As @Dukeling said in a comment, you have a few options:
- Skill up
- Look for jobs that don't ask for these skills
- Attend the interview and be prepared to do poorly on any coding component, and hope you can otherwise win them over
It can be quite difficult to write a job posting, and many companies will look at existing employees for guidance. It's a sad reality that many of the best coders become (okay) managers, so that is probably the template that are going off, even though it may not actually make sense for the role.
It never hurts to apply, but be sure that you are very clear about your limited programming expertise. Ensure you highlight you good qualities. Maybe they will rethink what they are looking for in a candidate, but I would act as soon as possible.
manpreet![Tuteehub forum best answer]()
Best Answer
2 years ago
My career path is somewhat untypical. I switched into IT from another field. My first position in IT was a managerial one straight away. (The position is between business and IT but more on the IT side).
I mainly deal with technology X, which I know very well, but more on the high level. I.e. I know what can be done with it. I'm able to evaluate different options and chose the best one. I'm able to follow technical discussions among my team members and point the direction they should go. I do code reviews from time to time and I'm normally able to pinpoint where problems can lie.
However, not really to solve them myself quickly.
I've done some programming myself, but not that much and there are people who are much better in this respect than me. My main strength is seeing the big picture, being very analytical and logical - and the ability to design X in a way that perfectly reflects business needs. Basically, I'm a good PM, but I lack technical skills. I get excellent feedback on my team's performance.
Now I need to search for a new job and I find it difficult, since most managerial positions in X require very good technical knowledge of X (e.g. I just came across a position that requires you to be "master on programming in X").
I can't say I have it and I wouldn't like to make an idiot of myself if I'm invited to an interview and given a coding test.
On the other hand, developing the technical skills would take me months if not years. Also, I wouldn't like to go back and start with a junior position. In my career so far, I've proved I'm a good PM and boss.
How to deal with the lack of technical skills when applying for jobs related to X?