What Does a Department Manager Do?

In this section, we compare the average department manager annual salary with that of a manager on duty. Typically, managers on duty earn a $29,737 lower salary than department managers earn annually.

Even though department managers and managers on duty have vast differences in their careers, a few of the skills required to do both jobs are similar. For example, both careers require inventory management, customer service, and sales floor in the day-to-day roles.

As far as similarities go, this is where it ends because a department manager responsibility requires skills such as "sales promotions," "cleanliness," "store management," and "performance reviews." Whereas a manager on duty is skilled in "safety procedures," "cpr," "guest service," and "front desk operations." So if you're looking for what truly separates the two careers, you've found it.

Managers on duty receive the highest salaries in the retail industry coming in with an average yearly salary of $36,308. But department managers are paid more in the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $71,410.

The education levels that managers on duty earn is a bit different than that of department managers. In particular, managers on duty are 0.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a department manager. Additionally, they're 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Next up, we have the store manager and buyer profession to look over. This career brings along a higher average salary when compared to a department manager annual salary. In fact, store managers and buyer salary difference is $1,804 higher than the salary of department managers per year.

A similarity between the two careers of department managers and store managers and buyer are a few of the skills associated with both roles. We used resumes from both professions to find that both use skills like "inventory management," "customer service," and "sales floor. "

But both careers also use different skills, according to real department manager resumes. While department manager responsibilities can utilize skills like "sales promotions," "cleanliness," "store management," and "performance reviews," some store managers and buyer use skills like "market trends," "trade shows," "apparel," and "boutique."

On the topic of education, store managers and buyer earn similar levels of education than department managers. In general, they're 0.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Let's now take a look at the co-manager profession. On average, these workers make lower salaries than department managers with a $2,198 difference per year.

By looking over several department managers and co-managers resumes, we found that both roles utilize similar skills, such as "inventory management," "cleanliness," and "customer service." But beyond that the careers look very different.

As mentioned, these two careers differ between other skills that are required for performing the work exceedingly well. For example, gathering from department managers resumes, they are more likely to have skills like "sales promotions," "store management," "hr," and "direct reports." But a co-manager might have skills like "food safety," "perform routine maintenance," "store sales," and "basic math."

Interestingly enough, co-managers earn the most pay in the retail industry, where they command an average salary of $64,497. As mentioned previously, department managers highest annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry with an average salary of $71,410.

Co-managers typically study at similar levels compared with department managers. For example, they're 0.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Now, we'll look at associate managers, who generally average a higher pay when compared to department managers annual salary. In fact, the difference is about $16,086 per year.

While their salaries may vary, department managers and associate managers both use similar skills to perform their jobs. Resumes from both professions include skills like "inventory management," "customer service," and "sales floor. "

Each job requires different skills like "sales promotions," "cleanliness," "hr," and "gem," which might show up on a department manager resume. Whereas associate manager might include skills like "pet," "human resources," "store opening," and "switches."

Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The finance industry tends to pay more for associate managers with an average of $93,690. While the highest department manager annual salary comes from the manufacturing industry.

Associate managers reach similar levels of education when compared to department managers. The difference is that they're 3.5% more likely to earn a Master's Degree more, and 0.2% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.