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Business and marketing manager job growth summary. After extensive research, interviews, and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
The projected business and marketing manager job growth rate is 10% from 2018-2028.
About 33,700 new jobs for business and marketing managers are projected over the next decade.
Business and marketing manager salaries have increased 8% for business and marketing managers in the last 5 years.
There are over 83,172 business and marketing managers currently employed in the United States.
There are 164,269 active business and marketing manager job openings in the US.
The average business and marketing manager salary is $134,607.
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 83,172 | 0.02% |
| 2020 | 80,638 | 0.02% |
| 2019 | 78,692 | 0.02% |
| 2018 | 71,756 | 0.02% |
| 2017 | 65,349 | 0.02% |
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | $134,607 | $64.71 | +3.9% |
| 2025 | $129,570 | $62.29 | +1.9% |
| 2024 | $127,146 | $61.13 | +1.6% |
| 2023 | $125,196 | $60.19 | +0.8% |
| 2022 | $124,202 | $59.71 | +1.9% |
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 441 | 64% |
| 2 | Vermont | 623,657 | 342 | 55% |
| 3 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 468 | 44% |
| 4 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 1,227 | 40% |
| 5 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 519 | 39% |
| 6 | Wyoming | 579,315 | 192 | 33% |
| 7 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 337 | 32% |
| 8 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 1,748 | 31% |
| 9 | South Dakota | 869,666 | 269 | 31% |
| 10 | Alaska | 739,795 | 226 | 31% |
| 11 | Maine | 1,335,907 | 393 | 29% |
| 12 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 530 | 28% |
| 13 | Maryland | 6,052,177 | 1,645 | 27% |
| 14 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 1,957 | 26% |
| 15 | Wisconsin | 5,795,483 | 1,367 | 24% |
| 16 | Arkansas | 3,004,279 | 707 | 24% |
| 17 | North Dakota | 755,393 | 183 | 24% |
| 18 | Pennsylvania | 12,805,537 | 2,887 | 23% |
| 19 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 716 | 23% |
| 20 | Kansas | 2,913,123 | 672 | 23% |
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Frankfort | 1 | 4% | $109,276 |
| 2 | Annapolis | 1 | 3% | $135,247 |
| 3 | DeLand | 1 | 3% | $82,879 |
| 4 | Dover | 1 | 3% | $119,278 |
| 5 | Juneau | 1 | 3% | $124,766 |
| 6 | Hartford | 1 | 1% | $138,437 |
| 7 | Little Rock | 1 | 1% | $112,242 |
| 8 | Santa Clara | 1 | 1% | $143,288 |
| 9 | Stamford | 1 | 1% | $137,340 |
| 10 | Tallahassee | 1 | 1% | $91,275 |
| 11 | Topeka | 1 | 1% | $99,353 |
| 12 | Boston | 2 | 0% | $135,346 |
| 13 | Atlanta | 1 | 0% | $109,954 |
| 14 | Baton Rouge | 1 | 0% | $95,032 |
| 15 | Denver | 1 | 0% | $107,396 |
| 16 | Des Moines | 1 | 0% | $103,026 |
| 17 | Urban Honolulu | 1 | 0% | $76,236 |
| 18 | Washington | 1 | 0% | $116,761 |
City University of Seattle
North Dakota State University
Siena College
Siena College
Siena College

Idaho State University
Catawba College

University of Scranton

University of Houston - Downtown

Pennsylvania State University - Greater Allegheny

Landmark College

University of Houston - Downtown
University of Saint Mary

Towson University
Rich Johnson: Digital media covers a lot of mediums and requires many skill sets (print, static online, animation, interactive). The print arm is a lesser component although still valuable in the scope of marketing. Smartphones, tablets and gaming have moved a lot of digital into a customer expectation of interactive and customizable content. The present model of career specialization in a certain aspect of this spectrum of skills is changing. The age of the generalist is becoming more of a reality as design tools are becoming more accessible and A.I. is assisting in the more complex tasks. I would say that someone working in digital media will need to focus more on the big picture of design, predicting trends and developing solutions from a point of view with perspective. It will be even more important to understand the needs of a system from the top down and provide solutions that enhance that system. This might be through partnering with marketing and sales to conceptualize solutions, pitching product ideas and other functions related to creative and art direction. And be curious, all of the time. Keep up to date with everything that is happening. Take classes, watch tutorials, read articles and be obsessed with the breakneck rate of change. Digital media is constantly changing and possibilities are always expanding. It can be near impossible to be a master of all of these trajectories, but you can understand them well enough to bring in a specialist when the challenge requires it. This is where I predict that A.I. will be a major paradigm shift. There will be a time when you will ask the system to solve a problem, and you can choose what parts of the process that you want to control. So to boil it down... Develop a well rounded set of skills Further develop specialist level skills where you excel Keep on top of change and keep a thirst for learning Strengthen your connection to problem solving and creative innovation Keep an eye on the future predicting what might be around the bend
