Transition to ManagementMy career has produced a resume that is full of contract work and intermittent short term permanent positions. Some of its a bunch of company transition (bankruptcy, downturns, and company relocation to other places) other parts of the resume are experiences that just were poor fits based on culture, environment. When I decided to resume my education back in 2001, I was fed up with these kinds of opportunities and was hopeful that this educational opportunity might open other doors into management, being an educator, and even changing some of the problems I had face in the past. That is the goal I had in mind anyway. I finally graduated about a year ago with a Master of Science. The degree would be described as an Engineers MBA in my view. I have had mixed reviews from people within industry. Some people are open to a person such as myself transitioning to management, others seem to prefer someone they have been tutoring over the years. I have seen even the most unusual cases where a company has assigned a person with little or no management experience and a high school diploma to "Director of Research and Development". I wouldn't have a problem with that but this guy was a walking corporate disaster waiting to happen and could just barely count.... but he was, in the view, of the other management, management material. Reminds me of the cartoon of the Neanderthal with a tie on (management material) and the Neanderthal without a tie on (not so much). I don't regret the grad degree in spite of the fact that it has not yet produced the opportunities I have been hoping it would. But admittedly, I am at a crossroads as to what direction to take because of the barriers I have faced. Certainly, a degree is not everything but it certainly indicates a level of achievement that is not common. (They don't just let any yutzinto these programs) To some extent I find that the gravity of my past experience seems to dominate my job search. Does anyone have any suggestions about strategies in this job search and methods of breaking into management without being part of the "good old boy" network? Ok, you're not going to like any of this but here goes. Yes, they do let just any yutz into these programs, you're a perfect case in point. They should not have allowed you to enter a Masters program until you had some solid experience in the field. If they had forced you to wait, you wouldn't be in this spot now. Now you've still got a lousy resume (at least partly due to your own choices) and an expensive degree on top of it. Why would I as a hiring manager think that you'd be a good bet? Your work history sucks and you've never been in any sort of managment role before. You need to look at very entry-level management positions in your field. I'm not sure what that equates to in engineering talk, but in generic business talk it would equal an Admin Assistant or Customer Service Rep type level. Once you do that job for a couple of years, you can post for the next higher step and so on and so on. You'll establish that you can actually stick with a job for more than a few months at a time and at the same time, learn the culture, companies and industries that you want to be working for. You should also talk to the career center at your school. They should have job postings and may have internships you can apply for.
Tess I am not sure what brought that on..but the degree that I have is very well respected in the industry and so far, has been very well received. My intermittent experience is a due problem but it has been steady employment with some fortune 500 and 100 companies over the last 20 years. These intermittent experiences are explainable... companies that relocate, bankruptcies, and so on, but they have been quite valuable as a learning tool. It has also exposed me to a variety of cultures and product development efforts that I would never have been exposed to if I had been in a one dimensional job for 10 years... doing the same thing over and over again. And you do have to have a B average to get in which means you have to be above average in certain categories. The people that were in my program were some of the best and the brightest in the Twin Cities. I am part of that group in spite of your cheap seats opinion. I am confident things will change for the better in spite of your rather negative review. I have a great deal to offer compared to a high school grad who may even know the culture but has a hard time understanding what spreadsheets do and how to use them. Why should you hire me? Because I am entrepreneurial, resourceful, highly trained in management practice and operations, I know product design and development like the back of my hand. I can make immediate contributions both technically and on a leadership basis, I am a spreadsheet wizard and can do some pretty nifty cost analysis and business evaluations, I am articulate and can speak in front of large groups of highly intelligent people. I can motivate and coach/teach people, I am honest and have legitimate integrity in a world where not so honest executives and managers have been making the news. I can make your company more profitable. Culture is pretty easy to catch on to if the strategy is clear. Perhaps I can contribute to improving your culture. Culture should be an inroad not a barrier as you seem to be proposing. | |
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Career Tips
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