A department manager is someone who has certain responsibilities over a certain area in a store or within an organization. Take a department store in the mall for example. Each store has several departments which are split up so the store runs efficiently on all ends.
Maybe you'll be the department manager for the kids section in a store at the mall or the electronics section at a Target or Walmart. Wherever you end up, your responsibilities are very similar. You'll be in charge of the area that you're assigned. Which means you're in charge of the team who works within that area.
As department manager, you get to hire and fire individuals, as well as set goals for the team to hit. You'll even be in charge of the department's budget, although a source higher up in the company will need to approve it. And, as long as your team is meeting goals and creating success, then your role as a department manager will be simple.
How to Become a Department Manager
What is a Department Manager
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a Department Manager. For example, did you know that they make an average of $24.91 an hour? That's $51,807 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 5% and produce 20,600 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Department Manager Do
There are certain skills that many Department Managers 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 Analytical skills, Customer-service skills and Communication skills.
How To Become a Department Manager
If you're interested in becoming a Department Manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 45.5% of Department Managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 4.7% of Department Managers have master's degrees. Even though most Department Managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a Department Manager. When we researched the most common majors for a Department Manager, we found that they most commonly earn Bachelor's Degree degrees or Associate Degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on Department Manager resumes include High School Diploma degrees or Master's Degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a Department Manager. In fact, many Department Manager jobs require experience in a role such as Sales Associate. Meanwhile, many Department Managers also have previous career experience in roles such as Cashier or Assistant Manager.
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Department Manager Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of Store Manager you might progress to a role such as District Manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title District Manager.
Department Manager Jobs You Might Like
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Average Salary for a Department Manager
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12 Department Manager Resume Examples
Build a professional department manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 12+ resume templates to create your department manager resume.
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Julia Carroll Department Manager |
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Jonathan Barnes Department Manager Experience Department Manager2020 - Present Toys R Us•New York, NY
Team Leader2015 - 2020 IBM•New York, NY
Office Assistant2014 - 2015 Bob's Discount Furniture•New York, NY
Sales Clerk2011 - 2014 Macy's•New York, NY
Skills Different DepartmentsSales FloorAdministrative TasksHardwareStatistical DataCustomer ServicePayrollOffice StaffTelephone CallsProduct Knowledge Education High School Diploma 2011 - 2011 |
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Learn How To Write a Department Manager Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Department Manager resumes and compiled some information about how to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Department Manager Resume Examples And TemplatesAnd if you’re looking for a job, here are the five top employers hiring now:
Choose From 10+ Customizable Department Manager Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Department Manager templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Department Manager resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Department Manager Demographics
Department Manager Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among Department Managers, 48.2% of them are women, while 51.8% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among Department Managers is White, which makes up 65.4% of all Department Managers.
- The most common foreign language among Department Managers is Spanish at 60.6%.
Find the best Department Manager job for you
Department Manager Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Department Manager Jobs - $90K and Up
- Work From Home Department Manager Jobs
- Entry Level Department Manager Jobs
- Part Time Department Manager Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Department Manager Jobs
Top Colleges for Department Managers
1. SUNY College of Technology at Delhi
Delhi, NY • Private
2. SUNY Farmingdale
Farmingdale, NY • Private
3. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
4. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Private
5. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Private
6. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
7. Baylor University
Waco, TX • Private
8. SUNY College of Technology at Alfred
Alfred, NY • Private
9. Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY • Private
10. Ball State University
Muncie, IN • Private
Find the best Department Manager job for you
Department Manager Jobs You Might Like
- High Paying Department Manager Jobs - $90K and Up
- Work From Home Department Manager Jobs
- Entry Level Department Manager Jobs
- Part Time Department Manager Jobs
- Actively Hiring
- No Degree Department Manager Jobs
Online Courses For Department Manager That You May Like
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Top Skills For a Department Manager
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, 50.6% of Department Managers listed Procedures on their resume, but soft skills such as Analytical skills and Customer-service skills are important as well.
Best States For a Department Manager
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a Department Manager. The best states for people in this position are New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Department Managers make the most in New Jersey with an average salary of $117,680. Whereas in New York and Rhode Island, they would average $108,624 and $95,169, respectively. While Department Managers would only make an average of $94,481 in Connecticut, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. New Jersey
$117,680
Avg. Salary
2. New York
$108,624
Avg. Salary
3. Connecticut
$94,481
Avg. Salary
How Do Department Manager Rate Their Jobs?
4.0
4.0
Fashion department manage • December 2019What do you like the most about working as Department Manager?
Improving the sales and providing high quality customer service Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
Not enough support from manager Show MoreBecoming a Department Manager FAQs
How long does it take to become a Department Manager?
It takes 3 years of professional experience to become a department manager. That is the time it takes to learn specific department manager skills, but does not account for time spent in formal education. If you include the normal education requirements to complete a college degree, then it takes 6 to 8 years years to become a department manager.