Andrew Spicer: Resiliency is a particularly important skill for international business and career progression. Resiliency – the ability to recover quickly in the face of obstacles and failures – has always been a critical part of successful international assignments. The only constant of working abroad is that there will be miscommunication and mistakes. Successful international business careers depend on the ability to learn from these inevitable setbacks to improve over time. The constant change in the global business environment also leads to the demand for resiliency among international business specialists. An important role for those with a global mindset is to help companies adapt to the massive disruption to the global business environment for international trade and investment presently taking place across the world.
Barbara Ribbens: Specific IB skills that are increasing in importance are cultural intelligence, being able to deal with complexity in problem solving, and adaptability/flexibility to work in different situations and settings. As the world globalizes, more people will need the ability to work with peers and on teams that are diverse culturally in effective ways. This is a real strength of IB majors since they take language and international general education courses to broaden their thinking and then also do cross cultural courses and study abroad to develop their cultural communication and leadership skills.
Dr. Kim Roberts: Business professionals lead organizations by focused efforts that revolve around products/services, processes, and people. Business professionals work to ensure the firm's products and/or services meet customer expectations, with an eye toward an ever-changing market. They manage processes that produce or support the firm's products. This requires the ability to analyze data to make informed decisions, to drive continuous improvement, and to solve problems through critical thinking. Successful business professionals must also create climates that promote teamwork and foster collaboration.
Dr. Kim Roberts: Now is a good time to enter business professions because of the projected growth of employment opportunities. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Overall employment in business and financial occupations is projected to grow faster than the average for all occupations from 2022 to 2032." Furthermore, the growth of online learning and online degrees means a full-time job and family commitments are not roadblocks to earning a business degree.
Jennifer D'Angelo PhD: The ever-changing landscape of consumer trends and technological advancements in how to market to consumers often makes the job exciting and fast-paced. However, with the increased emphasis on results, marketers must be conscious of how to measure and demonstrate the value of their work.
Jennifer D'Angelo PhD: Brands across many product categories are facing an increasing level of competition. Brands may struggle with rising brand parity, where brands and their competitors are seen as similar to one another. Therefore, to stand out from competitors, it has become increasingly important for brands to have marketing managers that create value for consumers and communicate that value to consumers.
Jennifer D'Angelo PhD: A marketing manager is often responsible for planning and implementing a marketing plan. What this marketing plan encompasses can vary, as marketing involves many different things such as branding, product development, sales, advertising, digital and social media, and retailing.
Ajay Abraham Ph. D.: Earning a fair salary is important, although what exactly is fair might vary based on individual perceptions. More important, think of a job as offering a combination of financial and other non-monetary benefits such as perks (e.g., work culture, work-life balance, self-fulfillment, good colleagues, networking). Try to optimize your benefits across this multi-dimensional perspective rather than by simply focusing on salary. That stated, some job opportunities have scope for negotiation on salary. First, identify if the job that you are applying for has scope for negotiation, in which case, there's no harm in negotiating if done ethically, professionally, and reasonably. If the job is not one in which there's scope for negotiation, don't worry. Instead, focus on performance and making a case for yourself at the time of annual evaluations and/or salary hikes (which should be done even if there were salary negotiations before joining). Similar suggestions apply if you are thinking of switching roles/organizations.
