How To Become A Department Lead: What It Is and Career Path

What is a department lead and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Department lead, also known as a team leader is responsible for setting a nice and inspiring environment for the team. Setting clear-cut goals is also paramount and a Department Lead does that for an average of $17 an hour, which amounts to about $34,000 a year. A team leader oversees the general day-to-day operation and as such, solid communication and leadership skills are required.

A good Department Lead must always listen to the team members and provide results on the go. Personally, I would not want something who will not listen to what I want to say as my team leader and I am sure so many of us feel that way as well. Hence, they require good listening and organizational skills.

Unsurprisingly, Inventory Management is the major skill in the resume of most Department Leads and they major in Business as well, with the common degree being Bachelors Degrees and High School Diplomas.

ScoreDepartment LeadUS Average

Salary

3.3

Avg. Salary $42,113

Avg. Salary $59,228

Diversity

8.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.65%

Asian 6.94%

Black or African American 8.44%

Hispanic or Latino 17.83%

Unknown 4.65%

White 61.49%

Gender

female 45.28%

male 54.72%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

9.4

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

5.2

Complexity level is intermediate

7 - challenging

Work life balance

4.6

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a department lead

Explore department lead education requirements

Most common department lead degrees

Bachelor's

39.4 %

High School Diploma

24.0 %

Associate

21.8 %

Start to develop specific department lead skills

Skills	Percentages
Cleanliness	11.98%
Safety Procedures	11.26%
Customer Service	9.93%
Store Management	7.77%
Inventory Management	6.94%

Complete relevant department lead training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New department leads learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a department lead based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real department lead resumes.

Research department lead duties and responsibilities

Implement inventory management system to effectively manage on-hands, assist with correct replenishment and maintain an acceptable level of over-stock.
Operate POS system, and receive payment by cash, check, credit cards, vouchers, or automatic debit.
Oversee the completion of all POS transactions, maintain cash office records and assistant in training of all new cashiers.
Conduct geotechnical and geological investigations and mineral resource evaluations for commercial, industrial and governmental clients using the above-mentioned drilling techniques.

Get department lead experience

Generally, it takes 4-6 years to become a department lead. The most common roles before becoming a department lead include sales associate, cashier team lead and customer service representative.

Prepare your department lead resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your department lead resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a department lead resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable department lead resume templates

Build a professional department lead resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your department lead resume.