now that we’ve sized up the challenge, let’s figure out how to break in. First of all, anyone seeking management responsibility needs to advance significantly as an individual contributor. Management is not the next step when you are entry-level.

Personally, I held individual contributor roles for 7 years before I was ready for management. I was promoted about 5 times in those 7 years. I eventually reached an inflection point in my career. I could continue to grow in my technical career path, or I could jump into management. Many of my readers are at that junction point right now. If you aren’t yet, I’ll offer some tips to get there. You can read my detailed journey right here.

Show yourself

Okay, this is where the cat burglar analogy breaks down. Burglars try to keep their intentions secret. You should do the opposite. Let everyone know that you want to get into management. Tell your boss. Tell your boss’s boss. Tell your HR business partner. Tell your boss’s peers.

Then, ask for their advice. Don’t be shy. It sounds hard, but this is very easy. Managers love feeling like an expert. Most will make time to help an eager professional ready to soak up their wisdom.

Do your homework

I believe in education. I’m a voracious learner. I read, listen to podcasts, attend seminars, and talk to a lot of experts. I’ve also educated myself formally. Before I continue further, let me clarify one thing: I don’t believe in educational gatekeeping. You don’t need an MBA to get a management job. You don’t need a Bachelor’s Degree to manage people. If someone tells you that you do, I wouldn’t take a management job from that person. That’s my personal opinion on the matter. Some go to school, and some go to the school of hard knocks. I value both, and so does the job market.

I became a manager, a director, and eventually, a vice president without an MBA. An MBA is great if you want to manage a business but’s not particularly relevant if you want to manage a team. Personally, I chose to seek a Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership, which taught me how to lead people at scale, but that was after I was already in a director role.

Now, if you’ve gone to the trouble to get yourself an MBA, I think that’s truly wonderful. You can use it to your advantage. You can use it to “break into management,” but that’s not the only way in.

You do, however, need to learn. I read every leadership book I could find. I took every professional development course offered by my corporate learning and development team. Every single one. Formal or informal, there’s a lot to know. You’d be foolish to approach management without equipping yourself with knowledge first.

Skill up

When I asked leaders for their advice on how to get into management, I was told this: To be good at management, you need to be good at finance, and good with people. That’s it.

Here’s the great news: As an individual contributor, there are ample opportunities to develop real skills in both of these areas. You just have to be intentional.

Before I was a manager, I gave work direction to more junior team members. I even hired and led contractors (but not actual employees). Before I ran a cost center, I ran a project budget. I came up with cost and value estimates, then held myself accountable to achieve them. I did that over and over again, in increasingly significant ways. That gave my bosses the confidence that I was ready for the real deal.

Confidence

Speaking of confidence, I needed plenty of my own to pull this off. My first real management job required me to lead 8 senior engineers, all of whom were more experienced and older than me. If that doesn’t freak you out, I don’t know what will.

The impostor syndrome is real. You don’t have to fake it ‘til you make it, but you do have to find a way to muster confidence.

Why

Confidence doesn’t come from your ego. It comes from a strong sense of “why.” If you can’t clearly answer the simple question, “why do you want to be a manager?” then stop now. When your confidence is shaken, this is what grounds you. For me, it’s a calling. I lead because I can, and the world needs better leaders. I owe my team good leadership because they deserve it. Our cause is worthy, and I have a crucial role to play in getting us to our destination. That gets me out of bed in the morning.

That’s it. That’s how to break into management. I’ve seen it done time and time again. If you’ve found this article helpful, please share it with your colleagues, and drop me a note in the comments. Thanks for reading.

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