Ajay Abraham Ph. D.: Everyone is talking about AI these days, so I will start off by joining the bandwagon, but with some nuance. It's important to know how to use artificial intelligence tools in order to be better or more effective at one's job. This doesn't mean that everyone needs to become an AI expert, but that we should be able to harness the power of AI tools to improve the quality and efficiency of our work. This requires being fluent enough with AI tools to understand, discuss, and make decisions involving AI or about AI output (even if we don't actually use those tools in a hands-on manner). This should be done while also being able to bridge the gap for those who are less fluent (perhaps those in more senior-level roles who are even less hands-on with these tools). That apart, as more of the workforce focuses more of their time on technical and similar skills, "softer" skills such as integrity, professionalism, self-awareness, and team-orientation will become even more important as differentiators.
Ajay Abraham Ph. D.: Earning a fair salary is important, although what exactly is fair might vary based on individual perceptions. More important, think of a job as offering a combination of financial and other non-monetary benefits such as perks (e.g., work culture, work-life balance, self-fulfillment, good colleagues, networking). Try to optimize your benefits across this multi-dimensional perspective rather than by simply focusing on salary. That stated, some job opportunities have scope for negotiation on salary. First, identify if the job that you are applying for has scope for negotiation, in which case, there’s no harm in negotiating if done ethically, professionally, and reasonably. If the job is not one in which there’s scope for negotiation, don’t worry. Instead, focus on performance and making a case for yourself at the time of annual evaluations and/or salary hikes (which should be done even if there were salary negotiations before joining). Similar suggestions apply if you are thinking of switching roles/organizations.
Jennifer D'Angelo Ph.D.: Brands across many product categories are facing an increasing level of competition. Brands may struggle with rising brand parity, where brands and their competitors are seen as similar to one another. Therefore, to stand out from competitors, it has become increasingly important for brands to have marketing managers that create value for consumers and communicate that value to consumers.
Jennifer D'Angelo Ph.D.: The ever-changing landscape of consumer trends and technological advancements in how to market to consumers often makes the job exciting and fast-paced. However, with the increased emphasis on results, marketers must be conscious of how to measure and demonstrate the value of their work.
Jennifer D'Angelo Ph.D.: Brands across many product categories are facing an increasing level of competition. Brands may struggle with rising brand parity, where brands and their competitors are seen as similar to one another. Therefore, to stand out from competitors, it has become increasingly important for brands to have marketing managers that create value for consumers and communicate that value to consumers.
North Dakota State University
Marketing
Ahmad Asady: The role of a Marketing professional is as rewarding as it is demanding. On one hand, it offers the chance to unleash creativity, see the direct impact of your work, and enjoy a variety of experiences across different projects and industries. On the other hand, it comes with its fair share of challenges, such as the pressure to perform under tight deadlines and budgets, the constant need to stay ahead in a fast-evolving field, and the stress of quantifying the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. Despite these challenges, the role remains appealing for those drawn to a career that demands both strategic thinking and creative innovation, underscored by the powerful tool of persuasion to shape consumer behavior and drive business success.
Ahmad Asady: Now is an exciting time to enter the field of marketing. The digital age has transformed how brands connect with consumers, opening up a plethora of channels and tools for innovative engagement strategies. This digital expansion, coupled with the shift towards a more consumer-centric marketing approach, has made the role of a Marketing professional more crucial and impactful than ever. Professionals in this field enjoy the privilege of working at the intersection of creativity and analytics, where they can make significant contributions to a brand's growth and adapt to new challenges and technologies, ensuring a career that is both stable and filled with opportunities for continuous learning.
Ahmad Asady: A Marketing professional's day is a blend of art and science, filled with the pursuit of understanding and engaging the target audience. Their daily activities revolve around creating and managing content that resonates with consumers, conducting market research to stay ahead of trends, analyzing data to refine strategies, and collaborating with cross-functional teams to ensure a unified brand message. Persuasion lies at the heart of their role, as they must continuously convince both internal stakeholders and external audiences of the value and relevance of their brand's offerings.
