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I would not recommend trying to interview as a manager for any large tech company without having first been a manager in another role. I would also not recommen
by sulam 7y ago
I would not recommend trying to interview as a manager for any large tech company without having first been a manager in another role. I would also not recommend doing this for small startups, but some may be willing to hire you into such a role without you being able to point to concrete experience in the role (the filters aren't as strong).
I say this because that is personally a cardinal rule of mine, and I've never heard anyone contradict it -- hiring a manager comes with inherent risk, and you significantly add to that risk by hiring someone that hasn't done it before. If you want to try out management, you should first get a job as an individual contributor somewhere and then move into a management job in that company. They will know a lot more about you from having worked with you and you will know a lot more about the team, the company, etc and have a much higher chance of being successful.
This is really a two-way street, you are much more likely to be successful this way as well. The interview process is simply too artificial to get a good read on how someone will do as a manager when they don't have previous experience.
- lostdog 7y ago> I would not recommend trying to interview as a manager...without having first been a manager in another role. This is my experience too. Companies don't like hiring managers without at least a little experience, and often are resistant to hiring first level managers at all. Instead, they look for "senior IC, but manager material" candidates, and extend an IC offer with a loose expectation of becoming a manager in a year or so. It's not an explicit role you can apply for, but you can target it by applying for an IC role and keeping any leadership and team-focused experience visible on your resume and during your interviews. As I get older, this is the bucket I tend to get put in during interviews, and then after joining I decide if I want to be a manager this time around.
- syndacks 7y agoWhat's the bar for being hired as a FAANG engineering manager? Prev FAANG management experience? Prev FAANG IC role? Cursory LinkedIn searches show many FAANG engineering managers were promoted from within or came from a similar position at a similar company. FWIW I've been both an IC before and have steadily moved to CTO at my current startup. I come from a non traditional background (non CS) but had several leadership roles there. Thanks.
- nbm 7y agoBeing hired in as an engineering manager requires having been an engineering manager previously (at any company), generally for a reasonable period (let's say, minimum two years of full-time management experience minimum with at least 3 direct reports), with a career YOE of around at least five years. You're generally coming in at the same pay band as a senior IC (you might be able to see this sort of information in levels.fyi), so you'll be in the same ballpark of experience/career trajectory. If you don't have enough engineering manager experience, you can generally join as an IC (with a full IC interview loop) with a view to converting to manager. You may have additional discussions or even interviews around management as well, especially if converting to manager is something you identify as a career goal (as opposed to an option). Converting to manager from an IC is generally pretty easy if you've shown good aptitude for leadership - the larger companies generally find it a lot easier to hire ICs than good managers externally, so internal conversions are necessary to keep up with demand for quality management attention on teams.
- syndacks 7y agoThanks for your thorough point of view.
- asdf21 7y agoWhat are the interview questions aligned towards? More soft skills, or are there still a bunch of algo questions, etc?
- nbm 7y agoI don't know if this is as standard across the FAANG (and similarly styled companies) as an IC interview is - some companies expect managers to have been able to be successful as mid-level ICs, and some might not. Recruiters will generally happily describe company's process to you if you're applying, or will tell you if you ask if they reach out to you. Often, you'll still have a coding (or other technical interview) and a system design interview, and a probably very similar general "people skills/career" type interview that an IC gets. But instead of another one or two technical interviews, you'll have another one or two manager-focused interviews (how to build teams, how to run projects, how to grow individuals, how to navigate a particular scenario).
- heedlessly3 7y agoNo, someone shouldn't be discouraged in applying. But they should know that their chances are low. If an inexperienced manager is hired by the tech company, the blame falls on the tech company's hiring practices when things don't work out, not the applicant. People will always want a big raise or promotion.