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What a wonderfully timed thread. I just turned 32, have been working as a customer support engineer for 10 years and am sitting here banging my head against the wall trying to figure out how to transition from my current position to the next rung. I work remotely so I am very disconnected from corporate and the opportunities for advancement within the field service group are very few and very far between. I went back to school for a masters in Organizational Leadership and am constantly educating myself on various management tools/concepts so I know how I would approach running a service group. Unfortunately, when it comes to actually finding openings I'm coming up empty. One of the reasons for this is I don't know what I'm looking for outside my own employer. Internally, the first layer of management over field service engineers is the Group Leader. No one else seems to use that title. Whenever I attempt to search for something less specific like Service Manager I tend to come across executive level, national or multi-region positions well above what I'm looking for. I've thought about going back to school again to get an MBA (with company support) but I'm not convinced that getting another degree in such an overly saturated area of study will be of much help. I've been reading the thread on how to find a job through LinkedIn and am hoping with a bit of work I can start to make some inroads through there but I still have some work to do before I really start to step up the effort. I'm sure like many in this position I know where I want to end up but I have little to no idea how to get there. It would be nice to hear from others how they managed to move from where they started to something bigger.
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Feb 11, 2013 17:19
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ProFootballGuy posted:Just an opinion, but unless you *really* love your company, I'm not a big fan of waiting around to be promoted internally (Edit: Unless your company is growing really fast and you're in at the ground level). Quoting this because it can absolutely be true. Incoming anecdote! When I finished my master's degree 3 years ago I had a serious sit down with my group leader about my future in the company. His boss, the Regional Manager, was close to retirement and as things stood at that time, when he retired one of the two Group Leaders would be promoted opening up a position I would have a good shot at. What ended up happening was the Regional Manager was forced into retirement early and our region was merged with another. There has since been 2 more reorganizations that have resulted in additional merging and the number of Group Leader positions has gotten smaller. As much as I enjoy what I do, the people I work with and the freedom this job has granted me it's become clear that if I want to move up I have to move out. Because I waited, I've lost 3 years that I should have spent looking, polishing my resume, networking, etc. In other words, if you're looking for a promotion start looking outside your organization while you're waiting for something to open up in yours. There's a good chance you'll find something externally before something opens up internally.
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Feb 13, 2013 02:21
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econdroidbot posted:Uh oh, I see a lot of myself in this post! I'm approaching a similar crossroads at my current company. I've been successful as a senior analyst, but in my opinion it's time to jump to some sort of manager position. They keep telling me about what a good job I've been doing and maybe they will send me to Colombia or China, but then nothing happens. So, I'm coming to the conclusion that I need to leave in order to move up. It's the same problem people fresh out of college run into - everyone wants experience but you can't get experience until you have the job. What I've been doing in my own case is get into as many leadership and management roles outside of my job as possible. I maintain a subscription to Harvard Business Review to educate myself on business trends and techniques, I'm an officer with my local Toastmasters Club, I went back to school and earned an advanced degree and I'm in the process of putting together a Net Promoter system at the local level for my employer (by the way, if anyone has experience with NPS I'd love to pick your brain). I'm hoping that by doing all these extra things I can paint a picture for potential employers that while I may not be a manager at my current position I have demonstrated managerial talent and competency regardless. I don't know if all of these extra things will help at all but if nothing else I find them interesting distractions that help keep my brain working. edit: If you know anyone who has a subscription to HBR, ask them if they get offers for gifting a free year. I get them pretty regularly when my subscription is coming up. Don't have any to give at the moment unfortunately.
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Feb 17, 2013 18:32
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Ultimate Mango posted:Development Plans I'd be interested in hearing more about this. My company's HR group sent out a packet a few years ago that I think was an attempt at this and like so many things it died almost immediately. If there is a way to put a map like that together on my own I would love to learn more about it. quote:Mr. McFeely, from everything you wrote it sounds like you need to pull the eject handle where you are soon, and then really work on moving up. You are likely stifled where you are. I'm in the early process of doing just that. I've been following the discussion in the LinkedIn thread econdroidbot mentioned to help build a network and I purchased the services of one of the resume polishing goons from SA-Mart as well. I've also been thinking very seriously about a total change in career as opposed to just advancement. I've taken the FSOT to potentially get a job with the State Dept. and I've been toying with the idea of going into consulting. I like to think my advanced degree, extra curricular study and work history would help but I have no clue if that's actually the case or not. Can't say anyone has called me Mr. McFeely before but I like it and I think I'm going to demand my GF start calling me that. I'll let you know how it works out.
