The perfect job appears on an internet posting you just happened to see.  You know you could do the job; it would be just the stretch you need to shake yourself out of your rut and make the next career move.  But it comes with line supervision responsibilities.  Is that (for now) too high a rung on your career ladder to reach? 

People are often very good at making a name for themselves as subject matter specialists.  Many are happy to stay in the specialist role, taking on leadership positions within their organization that play to their strengths without having to manage a team.  However, business and governmental organizations today need fewer thought leaders than middle managers, and that means the route of career progress is paved with employee supervision.

 There are many benefits to having line supervision experience.  It provides the opportunity to learn a new skill set and improve your delegating and coaching techniques.  It shows your manager that you have the skills to lead others.  It broadens your business knowledge and allows you to explore your preferred work styles.  It puts you into another career bracket and may push you up to a higher management level, which will help your peers take your career development seriously, which, in turn, will open other doors for you later on.  Above all, it is hugely rewarding to see your staff grow as a result of your supervision and guidance. 

Even taking all these benefits into consideration, moving into a line management role is not to be taken lightly.  There is an incredible amount of work involved in running a slick team.  Having made the jump in my earlier career, my advice would be to do it with caution.  Even though I had governmental management academic training, in the beginning, I underestimated the amount of effort it takes to keep on top of team administration: who is on holiday when, what training courses are coming up, team meetings, inductions for new employees, and one-on-ones and performance appraisals.

On top of the practical business of keeping things moving forward, I was also expected to be available for advice and guidance and to represent my team at various management meetings and committees, turn in weekly and monthly reports and forecast resource needs and budgets.  If line supervision is something you are considering on top of your normal day job, then be warned that the two things aren’t compatible unless you are prepared to put in some serious hours at the office to do it well.  This time is well spent, as doing it badly will seriously undermine your efforts to progress in your career. 

Quite often a line supervisor is also a working member of the team and has to tackle the most difficult work assignments and/or train others to perform this work.  I think some of my internal conflict came from my belief that the best supervisors are “selfless’, which means to me that they put the interests of the employees being supervised ahead of themselves.  In doing so it may cost you time and resources to accomplish your own work activities; if you are not a supervisor you don’t have that built-in constraint.

So you’re ready to compete for that job?  You will probably find yourself up against people with line supervisory or management experience in your field; if you have none, it will seem like there’s no chance you’ll be successful.  Preparing your resume becomes really important.  Focus on highlighting your key skills that show you already perform some, if not all, of the tasks of an employee supervisor.  I can assure you the Human Resources recruiter that has to review your resume will appreciate it.  

Illustrate in your work history: 

• project work, when you have lead a team of people to achieve a specific objective;
• cross-departmental initiatives like automation, which show your ability to work with others, make decisions and follow through;
• your role in your professional body, i.e., leading a specialist interest group or hold a regional administrative or committee role; and
• times when you have mentored or coached a more junior member of staff, or been part of the recruitment process for new hires. 

Your resume should highlight that you are capable of working with others but also taking the lead.  Make it clear on paper and at your interview that you have the communication skills and planning ability required to guide a team towards its objectives.  You’ll also need to demonstrate strategic insight to show the interviewing panel that you can help define and prioritize those objectives. 

My experience has shown me that line supervision is tough.  I’d challenge you to find someone who tells you that being responsible for others at work is easy.  Having said that, it is not so tough that only a gifted few can do it.  Some will be better than others, but if you put in the effort and take a real interest in your staff and what they do, you too can be a good line supervisor. 

Here at Riverside County we try to hedge out bet by introducing people in a more formal way to the skills they will need as a supervisor.  You have seen me refer to the Center for Government Excellence, and the Supervisory Academy offered by the County.  It provides 10 full days of instruction; three of those are specifically on the Profession of Supervision; another two days on Coaching; but it all starts with two days of “Crucial Conversations” training.  Practising the learned techniques helps you to get unstuck, that is it teaches you how to spot conversations that are keeping you from what you want. 

So, this is what you can look forward to if you take a County job in the Desert as a supervisor.