Siena College
Marketing Department
S.Sinem Atakan: The most important skills for marketing graduates, especially given the remote working conditions due to the pandemic, are self-motivation, communication, and digital marketing skills. Creativity and analytical skills are always important in marketing, but pandemic has highlighted the importance of being able to work independently and motivate yourself even when external forces are not directly present. Communication skills are crucial to work remotely and be on the same page with your team members. Digital marketing was big but getting even bigger with this breakthrough changes in consumer behavior. Hence, the rising stars of the marketing job market will be graduates who can combine all these skills seamlessly
Siena College
Marketing Department
Soyoung Joo: Communication and time management skills are valuable skills for marketing managers.
Soyoung Joo: Creativity and intellectual curiosity (willingness to keep learning) can be added to the above soft skills.
Soyoung Joo: Being able to interpret the consumer data and identify the true needs and wants of the consumer is imperative for marketers.
Soyoung Joo: Being able to work well with people from diverse backgrounds can be added to the above skills.
Siena College
Marketing Department
Allison Lauenstein: Project Management and being able to connect the dots around the data and insights are critical. You have to analyze a situation and uncover insights from the customer, the competitors, and the industry.
Allison Lauenstein: Leadership and collaboration will go a long way. The best ideas can come from anywhere, and it's not always about who has the best idea but who can execute the idea the best. Good marketers must understand that if you cannot successfully execute or effectively communicate a great idea, it may not be so great.
Allison Lauenstein: Skills that stand out show that the candidate has had some experience leading projects and project teams. Marketing is a collaborative effort, and it is critically important for upcoming managers to understand how to manage and motivate a team to achieve its objectives.
Allison Lauenstein: Listening and asking questions are some of the most important skills. As Marketers, you not only have to listen to what people say, but you have to try to understand what they are not saying. How do their actions differ from what they are saying?

Idaho State University
College of Business
John Ney: Internships or class project experience that show the student has helped develop a marketing strategy for a company is probably the most important but also marketing research skills.
John Ney: -A positive "can-do" attitude. I'm often told by employers that "we can teach skills, but we can't teach attitude."
-Teamwork - the ability to work with others is more important now than ever.
-Communication skills, both oral and written.
John Ney: -With so many businesses advertising online, students that have experience with one or more of the following (video, blogging, graphic design, photography & websites) easily find jobs! This is the most requested skill set when employers are looking to hire interns.
-Writing skills - businesses need help writing everything from email responses to customers to a short job advertisement & or a marketing strategy.
John Ney: -Sales skills - Most sales jobs are commission-based, and they are not capped.
-Everybody sells! Sales are really about building relationships, so having people and communication skills can really pay off!
Catawba College
Theatre Arts
Dr. Elizabeth Homan Ph.D.: Networking, networking, networking. And being a nice, friendly, honest human being. Flexibility and a level head in the face of persistent change. Resilience and an ability to work with the conditions in which you find yourself. Working with what you have, not what you wish you had.
Dr. Elizabeth Homan Ph.D.: Organization, written and oral communication, adeptness at social media. Ability to use and manipulate data.
Dr. Elizabeth Homan Ph.D.: Being someone others want to work with again and again. The industry is small, and your reputation will either sink you or get you lots of work.

University of Scranton
School of Management
Abhijit Roy: In general, companies will look to see whether or not the candidate can overall market the company's products. Given the depth and breadth of marketing jobs, the specific skill requirements will vary. For example, a sales manager position will require individuals with high interpersonal skills, advertising positions will look for individuals with creativity, while marketing research positions will demand strong analytical skills. Overall, most companies today are looking for individuals with strong digital marketing and social media skills.
Job market candidates must look for the job descriptions in the ads and ensure they have relevant matching skills that they can include in their resumes.
Abhijit Roy: The Marketing field has undergone a major paradigmatic shift with the growth of digitization. Hence, hard/technical skills in performing data-driven marketing, social media and data analytics, data visualization, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)/Search Engine Marketing (SEM), content creation and storytelling, and omnichannel communication are critical hard skills that are in great demand today.
