A couple of years ago, my son came back from school with the homework assignment to describe his father's job in a short interview of about 7 questions. My challenge was to keep it short, emphasise the essentials and make it understandable for my son's classmates. My son got a good grade for it. And even today, after all these years, I think this concise but timeless document has retained its power. What do you think?
1 What is your profession?
My profession is that of an interim manager, that is a manager for a limited period of time, hence ‘interim’. An interim manager actually does what a ‘normal’, i.e. salaried, manager does. Frequently however he finds himself in a special situation. The interim manager usually is called in when a salaried manager suddenly is no longer available. Or it may be that there are tasks to be completed for which it is better to employ someone ‘from outside’.
2 Why did you choose this career
The tasks that an interim manager has to perform rarely resembles the usual operational routine. Due to the special situation in which he is deployed, his tasks are nearly always new and exciting. Creating something new in a constantly changing company has a special appeal for me. It never gets boring. And that's why I chose this job. By the way, it's not badly paid either.
3 What training did you have to complete and how long did it take?
There is no proper training programme for interim managers. This job profile is relatively new. The requirements profile to be fulfilled is not (yet) formally defined. Nevertheless, an interim manager must have a range of skills. It is good if they were once managers in a senior position themselves. But the skills, knowledge and experience of a management consultant are also very helpful here. From the list above, it has certainly become clear that an interim manager should have gained several years of experience in a responsible position after completing his studies. This can easily add up to 5 to 10 years of professional experience before you take on such a role.
4 What activities do you carry out in your job?
On the one hand, I continue the operational business that I took over from my predecessor. However, as this is generally not enough, I set up one or more change projects. These should revitalise the company or make it fit for certain important projects in the first place. To do this, I need to have a good understanding of the business, i.e. the markets, customers, suppliers and service processes. As this is about change management, I also need to take the people involved ‘on the journey’. After all, the plans will only succeed if everyone is on board.
5 What advantages and disadvantages do you experience in your job?
The advantages of this profession also entail its disadvantages. And what I see as an advantage, others may see as a disadvantage. I see the advantages: Always new tasks in new companies, but also in new locations and with new people. The tension that arises when it's not entirely clear at the beginning whether the big change will succeed. And in the end, the satisfaction of having succeeded, perhaps having saved an entire company.
That actually already lists the disadvantages: The uncertainty of the new situation, long and very stressful working days, travelling times, the pressure of expectations that weighs on me, sometimes even outright rejection. And there's not always anything that can be salvaged. Those are rather sad cases then.
6 Do you have to do regular training or is that not necessary in your job?
Yes, of course I do. Maybe that's nothing special nowadays. Don't we have to keep on learning in every profession? However, an interim manager is often called in when a company has ’missed the train’ to an essential development. He himself must therefore always be up to date, both professionally and in terms of working and management methodology. There is no set training programme for this. A lot of personal initiative is hence required.
4.7 Do you know of any professions that are similar to yours?
The job of a manager in a volatile environment, i.e. in markets that change quickly, probably faces similar challenges. Project managers of major projects or explicit change management projects, so-called change managers, can also grow into such a role. And finally, management consultants who are not afraid to implement their own recommendations within the company may have a similar job profile.
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