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.
Department Manager Overview
Department Manager Careers
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 $27.97 an hour? That's $58,168 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.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a department manager, we found that a lot of resumes listed 50.6% of department managers included procedures, while 19.2% of resumes included inventory levels, and 10.3% of resumes included sales goals. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the department manager job title. But what industry to start with? Most department managers actually find jobs in the retail and manufacturing industries.
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 34.0% of department managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 6.2% of department managers have master's degrees. Even though some 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 high school diploma degrees. Other degrees that we often see on department manager resumes include associate degree 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.
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Average Salary for a Department Manager
Best Paying Cities
Recently Added Salaries
Job TitleCompany  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Terracon Department Manager I Department Manager I | Terracon Terracon | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $79,10001/30/2021 $79,100 |
Natural Grocers Grocery/Bulk Department Manager Grocery/Bulk Department Manager | Natural Grocers Natural Grocers | 01/30/2021 01/30/2021 | $37,56601/30/2021 $37,566 |
University of California Department Manager Department Manager | University of California University of California | 01/28/2021 01/28/2021 | $85,00001/28/2021 $85,000 |
Barnes & Noble, Inc. Co Department Manager-General Merchandise--Tivoli Station Bookstore Co Department Manager-General Merchandise--Tivoli Station Bookstore | Barnes & Noble, Inc. Barnes & Noble, Inc. | 01/27/2021 01/27/2021 | $28,17501/27/2021 $28,175 |
Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Co Department Manager-General Merchandise--Tivoli Station Bookstore Co Department Manager-General Merchandise--Tivoli Station Bookstore | Barnes & Noble College Booksellers Barnes & Noble College Booksellers | 01/26/2021 01/26/2021 | $28,17501/26/2021 $28,175 |
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Department Manager Resumes
Designing and figuring out what to include on your resume can be tough, not to mention time-consuming. That's why we put together a guide that is designed to help you craft the perfect resume for becoming a Department Manager. If you're needing extra inspiration, take a look through our selection of templates that are specific to your job.
Learn How To Write a Department Manager Resume
At Zippia, we went through countless Department Manager resumes and compiled some information about how best to optimize them. Here are some suggestions based on what we found, divided by the individual sections of the resume itself.
View Detailed InformationTop Colleges for Department Managers
1. SUNY College of Technology at Delhi
Delhi, NY • Public
2. SUNY Farmingdale
Farmingdale, NY • Public
3. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
4. University of Georgia
Athens, GA • Public
5. Purdue University
West Lafayette, IN • Public
6. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
7. Baylor University
Waco, TX • Private
8. SUNY College of Technology at Alfred
Alfred, NY • Public
9. Syracuse University
Syracuse, NY • Private
10. Ball State University
Muncie, IN • Public
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.
- Procedures, 50.6%
- Inventory Levels, 19.2%
- Sales Goals, 10.3%
- Customer Service, 4.3%
- Communication, 1.5%
- Other Skills, 14.1% See All Department Manager Skills
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 Hawaii, New Jersey, New York, and Connecticut. Department managers make the most in Hawaii with an average salary of $82,200. Whereas in New Jersey and New York, they would average $77,071 and $76,683, respectively. While department managers would only make an average of $68,720 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
$77,071
Avg. Salary
2. New York
$76,683
Avg. Salary
3. Connecticut
$68,720
Avg. Salary
How Do Department Manager Rate Their Jobs?
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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 MoreTop Department Manager Employers
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