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Feb 20, 2013 02:02
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I posted in here a while ago looking for ideas (and even got some excellent info from another goon that I failed to follow up on) on where to go from where I am to where I think I want to be. Quick recap - I'm a field service engineer with 10 years experience who has gone on to get a Masters in Organizational Leadership and has an eye on management. However, the organization I'm a part of moves very slowly with little opportunity for direct advancement and I find my job to have become boring and routine. I was contemplating going back to school again for an MBA or MScBA but I'm not as thrilled with the idea as I used to be. I was perusing my current employers many job openings and saw that a number of positions list Project Management certification as a requirement. I was not aware that PM certification was a thing and was wondering what peoples thoughts on them were. The postings list CAPM, PMI, PMP and PRINCE2 as examples. I wouldn't expect a PM cert to suddenly open up management opportunities that weren't there before but it seems like I could have a better shot at side stepping into a role that would allow me to actually start making some career progress. Anybody here have any experience with PM certs, the training companies or even any thoughts on their value?
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Aug 8, 2013 00:47
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Sounds like getting a PM Cert is one of those, "It can't hurt but it's not a huge door opener either" deal. Let me ask another way - What might I expect if I were to end up taking a PM position? The job I'm looking at (and ended up applying for) is tangentially related to what I do now. The position is part of our customer relocation group and the position is for the person tasked with overseeing the relocation planned and executed. I think the position sounds interesting for a lot of the reasons I love my job now but project management isn't something I've done or studied since college 13+ years ago and I can't remember a single thing from that class.
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Aug 10, 2013 13:28
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Landed an interview for a Group Leader position with my current employer, on the other side of the country. I've been wanting one of these positions for a while now as it's the entry level/front line Manager position for field service. The bulk of the interview will be a panel interview where I give a 30 minute presentation to my potential boss, his boss, a coworker and someone from HR. Between my extra education and time with Toastmasters I think I've got a good shot at this position. Time to get to work!
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Nov 22, 2013 19:58
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Well crap. Back to the drawing board. Had a great panel interview, my presentation went over well, my ideas were well received, got along with everyone from someone who would have been at the same level all the way up to the positions boss' boss' boss. Got the call today that the position went to someone within the group. Not a huge surprise but was a huge disappointment. So I'm back to trying to figure out what to do with 11 years as a field service engineer with a Masters in Organizational Leadership. I'm incredibly lucky to be in the position I am but god drat do I want to do something with all the education I've collected. I'm starting to wonder if I need to try and make a lateral move. Maybe just getting the chance to live somewhere new, outside of flyover country, would be enough to get me out of my funk. Hell, the position for the guy who got the job I was hoping for is open. Maybe I should go work for him.
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Dec 20, 2013 00:24
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corkskroo posted:It seems like most moves are lateral with the benefit of putting you in a vertical that aligns with your goals better (out of production or phones, into marketing or management) or puts you geographically where you want to be. If that's something you can realistically achieve then go for it. The big jumps in pay and status seem to be more in external moves. Internal are more about honing your skills and aligning yourself with work you want to do. That's how it looks to me, anyway. The thing is, I'm lined up right where I want to be. A lateral move would be the same job I have now, just in a new location. The problem is that I can't quite seem to get that bump up in position that I'm looking for. The role I interviewed for are few and far between. I've also tried looking at competitors but I'm not having much luck there either. Honestly I'm venting more than anything. It was a real bummer to come out of it feeling that good and still missing it. I only missed it by that much but close doesn't get me the job. Blah.
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Dec 20, 2013 01:42
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With that much international/language experience have you thought about trying to get a job with the State Dept? http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3166411&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=1
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Dec 24, 2013 16:03
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Ran into a situation while job hunting that I hadn't expected and am looking for outside thoughts. I've been half heartedly job searching for a new position inside and outside of my company. I'm trying to move into a supervisory/management role after being in Field Service for almost 12 years but have also been applying for field service positions in other industries. I applied for a field service manager position with a company selling similar but non-competing equipment. Yesterday I got an email from one of their recruiters saying that they were looking at a number of candidates with field service management experience (ie not me) for the role I applied for but would I be interested in a Technical Sales position. I've never really considered sales because, seriously, gently caress those guys, but it has caused me to stop and think about what does one do to move up/get ahead in sales? I'm not that interested in the sales position itself but rather what doors does being in sales open that being in field service doesn't?
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Jun 14, 2014 14:46
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 03:00 |
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Just interviewed for a new position on the other side of the country. It would be a promotion into a position that I've wanted to transition to for a few years now. I interviewed with the same group a few months ago for the same position in another location. I'm hoping that since they invited me back this go around they're already interested in making me an offer. C'mon you bastards! Get me out of Utah!
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Mar 27, 2015 22:26
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