Moving into management - tips and strategies?

[bochng0001]

Hi,

I'm currently 30, and have been in the workforce for about 5 years (tech industry, technical role). Currently I'd say I'm doing okay for my age, but I've been thinking about my career. I've changed jobs 2 times in the last 1 year and gotten excellent pay jumps (35%, 28%) each time, but now I'm worried about pricing myself out of the market.
I guess most people would agree that being stuck in a technical role means that there would probably be a (fairly low) ceiling in terms of salary and position; what tips would you offer for me to move into management some time in the future? Has anyone ever managed to move into a management position (in a new company) from a non-management one?

Thanks for reading and certainly welcome any advice!

Originally Posted by bochng0001

Hi,

I'm currently 30, and have been in the workforce for about 5 years (tech industry, technical role). Currently I'd say I'm doing okay for my age, but I've been thinking about my career. I've changed jobs 2 times in the last 1 year and gotten excellent pay jumps (35%, 28%) each time, but now I'm worried about pricing myself out of the market.
I guess most people would agree that being stuck in a technical role means that there would probably be a (fairly low) ceiling in terms of salary and position; what tips would you offer for me to move into management some time in the future? Has anyone ever managed to move into a management position (in a new company) from a non-management one?

Thanks for reading and certainly welcome any advice!

How much are you drawing now?

[bochng0001]

Currently at 9.8k pm.

Originally Posted by bochng0001

Currently at 9.8k pm.

You will need to secure a job with one of those global top 30 mnc. Considering your pay & assume you still want to move up, I think 99% of the companies out there are not going to pay 10k+ for an entry level manager for someone who has never manage people before.

Your kind of pay is already consider director/vp level in a lot of smaller companies and middle-high manager for regional blue chip & smaller mncs.

[bochng0001]

Yes, that's what I was afraid of...

Haha I'm from SIA and promoted to manager last year. Currently only drawing 5.2k... TS very lucky to get technical skills that can command good pay.

Define management and non-management. Just managing people or being one of the top dog?

You can be the top dog of the technical department you know? Each function will have a leadership role so yes, you can move into a management position if you work long enough.

Now, if your questions is about being the person who calls the shot or about speed. Then being in a technical position will be tough. You will need to be in sales. Since you're in tech, the suggestion will be for you to move into pre-sales, then sales, then sales management. In between, you will want to move from a segment, to country-level, to regional and then to APAC.

Now to your other question. You are not priced out of the market lah. A director in a MNC earns between $250 to $300 a year. Some sales specialist makes more than that as an individual. Why do you think you are offer such a huge jump? Because you're good? Come'on, you only have 5 years of experience.

So don't worry and stop job hoping. You can only move across roles within a company and not across companies.

As a hiring manager, I would be pleased with your ambition but I would be very weary about you not having realistic expectation of your career development. Also, I do not hire anyone with less than 3 years in their last job.

[bochng0001]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Haha I'm from SIA and promoted to manager last year. Currently only drawing 5.2k... TS very lucky to get technical skills that can command good pay.

Are u in a position where you're managing a team? If so, that does seem to be a fairly low salary as most engineers can hit that salary in a few years without going into management..
Also, I do know quite a few places have inflated titles where "managers" don't actually manage anyone...

And by the way, happy CNY to everyone!

I am 45 this year and I am a Operations manager with a global US MNC represented in DOW Jones. My monthly is $12k and I understand from head hunters that it is difficult to get similar pay in other local companies here.

This is an interesting post. I am 28 and work in a global MNC. I think TS should try growing within the company, moving across roles and eventually move to managment. For myself, I focus more learning and if there are other roles within company I will move across. My current situation is that my pay is competitive and learning/growth is much more compares to my former company. This makes me unwilling to join a new company.