Abhijit Roy: The above skills are in high demand and also currently pay the most. Still, I strongly recommend that students focus not on skills that will help them earn the most but on the skill sets that each individual possesses and think of how they can best leverage that in the marketplace to have a long sustained, and enjoyable career.
Abhijit Roy: These are very important, yet harder to quantify skills, not only for marketing professionals but for business graduates in general. They include the ability to make sound decisions under pressure, having a high emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) as embodied by having empathy towards coworkers and subordinates, delegating appropriately, mentoring, communicating, time management, maintaining positivity despite setbacks and adapting to unforeseen challenges, being flexible, being persuasive and assertive at appropriate moments, yet being collaborative, seeking feedback, and the ability to negotiate and resolve conflicts when needed, amongst others.
Soft skills are typically more instrumental in enabling candidates to fit into an organization's culture and be strong candidates for promotion. Most marketing jobs involve candidates representing their brand initiatives and building strong client relationships, so interpersonal, and other soft skills are often valued more than hard skills. The strongest case for having excellent soft skills is that they are more easily transferable across various jobs and industries.

University of Houston - Downtown
Marilyn Davies College of Business
Dr. Richard Conde Ph.D.: Showcasing the balance between people management and analytical skills. Marketing today relies on a substantial amount of data, which requires marketing managers to possess strong analytical skills. At the same time, leaders have to motivate, inspire, and guide employees. In the last 3-5 years, I have seen a greater emphasis on analytical skills.
Dr. Richard Conde Ph.D.: Leaders need to lead. A leader who is curious, vulnerable, transparent, and inclusive generally has better success. The challenge is to teach leaders to be authentically curious. That is a big challenge in leadership.
Dr. Richard Conde Ph.D.: First, understand A/B experiments. Marketers are consistently comparing different campaigns, and the ability to create thoughtful experiments is critical.
Second, go beyond averages and percentages and learn linear and logistic regression and more advanced analytical tools. The exposure to more complex analytics allows for more thoughtful outcomes and interpretation.
Third, be exposed to a programming language like R or Python. Not that you are going to code, but it allows you to speak the language of data.
Dr. Richard Conde Ph.D.: It's a combination of skills, plus the patience to build those skills. Great people and leadership skills always seem to trump most other variables. I would encourage individuals to invest in their leadership skills and consider partnering with a leadership coach.

Pennsylvania State University - Greater Allegheny
Business Department
Bernie Cerasaro: Skills employers would be looking for would be functional skills and interpersonal skills. Functional skills should stand out on a resume and be aligned to the business job in question. For example, if focused on marketing positions, marketing skills such as data analytics, market research, consumer behavior, global marketing, and professional selling skills would be areas for which employers would be looking. If the job market is looking for someone in accounting, then functional skills that would stand out would be intermediate financial accounting skills and courses on taxation and auditing. For those seeking positions in project management or supply chain management, skills that would stand out would encompass subject matter such as project management, portfolio management, operations planning and control, purchasing and materials management, and knowledge of ERP type systems and other business processes.
Skill sets can be enhanced via various types of certification. For example, those interested in accounting might pursue a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) license, which requires 150 credits. As most universities require 120 credits for a bachelor's degree in business, a CPA would require just an additional 30 credits, which students can start accumulating while still at college. Project management certification is also an opportunity to enhance the aforementioned skills and would certainly stand out on an applicant's resume. The Project Management Institute (PMI) promotes PMP certification, which validates that you are highly skilled in soft skills to lead project teams and have the required technical aspects of managing projects. Some universities are working with the PMI to have PMI-approved courses. Approved courses are used toward the PMP training hours required to sit for the exam. For example, Penn State University has received approval for two such courses, Portfolio Management and Organizations and Project Planning and Resource Management.
Due to the high rate of interaction with the global marketplace and the complexity of international business, managers are looking more closely at applicants who have some familiarity with global markets and international culture, such as applicants who may have study abroad experience, traveled internationally, speak a foreign language or have lived or worked in another country.
