Updating Management Skills

Q. I am just beginning a master’s program in nonprofit administration. I currently work for a nonprofit organization as an information technology auditor. I have more than 15 years’ experience as a technologist, but my staff-management experience is nearly that old. How much of a problem will that be when I finish my degree in a couple of years, when my management experience is even older?

A. If you weren’t going back to school to freshen up your skills, you might have a harder time making the case for yourself as a manager. But you’re definitely making the right move in updating your training as you make this career change, says Rikki Abzug, a professor of nonprofit management at the Milano Graduate School at New School University, in New York, who studies career paths at nonprofit organizations. “I would assure the reader that enrollment in a nonprofit-administration program is immediately a signal to potential employers that you are transitioning back to management,” she says.

Still, you will want to make the most of your time while you’re in school to bolster this part of your résumé. Carefully select courses to augment your management skills, Ms. Abzug urges. You might also want to do a management internship. “That will freshen your management practice and enable you to speak of more recent experience when queried during the job-search process,” she advises. Because you will be dealing with younger workers who were probably still in elementary school the last time you were a manager, you might care to check out Managing Generation Y, by Carolyn A. Martin and Bruce Tulgan (Human Resource Development Press, 2001, $9.95).

In job interviews, Ms. Abzug says, don’t shy away from mentioning your long-ago management experience, but also emphasize how you’re keeping those skills current. And promote any latent management skills you have exercised more recently, suggests Elizabeth D. Hope, a career consultant who works with nonprofit, information-technology professionals in the Washington area. “You probably had to interface with many people of various levels within the firm. It would stand to reason you have developed a strong understanding of how people like to be treated, how to soothe ruffled feathers, and how to get the job done,” she says. “These are the cornerstones to effective management.”

In the meantime, it also couldn’t hurt to look for some volunteer opportunities where you can organize and lead events — and which you can cast as management experience — while you’re in school. “Every bit of experience counts,” says Ms. Hope. For volunteer opportunities in your area, check out Volunteer Solutions, Volunteer Match, or Idealist.org.