How To Land a Management Job With No Experience
One of the questions we get from women in all types of industries is how to land a job in management when you haven’t had a formal management role. For ever 100 men promoted into a management position, 87 women get promoted. And if you’re a black woman, the rates are even lower - 54 black women for every man.*
Studies have also shown that when women are up for promotion, they are evaluated based on their past performance, as opposed to men, who are evaluated on their future potential.
So how do we get ahead when the cards are stacked against us?
And what happens if you’ve done everything right in your career and you still can’t get that next promotion because you haven’t had that formal management experience?
When I talk to our community, and many times our friends, about what to do to get that next promotion I start with your resume. It’s the first impression for many hiring managers and it’s important to express the skills and capabilities that are related to management that you have done. For the most part, in our professional careers, we’ve done something related to management and communicating that when applying for management jobs whether internal or external is important. So take a hard look at your roles and responsibilities and identify what things you have done that demonstrate leadership and people management.
Have you lead a project and coordinated with various stakeholders or team members? How did you manage team dynamics while leading that project? How did you resolve conflict, give feedback and measure outcomes specifically related to the people you worked with and lead.
Maybe you’ve had an intern under your wing. How did you coach and guide the intern to successful outcomes for the work they were a part of. What did you train them on? How did you evaluate their work?
Have you lead training and development of new team members? Training is often a required skill for managers - being able to communicate new skills and requirements to employees and ensuring they understand. Highlight the trainings and onboarding you’ve conducted for new or current team members.
Have you taken formal leadership training through your employer or outside organizations? Do not skip highlighting these! Many managers have never taken a leadership course in their career - if you have you’re a step ahead. Speak to the skills you learned and the outcomes.
Be thoughtful about why you want to be a manager and be able to express that desire articulately to hiring managers, especially if you haven’t had formal experience. Not everyone is cut out to be a manager, which is totally ok! But it’s important to understand why YOU want to be a manager. If you’re desire to be a manager is because you think it’s the only next step in your career - think carefully. Management is not always the most profitable or logical next step in someone’s career - individual contributors can in many situations make more money and create just as much impact if not more in their area of expertise. Don’t pigeonhole yourself into management because you think it’s what you’re supposed to do. Talk to your own manager, skip management and career coaches to determine what’s the best step for you! You might be surprised about what lies ahead.
The number one thing for landing a management job when you don’t have experience?
Apply. Even if you don’t have the experience. And especially if you don’t meet 100% of the qualifications. We believe in you girl.
*https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/10/06/managers-stop-overlooking-women-s-potential/549ea916-645d-11ee-b406-3ea724995806_story.html
