No line management experience

[untiedairlines]

I’ve had a non-standard career path and somehow have managed to reach Senior Portfolio Manager without ever having line managed anyone.

I’m looking to make the next move and I feel this is a really glaring gap in my profile. I’ve got lots of informal coaching experience; have worked in big teams and done lots of delegation; been heavily involved in stakeholder management but never actually been someone’s line manager.

Does anyone have any tips?

I work in L&D...I would suggest:

• Focus on the competencies needed to be a line manager and map the experiences you’ve had to those. So for example, you talk about having coaching experience which would be a core competency for a successful line manager.

• Ensure you understand the People Processes for your organisation.

• Ask to be a part of things like calibration, interview panels.

I’m senior manager level and have also never been a line manager. I don’t feel it’s a huge problem, and can think of others in the same boat.

Mentor someone/ see if you can get a grad or work experience person etc...

I have had a similar career path, albeit in a different profession. I have a package just under 6 figures, but have never officially line managed. I have had trainees, ran projects, had more junior colleagues working beneath me, but I've never had anyone report into me.

I also feel m missing a piece of the jigsaw, but I try to focus on the pseudo line managed aspects of my job. When you think about it when you're in a relatively senior position you are constantly managing relationships, encouraging note junior colleagues, setting deadlines etc. It's management in all but name.