Bernie Cerasaro: Soft skills or conceptual skills are critical in today's business world. Lack of such interpersonal skills is a major reason highly qualified professionals are not promoted (Lee, n.d.)
As a former recruiter for Xerox Corporation, I looked for problem-solving, decision-making, and time management skills. Problem-solving supports creativity allowing workers to evaluate and prioritize options to determine the best solution. Much time and money can be wasted in selecting the wrong option.
Proper decision-making allows companies to quickly react to internal problems, customer concerns, changing market trends, and the use of ever-advancing technology in the workplace. The increased use of empowerment in the workplace, which has been enhanced due to the pandemic, has allowed employees to make more decisions, which requires strong decision-making capability. In addition, the pandemic has caused many businesses to use alternate work structures such as working from home, leading to less direct supervision. Consequently, employers are looking for people who are self-motivated, self-directed, and who employ good time management skills.
Teamwork is one of the most commonly required skills in the work environment. The ability to work together is essential. Due to downsizing, there are fewer managers within companies. Since few individuals possess all the knowledge and skills needed, teamwork has become essential. Getting along and working together to achieve objectives and meet deliverables is critical to project completion. Managers are also looking to teams to provide a greater range of ideas and innovation. Teams can also motivate each other for the timely completion of tasks.
Conflict management enhances decision-making abilities and increases creativity which produces innovative solutions for ongoing problems. The ability to handle conflict productively helps solve problems resulting in demoralization, absenteeism, and turnover. Productive resolution of such problems leads to increased trust and increased employee involvement.
For those aspiring to management positions, leadership is key. Leaders need to promote the company's mission and vision among their subordinates. They need to influence employees to achieve goals by motivating them, resulting in a higher level of performance. This type of leadership is paramount in today's marketplace for company advancement, expansion, and survival.
Other important soft skills include verbal and written communication, persuasive skills, negotiation, and listening skills. Communication is vital to company performance. The ability of company personnel to communicate clearly, succinctly, and accurately will increase productivity. Good communication requires being observant of both verbal and nonverbal signals.
Persuasion and negotiation, two other soft skills, require good listening skills. In today's work environment, employees are no longer subject to a hierarchical structure, a structure of non-questioning of their manager's requests. This requires managers to be more persuasive. Negotiation is practiced by all of us on a day-to-day basis, and more so in business. Strong negotiation skills are essential internally (managers and employees) and externally (sales negotiations, contract negotiations, etc.).
We often forget the skill of listening, as most of us prefer to talk rather than listen. However, it is essential to understand what your company and customers want. This is not just "hearing" but actually practicing listening skills by asking questions, confirming content heard, and providing feedback. Listening requires effort; it requires concentration and attention to what is being said.
Bernie Cerasaro: Most technical skills required in today's marketplace are associated with task requirements in specific functional areas. However, some skillsets can be considered general, such as using Word, Excel, or Zoom. Technical skills relevant to social media are also critical. The ability to construct a web page and post on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is essential. For [CBC1] functional areas, examples of needed technical expertise would be Microsoft Project for project management and SAP for supply chain management.
Bernie Cerasaro: Some of the same skills as indicated above are important as the person works their way up the ranks and increases their salary. Prominent skills include strong leadership, superior performance, handling conflict, and creating a trusting and productive work environment.
The choice of a functional area can also impact one's earnings depending upon the market's needs. Areas such as corporate accounting and finance, project management, supply chain management, and entrepreneurship can command higher earnings due to a higher demand for such individuals in the marketplace. However, the higher salaries for some of these positions might require a master's degree.
As a concluding note, even though we are amid a pandemic, which has resulted in certain industries/companies being unable to find sufficient employees, this does not imply that this will be the situation for all industries or that the graduate can relax as to developing a strong skill-oriented resume. Graduates still need to focus on functional, technical, and soft skills in order to design impactful resumes that clearly indicate their strongest skills and experience.

