How To Become A Night Shift Supervisor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a night shift supervisor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

If you're a bit of a night owl, you might feel comfortable being a night shift supervisor. A night shift supervisor can work in a wide range of facilities, particularly those that operate round-the-clock or have extended hours. If you decide to become a night shift supervisor, you could be working in a warehouse, healthcare clinic, or assisted living facility.

Your main responsibility as the night shift supervisor will be to ensure that operations continue running smoothly overnight. Depending on where you end up working, you could perform a variety of duties, including handling administrative issues, managing staff, resolving any unexpected issues, and ensuring compliance with any policies or regulations. If you're looking to be a night shift supervisor, you'll need to have a strong sense of accountability, as well as excellent interpersonal and time management skills.

The educational requirements for becoming a night shift supervisor will vary depending on where you work. You'll typically need at least a high school diploma or GED. Previous experience or training may be needed to work as a supervisor in certain facilities.

ScoreNight Shift SupervisorUS Average

Salary

2.8

Avg. Salary $35,491

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.1

Growth rate 18%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.71%

Asian 5.27%

Black or African American 12.61%

Hispanic or Latino 16.97%

Unknown 4.19%

White 60.25%

Gender

female 33.85%

male 66.15%

Age - 47

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 - 47

Stress level

8.1

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.1

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a night shift supervisor

Explore night shift supervisor education requirements

Most common night shift supervisor degrees

Bachelor's

31.0 %

Associate

28.7 %

High School Diploma

25.2 %

Start to develop specific night shift supervisor skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	16.44%
Safety Procedures	9.67%
Customer Service	6.87%
Quality Standards	5.32%
Safety Rules	3.87%

Complete relevant night shift supervisor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New night shift supervisors 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 night shift supervisor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real night shift supervisor resumes.

Gain additional night shift supervisor certifications

Night shift supervisor certifications can show employers you have a baseline of knowledge expected for the position. Certifications can also make you a more competitive candidate. Even if employers don't require a specific night shift supervisor certification, having one may help you stand out relative to other applicants.

The most common certifications for night shift supervisors include OSHA Safety Certificate and Food Safety Manager Certification.

More About Certifications

Research night shift supervisor duties and responsibilities

Manage the proper preparation of equipment for mechanical work as well as proper utilization of LOTO system.
Certify in forklift driving, CPR, and environmental spill prevention and containment.
Direct, train and motivate team members during shift on each of the workstations.
Perform advance technical duties which may include: CNC machining, welding, and assembly of tools.

Prepare your night shift supervisor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your night shift supervisor 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 night shift supervisor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable night shift supervisor resume templates

Build a professional night shift supervisor 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 night shift supervisor resume.

Apply for night shift supervisor jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a night shift supervisor job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first night shift supervisor job

Gbenga Adeniyi

Night Shift Supervisor

1, As a night supervisor you need to pay attention to details, 2, as a night supervisor everybody is your friend in your own shift and the other shift the course you are the face of the company as at that time because there's no management team around to check or to know what is going, 3, as a night supervisor you must be safety conscious and be prepared for further damage than my apple at night, 4, as a night supervisor before submitting your report you need to go over it over and over again because what you do at night it's matters more than what happened in the morning thank you.

How do night shift supervisors rate their job?

-/5

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Night shift supervisor reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2019

Cons

The 6/7 day work weeks and the constant jumping between 2nd and 3rd shifts.