[cloud5ir]

It really depends on your company/culture. I spoke with a variety of different EMs about their career progression and I learned there's really no single, straightforward path. Many ICs-turned-EMs were already doing the job, just lacking the title. The promotion to EM was just a natural promotion. (This is common, but takes a while and really depends on demand w/in your company and headcount requirements.) If you don't have a lot of people/team management experience or if you want to move faster, you'll probably need voice your desire to be an EM and find a leader who is willing to take a chance on you. (This is faster, but can be difficult to convince someone to trust you when you don't have experience managing people. I've seen this chicken & egg problem a lot...'how am I supposed to prove my abilities as an EM if nobody is willing to let me try?')

If you are in the latter situation, think about all the team/people/product/project management activities you've performed in the past and use that to build your narrative. You don't have to be an EM to have/demonstrate those skills. You should definitely apply and interview elsewhere...it can't hurt. Worst case, you get some practice and you get a better idea of what your industry is looking for in an EM. Best case, you get the job :)