A boss is the owner or manager of a business enterprise or other organization. He/She or she comes up with company goals, hires people, and tells them what to do.

You can be a boss in practically any field of work. As long as you have a vision, self-discipline to make it happen, and personal charisma to get people to follow you, you are destined for success.

Qualifications vary depending on the industry you want to rule in. If you are a self-starter, no one will ask for your papers, obviously. In higher managerial positions you conquer from the bottom up, experience and your social network might prove just as important as your degree. What you make will also depend on various factors, but one thing seems to be safe to assume: as a boss, you will earn more than your subordinates.

What Does a Boss Do

There are certain skills that many bosses have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed management skills, time-management skills and problem-solving skills.

How To Become a Boss

If you're interested in becoming a boss, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 37.3% of bosses have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 5.6% of bosses have master's degrees. Even though some bosses have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Boss Career Paths

Average Salary for a Boss

Bosses in America make an average salary of $32,298 per year or $16 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $41,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $25,000 per year.
Average Boss Salary
$32,298 Yearly
$15.53 hourly

What Am I Worth?

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Roles and Types of Boss

There are several types of boss, including:

Driver

Role:

Almost anyone can drive a car, but not everyone gets paid for it. Drivers are responsible for everything from driving customers from point A to point B, to delivering packages to clients, you have a range of what exactly you want to be driving. If you're going to be delivering packages, you'll want to build up your upper body strength in case you have to lift heavy objects.

As far as driving people around, you might want to brush up on your communication skills, either that or blast your music during the ride. Some drivers are especially helpful to tourists who are curious about the area. In these instances, your favorite restaurant or activity might come in useful.

The hours you'll work as a driver can range dramatically. Your work schedule will depend on who you're working for and if you're able to set your own hours. There are some companies where you'll work 60 hours in 7 days, but other companies will only require 40 hours. If there's anything to take away from being a driver, it's that the job is nothing less than interesting.

  • Average Salary: $34,771
  • Degree: High School Diploma

Truck Driver

Role:

Remember when you were a little kid and you would move your arm in a pulling down motion every time you passed a large semi-truck? You know that excitement when the drive actually honked? That's actually one of the responsibilites of being a truck driver.

While we're totally kidding, honking at kids (and let's face it, some adults) does make the long road trips a little more fun. After you take a professional truck driving school and obtain your commercial driver's license, then you'll be able to see the country. Imagine all of the cities and towns you'll get to drive through.
  • Average Salary: $60,326
  • Degree: High School Diploma

Route Driver

Role:

Route drivers work primarily independently, but they report to the dispatcher, and they work closely with them. As a route driver, you are to pick up and deliver products to diverse local customers. Choosing this career path requires constant travel because you will be involved in transporting materials and supplies. Being a route driver entails you to review route sheets daily to know the locations of pickups and deliveries.

Also, you are to maintain logs by filling out delivery and picking up logs accurately and with detailed information. In addition, you are expected to perform vehicle maintenance and communicate with customers. There is no formal training required for this role. You must, however, be able to drive comfortably. To be a successful route driver, you must possess exceptional organizational skills and customer service. Averagely, you will make $15.95 per hour.
  • Average Salary: $45,492
  • Degree: High School Diploma

States With The Most Boss Jobs

Number Of Boss Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California19,577$33,674
2Texas14,449$33,019
3Illinois12,458$28,978
4Pennsylvania12,081$30,931
5Ohio11,717$29,719
6North Carolina9,975$28,343
7Virginia9,543$29,481
8Georgia8,829$27,217
9Indiana8,074$29,427
10Tennessee7,963$27,263
11New York7,945$30,947
12Missouri7,789$28,937
13Michigan7,176$30,042
14Minnesota7,021$31,061
15South Carolina7,010$27,987
16Iowa6,028$28,493
17Kentucky5,909$28,315
18Wisconsin5,726$31,019
19Kansas5,293$27,889
20Oklahoma4,795$27,526
21Washington4,571$32,953
22Florida4,364$27,528
23Louisiana4,162$28,707
24Alabama3,977$28,336
25Colorado3,949$29,477
26Maryland3,717$30,202
27Oregon3,639$32,644
28West Virginia3,492$29,861
29Mississippi3,324$28,996
30New Mexico2,956$28,983
31Arizona2,771$31,551
32Nebraska2,362$29,233
33Idaho2,080$31,055
34New Jersey2,077$30,812
35Utah2,018$30,713
36Arkansas1,872$27,266
37Massachusetts1,801$31,876
38Connecticut1,209$32,130
39Delaware1,068$31,168
40Nevada781$32,619
41Wyoming685$29,265
42New Hampshire555$32,487
43Montana499$30,011
44Maine468$32,297
45Rhode Island448$32,308
46South Dakota365$29,261
47Vermont346$32,545
48North Dakota240$31,832
49Hawaii131$33,118
50Alaska120$42,668

Boss Education

Boss Majors

23.1 %

Boss Degrees

Bachelors

37.3 %

High School Diploma

26.7 %

Associate

18.1 %

Top Colleges for Bosss

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Computer Science
Business
Biology
Education
Electrical Engineering

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Education
Business
Nursing
Computer Science
Marketing

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Liberal Arts
Communication
Psychology
Education

4. Maine Maritime Academy

Castine, ME • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,478

Enrollment

979

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Biology

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Computer Science
Education
Communication
Accounting

6. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Liberal Arts
Business
Education
Psychology
Criminal Justice

7. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Accounting
Psychology
Nursing
Computer Science
Business

8. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Nursing
Business
Communication
Accounting
Marketing

9. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Business
Education
Psychology
Liberal Arts
Criminal Justice

10. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$49,880

Enrollment

4,177

Admissions
Most Popular Majors
Accounting
Finance
Business
Marketing
Communication

Top Skills For a Boss

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 50.4% of bosses listed cdl on their resume, but soft skills such as management skills and time-management skills are important as well.

  • CDL, 50.4%
  • Customer Service, 13.6%
  • Safety Procedures, 7.6%
  • Sales Floor, 4.2%
  • Windows, 3.2%
  • Other Skills, 21.0%

Choose From 10+ Customizable Boss Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Boss templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Boss resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

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Boss Demographics

Boss Gender Distribution

Male
Male
67%
Female
Female
33%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among bosses, 33.4% of them are women, while 66.6% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among bosses is White, which makes up 56.3% of all bosses.

  • The most common foreign language among bosses is Spanish at 57.3%.

Online Courses For Boss That You May Like

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Top Boss Employers

Most Common Employers For Boss

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1AT&T$40,789$19.612
2Amedisys$39,397$18.945
3Bank of America$36,574$17.582
4Downing Exhibits$36,518$17.562
5Quad$36,261$17.433
6FedEx$35,954$17.294
7Lee & Cates Glass$34,182$16.432
8Mary Kay$33,854$16.282
9Bill.com$32,805$15.772
10Patriot Coal$32,194$15.482

Boss Videos

Becoming a Boss FAQs

Boss Vs. Manager

A boss is simply the person above you in the company hierarchy, while a manager is someone who has a level of control or responsibility in the company or organization.

A boss is the person who is supervising you. In some cases, this person may also be the manager. Your boss is the person who is responsible for evaluating your work and giving approval for certain decisions. Depending on your placement within the organization, the boss may have a different title such as Director or Vice-President.

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