I am in IC design industry and want to make a switch to business career. What should I do?

I have 10 years of semiconductor industry experience in silicon and firmware design. I worked in industry leading organization. I am very hands-on. I still enjoy engineering but I feel like I will do even better on business side. I am highly strategic and have strong business acumen. I am looking for smoother (may not be that slick) transition to business side. So I want to collect ideas and advices in terms of what I can pursue in career at this multinational organization. I want to avoid doing MBA immediately. I have some management experience. Please advise.

I am in IC design industry and want to make a switch to business career. What should I do?
The best thing is to let your manager know that this is the direction you want your career to take and obtain his/her advise and assistance. Your manager will know where the opportunities are and can introduce you to the probable hiring managers (talk to them BEFORE they have openings to find out what it would be like to work in their departments and what they are looking for). Your manager can also make sure you are enrolled in any in-house classes that might be useful to make you more qualified.





The next most useful thing to do is to enlarge your network of professional contacts, epecially outside your own department. You can do this by volunteering for committees (for example, special events committees or emergency reaction teams). Make sure to take the time to get to know the other committee members and stop by to see them once in awhile. Having contacts outside your own department will help you to expand your knowledge of the organization.

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