Moving from the front line.

[LatteLiberal]

Has anyone made the transition from techie to management? I have several pages of CV filled with top name clients from various sectors and thought that experience would be extremely useful in management of an IT project? How do you make that first leap though?

[RasputinDude]

More than once, yes - I'm about to again as it happens because I'm bored.

Have you actually managed any projects in your top name clients? Have you demonstrated an understanding of seeing a project beyond it's technical scope? Have you taken a project from inception, budgeted, planned, implemented, tested, released and maintained a project?

Oh, and moving to project management isn't "moving from the front line", it's "moving *to* the front line". As a techie, you have a relatively small set of responsibilities, but as the manager of the project, you have to deal with bolshy techies who want to use the latest technologies just because they're there even though they're not appropriate, bolshy financial people who want to keep snipping bits off your budget, bolshy support people who keep complaining that they don't know what they're supporting, bolshy testers who keep claiming that the techies aren't doing it right, bolshy customers trying the change the requirements because they've read an article in "computer weekly" and bolshy senior directors who are trying to get it all done in this financial year.

[LatteLiberal]

More than once, yes - I'm about to again as it happens because I'm bored.

Have you actually managed any projects in your top name clients? Have you demonstrated an understanding of seeing a project beyond it's technical scope? Have you taken a project from inception, budgeted, planned, implemented, tested, released and maintained a project?

I haven't managed any projects I have been a humble developer/software engineer at these clients. How does one get the first taste of management?

[eek]

I haven't managed any projects I have been a humble developer/software engineer at these clients. How does one get the first taste of management?

You are Russell and I claim my £5.

[Old Hack]

You are Russell and I claim my £5.

Got to be MF with all his mistakes.

He was rattling on about not being in IT a while back, then wanting to move to this country, now he's born and breed, listening to Radio 4 and a techie. Sit back a while, this has a way to run

[Gibbon]

I haven't managed any projects I have been a humble developer/software engineer at these clients. How does one get the first taste of management?

Be good enough to be asked to look after project X for a while etc. If you haven't been asked then you're probably not perceived to be good enough.

[RasputinDude]

^^^
WGS

Demonstrate that you can lead and that you have the aptitude.

[formant]

Heh, I moved from management back to techie cause I was bored out of my mind. And by 'back' I mean with quite an increase in pay.

Either way, good luck.

[northernladuk]

Has anyone made the transition from techie to management? I have several pages of CV filled with top name clients from various sectors and thought that experience would be extremely useful in management of an IT project? How do you make that first leap though?

Not if you don't posses the skills to manage projects. Experience counts for nothing if you don't know how to apply it. There is a thing called the Peter Principle which basically says if you are promoted on the achiements of your old job you will eventually become incomptent at your new one. To get around this you need to try and accumulate the skills you need in the next job while you are in the current one. Management needs a different and distinct set of skills and competencies required are different. Coding needs to be accurate and analytical, management needs to be more people and organisation focussed. You prior knowledge at other clients becomes useful but not essential.
Before I get ripped apart I have missed tons of points to try and put it in one paragraph.

You need to look at what roles you want to do and start skilling up. If it is Project Management start looking at Prince2 and the like. If it is more business management look at softskills etc

Might be best looking to becoming team lead first and look at the skills/qualifications required and get them ready...

Oh... and you have bob hope of making this leap as a contractor. Remember we are brough in as specialists with years of experience so we can hit the ground running. No one is going to contract you above your station with no qualifications or demonstrable skills. Might be worth trying a stint in permie land and look for promotions and then come back to contracting when you are ready.

[sasguru]

Has anyone made the transition from techie to management? I have several pages of CV filled with top name clients from various sectors and thought that experience would be extremely useful in management of an IT project? How do you make that first leap though?

You're too stupid to be a manager. Not that that'll make you exceptional.