Dr. Jeanette Landin: Skills that stand out on contemporary business manager resumes are soft skills. Business managers indeed need insight and knowledge about the business and hard skills, including financial and other technical skills. What stands out on contemporary, successful business manager resumes are their soft skills. Interpersonal skills are atop the list because business is all about people working with other people to achieve a common goal: The business's mission. The people skills of communication, collaboration, and delegation are a vital part of the manager's ability to influence colleagues, delegate work, and achieve the company's mission.
Dr. Jeanette Landin: The most important soft skills have a common denominator: Communication. Communicating effectively across various media and with widely varying personalities is the key to being an effective business manager. Another critical soft skill is time and information management. The amount of information business managers process on an everyday basis has grown at an increasing rate during the last couple of decades. Business managers must manage multiple priorities, meetings, written and verbal communications, and social media efficiently. Therefore, handling multiple commitments and massive amounts of information is another essential soft skill.
Dr. Jeanette Landin: The most important hard skill is using current technology and the aptitude to learn innovative technology. Old-world technologies such as office technology skills are an absolute minimum for business managers. A business manager must be willing to learn and adapt to emerging electronic communication media to reach organizational goals. Managers can learn other hard or technical skills as needed to accomplish the company's objectives if the manager possesses the aptitude and disposition to be effective.
Dr. Jeanette Landin: The skill that will help you earn the most is inspiring other people to increase company productivity and high employee morale. An engaged and productive employee is the most important product of an effective manager. Managers who possess the ability to inspire colleagues and drive company objectives are invaluable.

University of Houston - Downtown
Marilyn Davies College of Business
Dr. Richard Conde Ph.D.: The need for soft skills are consistent through time. With our societal focus on social media, texting, emojis, etc. It appears to me companies are looking for the following:
- Active listening skills
- Willingness to be self-reflective and accept feedback
- Accept different perspectives. The collision of ideas creates knowledge
- Communicate to the listener (at their level). Flex communicators
- Cultural intelligence. Demographics changes will require better understanding of team member's, boss', customer's, etc. cultural context
University of Saint Mary
Division of Business and Information Technologies (DBiT)
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.: Familiarity with software-basic windows packages, particularly MS Word and Excel. Candidates should not be afraid of quantitative data analysis. Analytics are necessary to figuring out what your business is doing and how it can grow. Also, familiarity with whatever social media platforms are used in that industry can be very important.
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.: One consideration is, does the position pay commission? If so, the soft skills listed above are extremely important because the more you apply those skills, the more likely you are to grow your business.
When a manager is not on commission, there's little correlation between skills and pay while doing the job. The employer will hire you at a given salary level, and it is your job to negotiate to the best position. Once they have chosen you-that's the moment when you have the most leverage. You will never get a raise that is as substantial as what you might be able to ask for upon hire. After that, most raises are not going to be tied mechanically to performance and skills. Your next chance at a raise will be when you move or are promoted to a new position. Thus, those soft skills can affect your ability to negotiate.
I will repeat a previous theme: education and experience are probably more important than skills in terms of making more money. An employer can't really tell what your skills are from your resume. Just because you say you have a skill doesn't mean that you really do. They can reasonably guess that somebody with a degree is responsible enough to have accomplished something big. Somebody who makes it through a graduate program is probably very good at what they know. And somebody who has been in the industry and/or in a similar job is more likely to be able to walk in with little orientation and know what they are doing. Employers take risks on employees and hope that they can deliver. Thus, with more education and more experience, you are able to apply for higher-level jobs, which usually come with higher salaries.
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.: Resumes are hard. It is very difficult to predict what any employer is looking for on any resume. The "skills" section of a resume is probably not the first thing most employers are looking at. The first consideration is probably education. Those with a bachelor's degree will be sorted first in fields-such as those who have business degrees, or particularly sales and marketing majors. Those with MBAs will be placed on the top. Those who have MBAs and marketing concentrations will likely be valued the most. The second consideration would probably be experience. Someone with several years of experience in business development or sales and marketing will be moved to the top. Someone with a bachelor's degree who has a lot of experience might beat out a fresh MBA. However, MBA plus experience beats almost everything. Someone with an MBA going for an entry-level position with little experience needed will likely beat out all bachelor challengers. For new graduates, getting some kind of internship in sales and marketing can differentiate them from those who do not.
