Remember the vicious cycle you went through as an early teen of not being able to get a job, because you had no experience, but not being able to get experience, because no one would give you a job?
Well fast forward 10, 20 or 30 years later and you might be finding yourself in a similar situation. You want to progress to managerial level within your career but, how do you land a manager role without any experience?
Keep reading for some of our top tips for getting started:
Mentor new staff
When new and inexperienced staff join your team or company you should take your chance to put yourself forward to show them the ropes. Naturally you will have to employ some management skills and if you help them out early on, it is likely that these individuals will continue to come to you for help and advice as they progress.
Offer new ideas and improvement to company processes
By putting ideas and improvements forward you will stand out to people within the organisation who are higher up and likely to be active members of manager recruitment. Similarly if you have an idea or improvement that the company wants to take on, it is likely that you will be a driving force in implementing it. This will help to demonstrate your innovation and leadership qualities which are paramount for successful managers.
Volunteer to lead projects
Within your team, there may be opportunities to lead certain projects. Often, if managers trust you, they will be more than happy to delegate other projects to free up some of their own time. Not only will this give you some opportunities to practice managing a project but you’ll also be looked at more favourably next time a management position arises.
Speak up
A big part of being a manager is speaking up and expressing ideas or opinions. Taking these opportunities to speak up and get noticed will allow you to stand out. Just remember to bear in mind that a key part of being a manager is also knowing when to hang back and let other people share their thoughts.
It is not always easy to gain management experience without having a job as a manager, keeping your eye out for these types of opportunities should help to put you in the best position possible.
