I'm on the job hunt again, and I got an interview at a big-name PR firm. Good news: First interview went well. Still got a few other hurdles to hop, though. Bad news: They put an emphasis on management for this position that startled me. I actually have managed people before - a 12-intern team, and I generally got good reviews for it. My coworkers kept telling me that the interns loved working with me. But I couldn't ever get any of my own work done when I was managing them. I think it was the planning aspect of it that really got me. I can't plan for crap. I'm very good in a teaching/mentoring role, and I'm decent at enforcing whatever plan we go with, but I can't ever judge the amount of time stuff takes properly, so my planning usually winds up screwy. I have ADHD, so it kind of comes with the territory. I'm uber efficient on simple tasks, but if I receive a large mass of stuff, I just sort of stare at it. I've been trying to get better at it, but I'm still nowhere near where I need to be.
So here's my question: Is there a way to be an effective manager while being terrible at planning?
27 Feb 2013, 1:00 pm
