An office manager is a professional who is responsible for supervising all the work that happens in an office. This person may oversee other workers or specific tasks within an office, depending on the employer. If you have good leadership skills and the ability to multi-task effectively, you may do well in this line of work. Before you decide that for certain though, you need to know what to expect in this position. The office manager job description below should give you a good idea of what you may expect as an office manager. You can use this to determine if office management is the right career path for you.
Office Manager Job Duties
The duties you face as an office manager will vary based on the place you work. As a whole, you will be responsible for ensuring that an office functions productively. The work that responsibility entails will change from one employer to the next. Common job duties for office managers include:
- Allocating office resources
- Hiring office workers
- Assigning clerical duties to staff members
- Training new staff members
- Implementing policy changes from upper level management
- Monitoring office records
- Evaluating filing and organization procedures
- Maximizing office efficiency
- Maintaining safety and security at work
- Managing internal staff relations
- Resolving customer service issues
- Relaying potential problems to upper level managers
- Evaluating staff member performances
You may take on an array of other job duties under your employer, but that should give you an idea of some of the tasks that may be involved with this job. If you feel you are capable of working under these circumstances, you may want to pursue training to become an office manager.
Office Manager Skills
Some people do better in this job sector than others because of the inherent skills they possess. You can acquire many of the skills needed to be an office manager, but there are some that you need to have naturally. Common skills needed for this job include:
- The ability to work with a team of employees
- The ability to coach other workers
- The ability to delegate responsibilities to staff members
- The ability to lead a group of people
- The ability to handle immense stress on a daily basis
- The ability to multi-task and take on new duties with ease
- The ability to adapt to new work environments
- The ability to make wise business decisions
- The ability to manage your time effectively
- The ability to pay attention to details
Consider the type of work that an office manager has to do, and then determine if you have the skills to handle those job duties. If so, you may do very well in this line of work.
Office Manager Education
In some cases, you can work as an office manager without a college education. To do this though, you will have to remain loyal with one company for an extended period of time to work your way up the ladder. This is not easy to do, and few people actually make good money this way. If you want to ensure a solid salary from the start, you should look into getting a college education.
Most office managers will obtain a bachelor’s degree in business or a related field before they pursue work of this nature. Some professionals go as far as getting a master’s degree in business administration, but that would only be necessary for work with a high-end corporation. If you want to gain employment with a local business, you should only need an undergraduate degree. Listed below are some of the salary levels you may experience based on your education:
- Associate’s Degree: $26,341 – $61,301
- Bachelor of Arts in Psychology: $26,500 – $66,445
- Bachelor of Science in Business Administration: $29,525 – $66,865
- Bachelor’s Degree: $28,627 – $63,992
- Master of Business Administration: $29,758 – $80,133
As you can see, you will be able to make more money with a higher degree, so you might as well look into a bachelor’s degree or beyond. There are plenty of online degree programs out there that can help you obtain the degree you want without leaving the house. With the right degree and a little in-office job training, you could be a bona fide office manager in no time.
