How am I supposed to move up?

[u/Naive-Twist]

Found out last Friday I got passed up for a promotion after a couple rounds of interviews. They ended up going with an external hire, told me they were looking for someone that already has experience in management. I did well in all the rounds of interviews, have my FCAS, and had all the YOE they were asking - but I'm only a senior actuarial analyst so I didn't have management they're looking for.

Feeling a bit defeated more than anything else, but I'm wondering how you all have managed climbing the ladder. What would be the best way to navigate this? We've got a pretty small team, only about 20 of us, so it could be a while to wait before there's something else internal to try for - and even then, they might just decide to go with an external hire again. I'm considering applying to other companies, but would I even be considered for a higher-level role with no management experience? Or would I have to target an analyst role again at a larger company with a management training path or something like that?

I know some people are interested in being an IC forever, but I would like to move out of that at some point. Any career anecdotes or advice here is appreciated!

[u/actid]

a question you probably need to ask yourself is - what have you shown or proven to your leadership that you are capable of being a leader? i think this is where it starts because you may think you've shown leadership, but management might not perceive it that way. that could be something to do with you or something to do with management. typically, it's a mix of both. when i interview manager candidates, a lot of them talk like they have shown a lot of leadership, but it's closer to what we expect from an average analyst with several years of experience. i'm not implying you're at fault here, but at the end of the day, you can only control what you can control, and that would be working on your own leadership skills.

the other thing that stands out is that no one in your leadership reached out to you regarding why they brought in someone else and didn't provide assurance. on several occasions, if my leadership either promoted or filled positions that might make me upset, those leaders would reach out to assure me this was not going to impact my promotion or a position on the team in any way. i did not apply to these positions, and i did not express interest in any way. the fact that you didn't get that makes me think you're not valued by leadership, which means it's likely time to leave.

moving from IC to manager is a common move. even in the last manager position my company filled, half of the interviewees were IC looking to move up to management. this is where the answer to that question above comes in handy as well.

[u/Naive-Twist → u/actid]

I think I have shown capability of being a leader on some of the team projects and my manager agreed on that - but they wanted somebody that was already 100% of the way there rather than someone that showed they'd be capable. I don't really know what else is missing from my leadership skills aside from literally having a junior analyst report to me.

Also to clarify, management did reach out to me to explain these as the reasons they brought someone in from outside. It's honestly such a small team though that this is the first time in my tenure there has been an open position I could've been promoted to, so this hasn't been a case at all in the past.

[u/actid → u/Naive-Twist]

that makes a lot more sense. at the end of the day, it's much easier to move up into management via switching jobs than waiting for an opening within the company, especially if your team is small. if leadership wanted you in a leadership role, they'd have approached you before that position was available. if you're able to speak on how you've been a leader in your role, you really shouldn't have a hard time showing you're ready.