Transition from IT professional to IT manager

Hello everyone,

I would like to ask an advice from people who are familiar with IT
industry and its management side in particular. I've bean a
programmer/developer/architect for over 5 years and lately I've been
thinking about complementing my technical skills with management ones.
A short term goal I'm pursuing is to diversify my skill set to gain
higher market value. In a long run I would like to completely switch
from a technical to a managerial position.

I'm thinking about taking some relatively short part-time courses as a
first step to achieving these goals. Full-time courses are not
sustainable for me and I already have BSc. Criteria for a course
should be its educational and practical values and recognition from
employers or recruiters.

At this point I was able to find two interesting (I think so)
programs:

1) Business and Management Foundations for IT Professionals - BCIT
2) Management Skills in Advanced Technology (MSAT) - SFU

If someone has any knowledge which course would be the better option
to make a transition to a management then I would love to hear your
thoughts. If you know of alternatives to those programs, it would be
great to be aware of them as well.

Thank you,
Charles

Depending upon where you want your career to go,
you may find that Project Management Certification
would suit your needs:
http://www.pmi.org/info/default.asp
The above link is to an international standards body
where you can find various means and institutes for
achieving certification.

I haven't investigated the programs you've listed,
but it may be possible that they contribute in some fashion
toward certification. Since you've been in the industry as
long as you have, you may be able to apply some hours
toward certification as well.

Unless your goals are to become a Senior Director of IT
an an enterprise level organization, most companies will
view your certification as a sufficient level of competence
for handling most IT-related projects.

cheers


"Charles Labrada" wrote in message

> Hello everyone,
>
> I would like to ask an advice from people who are familiar with IT
> industry and its management side in particular. I've bean a
> programmer/developer/architect for over 5 years and lately I've been
> thinking about complementing my technical skills with management ones.
> A short term goal I'm pursuing is to diversify my skill set to gain
> higher market value. In a long run I would like to completely switch
> from a technical to a managerial position.
>
> I'm thinking about taking some relatively short part-time courses as a
> first step to achieving these goals. Full-time courses are not
> sustainable for me and I already have BSc. Criteria for a course
> should be its educational and practical values and recognition from
> employers or recruiters.
>
> At this point I was able to find two interesting (I think so)
> programs:
>
> 1) Business and Management Foundations for IT Professionals - BCIT
> 2) Management Skills in Advanced Technology (MSAT) - SFU
>
> If someone has any knowledge which course would be the better option
> to make a transition to a management then I would love to hear your
> thoughts. If you know of alternatives to those programs, it would be
> great to be aware of them as well.
>
> Thank you,
> Charles
>
>