Team Lead type positions

joemc3

Hello all, I need your professional experience. I have been in the tech industry for 9 months. I have done the following so far.

I was employed here for 6 months
Call center:
Escalated tickets
Answered many calls
General troubleshooting

Operations Engineer:
Escalating Tickets
Restarting servers and JVMS
Building JIL files for autosys deploys
Server monitoring
Linux stuff


In the past I was a supervisor at a warehouse and I was responsible for several large projects. I have lead a team of 6 for 8 years. So, If I get my ITIL and Project + can I set myself up for a team-lead role or similar role? Is there anything I am missing for progression of roles or certifications to get looked at?

Thank You All!

soccarplayer29

Leading an IT team with 9 months of experience seems pretty unlikely to me. I would expect a team lead to have years of relevant field-specific experience preferably complimented with past supervisory experience.

I think ITIL is a decent place to start and probably makes sense based on your background. It all depends on what kind of team you're trying to lead...I'd check out the job boards (dice, indeed, etc.) and see what team lead positions are asking for and align yourself with that.

Based on your experience it probably makes sense to take desktop/support role and continue to expand your experience and build your knowledge base which you can use in a leadership role later on.

636-555-3226

I see a lot of good IT stuff on there. How about some leadership building? Lots of good books out there

The 5 Levels of Leadership: Proven Steps to Maximize Your Potential

The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't

etc.

One thing I find fascinating is company after company after company promotes highly skilled, knowledgeable people into roles that have people under them, but never once do they provide any leadership training. Some people accept the challenge and rise to the occasion, but most that I see struggle to fit into a role they don't really know much about.

This isn't to say you fit that mold - you clearly have some supervisory experience, but it's important to remember there's a difference between a manager and a leader. A manager makes sure that the work is getting done at the end of the day. A leader helps his team succeed personally as well as professionally. Managers don't make of an impact in people's lives, and that's why they never really rise to greatness. Leaders can make tremendous impact in people's lives, and those impacted people usually end up giving back more to the organization because they feel more fulfilled. Until they move onto another job, that is. Anyway, you get the point.

I always find it valuable when people are interviewing for management roles to ask them all about how great and technically proficient they are. Get them all buttered up and feeling awesome, then I hit them with "how much leadership training have you received or gone after" question and they usually stumble and fall after that.

powerfool

A team lead is typically a very senior technical resource that leads projects and initiatives... almost a junior manager with significant technical requirement. It is like the the reverse of an IT manager without technical ability.

UncleB

If you were good at leading the team in the warehouse for 8 years then you are well on the way to have what it needs to run the likes of a service desk or desktop support team.

I disagree with some of the othe posters that you need to be an experienced techie - you need to be able to read people and know when they are bullshitting and when they need help / training / sacking etc and learn as you go. Yes being technical is a big help, but if leading the team is the majority of the job then modest experience is plenty - so long as you are an experienced leader.

There are so many tales of management that have promoted a techie to team leader because there is nowhere else for them to go or they want to add some responsibility to reward them. This almost always leads to a pretty crap team leader who can't communicate with the team and get them to do the job in the way a good leader can.

Check to see if your company offer any inhouse management training courses and ask to be put on these - or see if you can get put on some self-study courses. By asking this you raise a flag in your managers mind that you are serious and may be a candidate for a future position, and will consider you when the role comes up, taking more notice of you in your normal work.

It is always best to take control of your personal development as companies rarely will help that much, but you have most of what it takes to do the role already given your background.

Good luck
Iain

networker050184

powerfool wrote: »

A team lead is typically a very senior technical resource that leads projects and initiatives... almost a junior manager with significant technical requirement. It is like the the reverse of an IT manager without technical ability.

Agreed here. Management doesn't always have to be technical. My best experience with a manager was someone leading a group of highly skilled engineers but was not very technical at all. Team lead on the other hand is the person with the technical chops that can provide the technical direction and help to a team. This person usually doesn't have all the managerial duties though.

joemc3

Ok, a lot of great advice here. I really appreciate. I am currently pursuing the IT in Management through the School Of Business at WGU. I referenced Team Lead, because at my current place my team lead doesn't do anything technical. It's all about agile and ITIL here.

YesOffense

Great experience if you can get it with a good manager behind you, mentoring you for future leadership. Usually they expect you to be able to do any role on the team at the drop of a hat, but that's not your priority. Your priority is leading the team which is mostly hands off. Tough balance at times, you're not doing the technical as much as the team, but you're expected to still maintain that proficiency, not like a full manager.