[awaythrow101]

How does an individual contributor (specifically in a startup) get promoted to engineering management?

My company is specifically looking to hire a PMP certified manager (externally) to oversee the five person dev team, and there's no way I could get that certification because it requires five years of management experience. Is it worth having a conversation to see if this requirement can be overcome?

[philjr]

Sounds like you're not working in a technology company, where technology is in the DNA of the company.

PMP certified dev managers without any dev experience (I'll emphasise the last bit), in my experience, have been universally poor. There's too big a gap to fill between project management language (which is what pmp or prince gives you) and building something through modern development practices. If you have some very strong engineering leads who can fill the gap and translate then that might work but it's a dynamic I've never seen balanced correctly. Most successful technology/software companies that I know don't work this way which is why I made my original comment above.

Addressing your desire to move in to management, the first thing you need to do is express a desire to move in to management and then you need to figure out (communicate with your current boss) how to get from here to there. The simplest way I've seen this achieved is by being part of a growing organisation as there's always lots of opportunities. It's much easier to get an internal promotion than moving to management externally, but you could set those expectations through the interview process... "I'm really interested in a senior engineer position but my ambition is to move in to management. Do you see me being able to fulfil that ambition with your company?"

[awaythrow101]

Thanks for the feedback. We are a software company (web and mobile), but we work in the broadcast industry where things can be a little more old-fashioned.

Ultimately I want to run my own company eventually, and I feel like management experience would be a beneficial and necessary thing to have in that case. I worry that remaining a developer (even with an inflated title) will make it look like I'm standing still in my career.

I think I just need to bite the bullet and have the conversation, at least once this project is finished.

[rfrey]

specifically looking to hire a PMP certified manager (externally) to oversee the five person dev team

I read that and felt very, very sad.

[awaythrow101]

You and me both.

[proksoup]

The conversation could be valuable to you even if it does not lead anywhere immediately.