How to transition from technical work to management with no background
Moving into management without prior business experience means learning everything from scratch, from shifting out of a tactical coordinator mindset to focusing on strategic priorities. This lack of a management background makes it difficult to know what skills and mindset shifts to tackle in the first 30 to 90 days.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from October 2026.
- This comes up 102.1× more often in r/ITManagers than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1asking for resource recommendations like podcasts, online classes, and in-person meetupsDid this help you?
- 2Asking better questions instead of giving immediate answersDid this help you?
- 3Mapping decision-makers and organizational pain points during the first monthDid this help you?
- 4Reading recommended books and frameworksDid this help you?
- 5Changing companies and applying for higher-level roles externallyDid this help you?
- 6Getting pulled into architecture or leadership meetings organically to build a track recordDid this help you?
- 7Pursuing specific certifications like CISSP for management and AWS SAA for cloud securityDid this help you?
- 8Seeking career experiences while studyingDid this help you?
- 9Gaining years of experience in the role of sysadmin or higher before managing an IT teamDid this help you?
- 10considering getting a degree in nonprofit managementDid this help you?
- 11Getting promoted internallyDid this help you?
- 12Moving to a smaller companyDid this help you?
- 13Finding someone willing to give you the first shotDid this help you?
- 14considering going back to university for Industrial EngineeringDid this help you?
- 15exploring multiple paths including ServiceNow architecture, cloud operations, and service delivery managementDid this help you?
- 16Treating management tasks and organizational issues like technical troubleshooting problems (such as addressing Shadow IT or optimizing procurement processes)Did this help you?
- 17Transitioning to individual contributor paths like staff engineer, principal engineer, or enterprise architectDid this help you?
- 18Stepping down or returning to hands-on technical rolesDid this help you?
- 19Relying on senior architecture and communication experienceDid this help you?
- 20Focusing on stakeholder management, governance, and politicsDid this help you?
- 21Emphasizing that they previously handled both technical and managerial duties simultaneously.Did this help you?
- 22Proving technical competence extensively during the technical interview rounds to overcome recruiter skepticism.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I have been in tech for some years and finally made manager but it's nothing like I expected. Might sound funny but I thought it would be more strategic planning and less babysitting grown adults about policy questions but I spend half my day in meetings and dealing with administrative stuff.”source ↗
“My team is solid so they don't need much oversight on the technical side which is great but now my job is just coordination and I'm kinda bored”source ↗
“The technical challenges were way more satisfying than the people management challenges like is it always like this or did i make a mistake taking this role”source ↗
“The problem is I’ve never actually had the Engineering Manager title, and now I’m finding it hard to make that jump because almost every EM job wants previous management experience.”source ↗
“Long term I’d like to move toward Director, but right now I’ج just trying to figure out how to break into management without already having the title.”source ↗
“I never had a manager or Lead whom i can trust and count them as my mentor who can up skill me into that role.”source ↗
“I recently got promoted in October and feeling the same way. I thought it would be a big step forward in my career but it feels like I'm back at End User support level. It's not challenging at all on a technical level and I feel like all the skills I've learned over my career as a SysAdmin are just going to waste. I got a lot of congratulations for moving up but I want to go back honestly.”source ↗
“My concern is the long-term ceiling.”source ↗
“Service Desk is sometimes treated as a commodity, and I wonder whether staying too long in this space could make it harder to move into broader IT leadership later.”source ↗
“My biggest question is: if you were 34 with this background, what would you focus on for the next 5–10 years?”source ↗
“Working on my IT Management BS at WGU and am wanting to get some experience while learning if I can.”source ↗
“I’m hoping to get recommendations on career experiences I can seek out while learning to get to a point where leading a team in the way you’re describing is something I’d be considered for and am ready for.”source ↗
“I've been stuck as an analyst for the past 5 years in a healthcare company and am looking to move into a Senior role and then on to a leadership role.”source ↗
“I'm burnt out from IR work and am looking for growth but I'm worried I'm not qualified enough and not sure how to make that move.”source ↗
“My team also does not seem to provide much options for growth.”source ↗
“I’m making the jump from an HR Coordinator / Talent Acquisition background into an HRBP role, and I'd love to hear advice from those who have made a similar transition.”source ↗
“What are the biggest mindset shifts, skills, or strategic focus areas I should prioritize in those first 30-90 days to successfully step out of the tactical coordinator mindset and into a true business partner space?”source ↗
“I have no background in business management so everything is from scratch for me.”source ↗
“I started a nonprofit a few years ago with absolutely no experience in nonprofit management, business management, or any relevant field of expertise.”source ↗
“We’re slowly growing and I’m not exactly sure where to go from here.”source ↗
“how can I get relevant experience and guidance on how to get this from “side project” to “main source of income.””source ↗
“I truly love the work that we do, and want to make this into something more, but I don’t know the first thing about any of this.”source ↗
“I'll be honest with you, once I had management experience on my resume it was very difficult to get back into being an admin. I got far less interviews, most asked why I was leaving management, and I think some even thought I'd want their job eventually.”source ↗
“I was a IT manager and applying for sysadmin jobs that paid more then what I got was a huge slap of rejection.”source ↗
“I would love to go back to being the technical guy. Tell me what you want implemented and I’ll make it happen. Managing people and making decisions sucks.”source ↗
“Oh man I feel this! My day consisted of entering time for some of my staff who are out, a meeting about “AI Initiatives “ because the Board has a hard on for it. Next was a HR meeting to revamp onboarding. Next was me trying to figure out what line item to steal from to make up for a 38% increase a vendor just pulled out of their ass.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 8How do you transition out of a generalist IT management role?
- 2How do I keep my technical skills sharp while in management?
- 3How to advance a technical career without going into management
- 3How to see accounting from a business perspective
- 4What changes when moving from a startup to a big company?
- 2How to move from nonprofit back-end operations into frontline fundraising