Hi all,
I'm a freelance IT consultant and I want to make a switch into management.
Here's some background information:
since 4 years I'm a freelance IT consultant in the Java work field (got some 9 years of experience herein), I have always been part of the development team (as developer, analyst and technical architect).
In my free time I'm a project leader for a group of volunteers of a non-profit organisation (about 10 years of experience here). As project leader I manage the team of volunteers, do the budget planning, logistics planning and get a 30-40% turnover at each event that we organise (making my project the best performing of the organisation).
The two above jobs (one professional, the other not) are quite different. While the first one is what brings in the money to feed me, provide a house etc, the second one is the one I love to do. I love to manage a team (volunteers are more difficult to manage as they're not paid, quick to quit and difficult to replace), love doing the budgeting and such.
But, since I'm a freelancer I believe it's not easy to make this career switch as I can not simply ask my clients to give me a project management job without having professional experience in this or is it OK to I use my non-profit experience as a reference for this?
In the meantime I'm about to start an MBA program in order to get some credentials which would help me 'sell' myself better into a management position.
If anyone could give me some advice I'd be very grateful.
Thanks,
Jeremy (Belgium)
Do you have patience?
Hey Jeremy,
A few things that helped me when I was new to management:
• I listened to a few (meaning one million) podcasts from Manager Tools :)
• Do you like coffee? Tea? Sitting down and sharing a cup with someone is a great way to build a professional relationship. (Don't literally share the cup :)
• Communicate communicate communicate.
• Learn patience.
• Have fun! There's a big flashing neon sign above your head that will say "Manager", but what will your character portray? The motto I train retail employees with is, "If it's not fun to work here, it's not fun to shop here."
• Your directs will see EVERYTHING you do....and I do mean everything. Nothing goes unnoticed and the slightest thing can influence an entire team either in a positive or negative way.
• And YES on including non-profit experience. I came from 15 years of management/leadership with the non-profit social sector before entering the marketplace. That experience is very valuable because of it's mission and purpose focus.
• Oh....and every single one of Horstman's Laws... ask Mark for them :)
Godspeed!
Davis Staedtler
It's certainly possible
Jeremy-
1 . Seek roles in your job where you were given some team leadership responsibilities, and produce good results when you do.
2. Re-write your resume to include and highlight those team lead accomplishments.
3. Ask for chances to get managerial roles. If you are only working in client situations, develop relationships with your client managers and make your wishes known.
4. Start applying for those jobs.
5. The MBA won't hurt...but it probably won't help as much as you'd like. They don't teach management in them, interestingly enough.
6. I think I disagree with Davis a little. I think he is saying that he had a job in a non-profit, where you are only volunteering. THERE IS A DIFFERENCE. I would have to know more before suggesting you include your non-profit experience on your resume. I wouldn't say absolutely not, but I'm usually hesitant to recommend it.
7. And yes, it is okay to ask, though start with those with whom you have a good relationship.
Good luck!
Mark
Oops.
Jeremy,
Oops. Read that wrong. I did have a job in a non-profit. There is a difference for sure. Your experience as a volunteer may or may not have a great impact, depending on what you were responsible for and how much you gained in learning and experience around a particular technology.
-D
thank you
Davis, Mark,
thank you for your advice. The work I do for the non-profit is indeed a volunteering job. I'll detail a bit what I do there and what I learned from it.
I run a project that organises two events a year. Each event has a budget of around 8000-9000 euro and is attended by around 120 participants. I run the event with some 10 volunteers.
I'm responsible to keep the team satisfied and focused, I make the budgetting and the logistic planning. Each event has made around 2500-3500 euro for the organisation.
What I've learned from this is how to keep volunteers happy. As said I think volunteers are more difficult to manage as they can leave whenever they feel like (it has happened in the past). Since 4 years I've been having the same team with only one person leaving the team (and that was for reasons not related to the project).
I also learned to run a strict budget, asking myself with each expense "Does this make the project better?" or "Is this really needed?", if the answer is "No." I put it on a nice-to-have list. If we have budget left for it (after all main expenses) I might add it back in.
Personally I think that the experience I learned from my work in the non-profit organisation could be helpfull on my resume. As it shows that I'm able to lead a team (albeit it's not on a day-to-day basis) and I'm also able to handle a budget and generate a good income for the organisation.
Jeremy
PS: I've been listening to the Manager Tools podcasts since september 2008 and I'm addicted to them.
Probably Okay
Jeremy-
I think you can mention your non-profit experience as a bullet/accomplishment on your resume, under the circumstances. If you have multiple instances, each instance gets its own bullet, under the job you were doing when you ran the event.
And good luck with the transition!
Thank you
Mark,
thank you for the advice.
Jeremy