How to Get Out of Being a Technical Contributor
My experience of moving from engineering to a business role
A big part of why I went into engineering was due to my love of problem solving. The other reason is that my father was an engineer. What I do know is that from the first day of starting off as an engineer, I knew that I didn’t want to be in engineering… at least not forever. The plan was always to move into another function of business and eventually senior management.
The Decision
Whether it was day 1, like it was for me, or it’s day 3,000 many technical individuals decide they want to break into the world of management. Whether this is functional people leadership, or project management, it’s an entirely different ballgame. The important thing that I have found is that making the decision is one thing but being able to follow-through can be quite challenging.
The Preparation
If you have found the position that you want to take on, for me it was project management, then it’s time to start preparing for what that means. Unfortunately, unless you have performed parts of that function before, it can be very difficult. Thankfully, as an engineer I was surrounded by project managers, and they were always willing to talk about their work and what they (dis)liked. This was beneficial because it gave me great insight into what could come my way.
The other piece of preparation that is important is having an understanding that the interview process is can be different. For myself, I had to prepare and deliver a presentation to a set of 4 directors and a staff project manager, which thankfully was a fun experience for me! Those public speaking skills and customer relationship skills can be crucial depending on the type of business role you are looking to get into.
The Commitment
One of the most frequently asked questions when I was taking the step was:
This role requires dealing with more ambiguity than an engineer. How do you think you will handle that?
The truth is that is a difficult question to answer until you have the opportunity to be in the position! The key to my success was confidence, I firmly stated that I like ambiguity and was looking forward to the new challenge in my career. Now, this was not a lie as I do believe there is a certain amount of fun involved with ambiguity… probably why I found a passion in finance.
Luckily, I aced the first interview and got the project manager position. From there on out, it was about a head down grind to learn what my new profession was. This is the last part of commitment that is required to make this type of behavioral job change. Of course, if you find that you don’t like it, there’s nothing wrong with going back to the technical side. Some of the most brilliant engineers I know were once functional managers, or even engineering directors but decided they preferred the hands-on work of building product, so they went back.
Your Journey
Whatever path you take in life, just know that it’s yours to make. There are few decisions we make that are objectively right or wrong. We simply need to understand the implications and accept them.
