Becoming the boss, how to go from an individual contributor into a management role with Ilona Polinovsky

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Chan With A Plan, host Max Chan speaks with Ilona Polinovsky, with multiple years in the healthcare industry. We discussed her career journey, including how she was able to successfully move up from being an individual contributor into a management role with direct reports and providing advice for professionals that also want to take that step in their career. 

QUOTES

“Cover letters are crucial too [in the job application], at least I think so, it helps you drift away from the strictly structured resume layout and add a personality touch to the application.” - Ilona Polinovsky [23:26]

“[My preparation on becoming a manager is] highly recommend listening as much as you can, asking questions as much as you can, that’s what I’m doing right now, I’m reading from early morning to late night, getting to know the policies, all of the procedures, getting to know the team, getting to know the projects and building that foundation of knowledge.” - Ilona Polinovsky [27:17]

“The end goal of the individual contributor is to succeed in managing an initiative or a project, so all of the interview questions are focused on that, while the end goal of a manager is to help the team succeed in that task.” - Ilona Polinovsky [29:26]

TIMESTAMPS

[1:01] Meet Ilona 

[2:59] How Ilona started her career as a business analyst

[5:45] Deciding to go straight into doing her masters program instead of getting work experience first

[6:46] How Ilona found the company she wanted to work for after graduation

[8:18] Ilona realizing her rejection was based on her communication skills at the interview and not due to lack of relevant experience

[9:23] An overview of the complete interview process for Ilona’s 1st role at her target company

[11:39] Ilona’s time investment in job searching and interview preparation in order to land her 1st full time role after graduation 

[13:38] Discussing Ilona’s journey and her multiple individual contributor roles during her time at her company

[18:31] Deciding whether to pivot to another role internally or moving to another company altogether 

[19:59] Having the conversation with your manager of wanting to move to another position internally

[20:33] What Ilona enjoyed about being an analyst vs being a consultant

[21:25] The decision to go from individual contributor to manager

[22:30] Tailoring an individual contributor resume to a managerial focused resume

[23:45] If there were any doubts from the hiring team about Ilona’s experience to lead a team when she was never officially a manager before 

[25:16] Evaluating the offer from her current company and their competitor and how she decided to stick with her current company in her new managerial role

[26:00] Ilona’s preparation in order to become a successful team manager for the 1st time

[28:10] Ilona’s advice on building rapport with existing team members as their new manager

[29:14] Interview differences between an individual contributor interview and a managerial interview 

[30:23] Ilona’s experience with getting the Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification and whether it was worth it for her to get it

[32:04] Having the discussion with your manager on getting the company to fund your educational endeavors

[32:51] An overview on how to get your PMP Certification and how to prepare for the exam

[36:17] A major roadblock that Ilona had faced and what she did to overcome it to move her career forward

[37:45] Contacting Ilona

[39:37] Outro