[bhouser]

IMO a manager needs to make their direct reports and their team successful. But you can start doing that while you're an IC: get in the habit of unblocking people and generally being useful.

Also, manage a coop student or intern. One of the reasons companies hire them is to give their ppl management experience, so take advantage of that.

I did both of these things, and my company made me a manager 2 years earlier than when I thought I'd try to transition into management.

And after 6 months I decided I didn't really like management that much, and they graciously let me transition back to IC, haha.

It probably helps if your company is growing, has a healthy management culture, and great career progression options for ICs and Mgmt. If that's not the case, switch companies.

[cornel_io]

Yep: the #1 rule about asking for an official increase in responsibility is to already be doing the job you're asking for. You can't 100% do that with management (there's a lot of official stuff involved with that role) but you can definitely do as much of the softer stuff as possible, and get people to know and trust you, which is the most important factor.