Most hiring managers will probably assume that somebody who has sales and marketing education and/or experience probably has the skills necessary to do the job. An interviewer may probe on specific skills. I'll comment more specifically on other kinds of skills below, but it's also fair to say that a candidate's soft skills should shine in the interview. Simply saying that you have certain skills on a resume doesn't mean that you actually have them.
I think that the best thing a candidate can do is to research the company they hope to work for and tailor their resume to that employer. What does the business do? What kinds of things do you think that development manager is going to do in that particular industry? How do your skills as a candidate match what you guess they're looking for? The more you customize your resume, the better chances you have of resonating with the company. Employers are impressed when you already know something about the job and the industry.
Dr. Mark Harvey Ph.D.: First, critical and creative thinking. Employers value problem solvers. A Business Development Managers' problem usually is finding growth opportunities. Candidates need to learn to take the initiative to figure out how to solve problems like those.
Second, writing. The best employees know how to communicate in writing. More and more communication occurs through email and other forms of social media and apps, and as such, this skill is absolutely critical. You don't need to be a creative writing genius, but you do need to know how to write in a professional tone, present your ideas in an organized way, get to the point, and avoid errors. There is a direct line between a student's ability to write an academic essay with a clear thesis and an employee's ability to write a good email or proposal. If you can't do those things, then you risk embarrassment and possibly limited options for promotion.
Third, speaking. The American business world discriminates against introverts-sometimes at their own peril. Everyone needs to know how to give a quality speech, but more importantly, you need to sound confident and assertive in a board room during meetings. You need to be confident in front of clients. Fake it if you have to. The way you present yourself is absolutely critical.
Fourth, social skills. You need to be friendly. Get to know co-workers and clients. Find out what they like and show an interest. Find common ground. Your undergraduate degree hopefully exposed you to a wide diversity of topics you may have thought were irrelevant at some point. Now is the time to remember that stuff and use it to connect with people. Nearly everything you learned will have some application someday. It will help you connect with others. In addition, put away your cell phone when you are at work or on social occasions. To some people, a preoccupation with a cell phone communicates a lack of interest in the person you are with. It can alienate bosses, co-workers, and clients.

Towson University
Marketing Department
Erin Steffes Ph.D.: Entry-level marketing positions span a wide range of responsibilities, and as such, there are many different skill sets depending on the job itself. For example, many recent grads will pursue a position in digital marketing wherein proficiencies in search engine optimization, online advertising, web design, and data analytics are key skill sets. On the other hand, many recent grads pursue a career in sales wherein proficiencies in business development, networking, personal selling, and data analytics are valued. Someone hiring for a general marketing coordinator position would likely look for a candidate with a solid understanding of marketing theory and excellent critical and creative thinking skills.
Erin Steffes Ph.D.: Students often underestimate the importance of soft skills. To succeed in a marketing career, you need to be able to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing, work well in a team environment, use critical and creative thinking, and get along with others. On an individual level, successful marketers are typically good time managers, decisive, adaptable to change, good listeners, and open to feedback. Emotional intelligence plays a significant role in one's career progression and success.
Erin Steffes Ph.D.: As a science and an art, marketing utilizes both soft skills and technical skills on a daily basis. While some technologies are industry-specific, having an understanding and basic mastery of data analysis, statistics, data visualization, digital marketing, marketing research, and customer relationship management will position a candidate well.
Erin Steffes Ph.D.: At the end of the day, firms want to hire candidates that will contribute value over the long term and are adaptable to change. Demonstrating that you have the skills to do the job at hand while signaling that you are willing to contribute to the team is critical in landing that first job. One of the most important lessons for a job candidate or new hire is to eliminate the notion that something "is not my job." Your new career will give you many opportunities to create value for your customers, your colleagues, or the firm as a whole, many of which may lie beyond your immediate scope of responsibility.