It’s one of the more frustrating parts of career progression. Most managers had a first management role at some point, yet many job ads seem to expect experience before you’ve had the chance to gain it.
The good news is that management experience can start before you have the title. Leading projects, supporting colleagues, taking ownership of problems and improving the way work gets done can all help you develop skills that are relevant to management.
Demand for management professionals is also expected to grow over the coming decade. Jobs and Skills Australia projects employment for managers to grow by 7.7% between May 2025 and May 2030, with around 279,600 additional managers projected to be employed by May 2035.
If management is where you’d like your career to go, here are some practical ways to start working toward your first role.
What skills do you need for your first management role?
If you’ve spent any time looking at management job ads, you’ve likely noticed that they don’t focus on just one skill.
Employers are usually looking for people who can communicate clearly, solve problems, make decisions and keep work moving forward when priorities compete. Managers are expected to support their teams while also keeping projects, priorities and organisational goals on track.
Important management skills can include the following:
- Communication: Setting clear expectations, listening to others and communicating with colleagues and stakeholders
- Decision-making: Weighing up information and making considered decisions when there isn’t always an obvious answer
- Problem-solving: Identifying what’s causing a problem and working toward a practical solution
- Planning and organisation: Managing priorities, deadlines, people and resources effectively
- People management: Supporting different working styles, giving feedback and helping a team work effectively
- Business awareness: Understanding how your team’s work contributes to broader organisational priorities and outcomes.
You don’t need to be an expert in every area before applying for your first management role.
A useful place to start is by looking at management advertisements in your industry. Pay attention to the skills and responsibilities that appear repeatedly, then compare them with your own experience. You may already be building many of these skills in your current role.
How can you get management experience without being a manager?
You don’t necessarily need direct reports to start developing management experience. Look for opportunities in your current role that allow you to practise taking responsibility, coordinating work and supporting others.
For example, you could:
- volunteer to coordinate a small project
- help onboard or support a new team member
- take responsibility for an important deadline
- suggest an improvement to an existing process
- contribute to planning or problem-solving
- work with people from different teams or areas of the organisation.
These experiences can give you practical examples to draw on when applying for management positions.
Can a business degree help you become a manager?
Management requires more than knowing how to perform your own role well. It can involve understanding how teams operate, how decisions are made and how different parts of an organisation contribute to the bigger picture.
A business degree can help you to develop knowledge in areas such as management, leadership, organisational behaviour, decision-making and business operations. Formal study can be particularly useful if you’ve developed strong technical expertise, but have had less exposure to the broader principles of managing people and organisations.
Western Sydney University Online’s Bachelor of Business (Management) focuses on developing business and leadership skills while building an understanding of how organisations operate.
Studying online can also enable you to continue building workplace experience while you study. This gives you opportunities to connect business concepts with situations you encounter at work.
A qualification won’t automatically lead to a management position, but it can help you to develop knowledge that supports your progression toward one.
How can you show management experience on your CV?
If you’ve never managed a team formally, focus on the responsibilities you’ve taken on and the outcomes you’ve helped achieve.
Employers want evidence that you’ve taken responsibility, coordinated work, solved problems or contributed to positive outcomes.
Instead of simply listing tasks, explain your contribution and, where possible, the result. For example, ‘helped coordinate a project’ tells an employer what you did. Explaining that you coordinated timelines between different teams and helped deliver a project on schedule gives them a clearer picture of the skills you used and the impact you had.
Start keeping a record of projects you’ve contributed to, problems you’ve helped solve, improvements you’ve suggested and times you’ve taken additional responsibility. Where possible, include the outcome.
Specific examples are often far more effective than broad claims about being a ‘natural leader’ or having ‘excellent management skills’.
When applying for management positions, read the selection criteria carefully and choose examples that directly reflect what the employer is looking for.
What jobs can help you move into management?
Moving into management often happens gradually, with increasing responsibility along the way rather than a direct step from your current role.
Positions such as team leader, supervisor, coordinator and project-based roles can be valuable pathways, because they provide experience leading work, supporting colleagues and managing priorities.
The most appropriate stepping stone will depend on your industry, current role and the opportunities available to you. For example, coordinating campaigns or projects may build relevant experience in marketing, while supervisor or team leader positions may provide more direct people-management experience in other industries.
It’s also worth looking within your current organisation. If management is part of your career plan, consider discussing your goals with your manager. Ask what the organisation looks for in potential managers and which experiences or capabilities would help you to prepare for future opportunities.
This could lead to opportunities to lead projects, take ownership of key processes or strengthen areas where you want more experience.
Feedback matters too. Knowing what you’re doing well and where you still have room to develop gives you something concrete to work toward.
Even if a promotion isn’t immediately available, taking on relevant responsibilities now can help you prepare when an opportunity arises.
How should you prepare for your first management interview?
Preparing for a first management interview can feel challenging if you’ve never officially managed people before. Rather than focusing on the title you haven’t had, prepare examples that demonstrate how you’ve already shown relevant leadership behaviours.
Think about situations where you’ve:
- solved a difficult problem
- coordinated other people
- managed competing priorities
- responded to feedback
- taken responsibility for an outcome
- stepped up when something wasn’t going to plan.
For each example, be ready to explain the situation, your specific responsibility, the action you took and the outcome. This helps an interviewer understand what you contributed rather than simply what the wider team achieved.
If you’re applying for an internal promotion, consider how your relationships and responsibilities would change in moving from colleague to manager. Being able to articulate this can demonstrate that you’ve thought beyond getting the promotion to what managing people involves.
Are you ready to take the next step towards management?
Your first management role may start with the responsibilities you take on before you ever receive the title. Building relevant skills, looking for opportunities to lead and taking ownership of your professional development can help you prepare for that next step.
If you want to develop your understanding of business and management while continuing to work, Western Sydney University Online offers flexible online business courses, including the Bachelor of Business (Management).
Explore Western Sydney University Online’s Business courses and build the business and management knowledge that can support your next career move.