As an office manager, you want to make sure everything is running smoothly, from the day-to-day responsibilities of everyone in the office to managing a small administrative staff, your role is pretty important.
Office managers typically work a normal schedule of 40 hours a week. This is a plus as it's definitely nothing crazy like other management positions when it comes to your schedule.
While leaving the office after 8 hours each day seems glamorous, it's not all daffodils and daisies. In fact, office managers tend to be under a lot of stress, most of the time. Contrary to the Michael Scott character who seemingly coasts by each day without getting much done, actual office managers stay under pressure from top management to make sure everything is running properly.
What is an Office Manager?
What Does an Office Manager Do
There are certain skills that many office 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 interpersonal skills, organizational skills and writing skills.
How To Become an Office Manager
If you're interested in becoming an office manager, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 44.3% of office managers have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 4.9% of office managers have master's degrees. Even though some office managers have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Office 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 accounting manager you might progress to a role such as assistant controller eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title assistant controller.
Average Salary for an Office Manager
What Am I Worth?
States With The Most Office Manager Jobs
Mouse over a state to see the number of active office manager jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where office managers earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.
Number Of Office Manager Jobs By State
Top Colleges for Office Managers
1. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
2. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
3. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
4. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
Minneapolis, MN • Private
5. Cornell University
Ithaca, NY • Private
6. University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA • Private
7. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
8. Western Carolina University
Cullowhee, NC • Private
9. SUNY College of Agriculture & Technology at Morrisville
Morrisville, NY • Private
10. Pennsylvania State University
University Park, PA • Private
Top Skills For an Office 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, 19.1% of office managers listed customer service on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and organizational skills are important as well.
Choose From 10+ Customizable Office Manager Resume templates
Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Office Manager templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Office Manager resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.
Office Manager Demographics
Office Manager Gender Distribution
After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:
- Among office managers, 86.5% of them are women, while 13.5% are men.
- The most common race/ethnicity among office managers is White, which makes up 64.9% of all office managers.
- The most common foreign language among office managers is Spanish at 64.4%.
Work Experience Programs For Office Managers
Virtual work experience programs replicate work at top companies and help you gain the skills to be successful when applying and working there. In only a few hours, learn the relevant tools necessary to complete a typical work day at that company. Virtual work experience programs are 100% free, open-access, and self-paced. No experience or application is required!
Company: JPMorgan Chase & Co.
Cost: Free
Duration: 4-5 hours
Online Courses For Office Manager That You May Like
Payroll calculations - federal income tax, social security, Medicare - Payroll journal entries posted to ledger accounts...
Adjusting entry creation, posting adjusting entries to a worksheet, creating financial statements from the trial balance...
Subsidiary ledgers for accounts receivable & accounts payable. Special Journals - Sales journal, purchases journal...
Best States For an Office Manager
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as an office manager. The best states for people in this position are New York, Alaska, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. Office managers make the most in New York with an average salary of $56,989. Whereas in Alaska and Connecticut, they would average $51,015 and $50,867, respectively. While office managers would only make an average of $49,985 in Massachusetts, 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 York
$56,989
Avg. Salary
2. District of Columbia
$59,161
Avg. Salary
3. Alaska
$51,015
Avg. Salary
How Do Office Manager Rate Their Jobs?
5.0
5.0
Office Manager • August 2020What do you like the most about working as Office Manager?
Being able to motivate administrative personnel to do their jobs well and meet deadlines. Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
Having to reprimand personnel when duties are neglected. Show More5.0
5.0
office manager • October 2019What do you like the most about working as Office Manager?
diverse responsibilities, interfacing with all levels of professionals Show MoreWhat do you NOT like?
nothing comes to mind Show MoreTop Office Manager Employers
Most Common Employers For Office Manager
| Rank | Company | Average Salary | Hourly Rate | Job Openings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Banfield Pet Hospital | $54,298 | $26.10 | 136 |
| 2 | Nationwide | $50,591 | $24.32 | 232 |
| 3 | State Farm | $49,955 | $24.02 | 274 |
| 4 | State Farm Insurance Agency | $49,658 | $23.87 | 826 |
| 5 | Farmers Insurance | $49,100 | $23.61 | 617 |
| 6 | American Family Insurance | $49,010 | $23.56 | 272 |
| 7 | Allstate | $48,898 | $23.51 | 743 |
| 8 | US Air Conditioning Distributors | $46,748 | $22.48 | 164 |
| 9 | Jackson Hewitt | $46,308 | $22.26 | 1,230 |
| 10 | Liberty Tax | $46,306 | $22.26 | 779 |
Office Manager Videos
Becoming an Office Manager FAQs
Office Administrator Vs. Office Manager
An office administrator is generally part of the legal and administrative branches of a company and they are responsible for determining main policies and defining goals for an organization, while an office manager is a person in charge of putting policies and objectives into practice.
How Long Does It Take To Become An Office Manager?
It takes 5 years of professional experience to become an office manager. That is the time it takes to learn specific office 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 8 to 10 years years to become an office manager.
Is An Office Manager A Good Job?
Yes, being an office manager is a good job. Office managers earn decent money while gaining valuable experience. The job outlook for office managers is favorable. Overall, it's a great career for anyone who enjoys working in a fast-paced environment and being directly responsible for making sure everything runs smoothly.
Is An Office Manager A Supervisor?
Yes, an office manager is a supervisor. Managers and supervisors are both positions of leadership in an organization. Office managers typically play a more strategic role in a company, making decisions, setting goals, and overseeing the success of a team, while supervisors are responsible for administering tasks and ensuring they are done properly and on time.
What Qualifications Do I Need To Be An Office Manager?
The qualifications needed to be an office manager is a high school diploma or equivalent. Many employers, however, prefer a bachelor's degree. Related degrees include business administration, human resources management, or information management.
What Type Of Manager Is An Office Manager?
The types of managers in an office include; top-level managers, middle-level managers, and first-line managers. This hierarchical structure is based on something called top-down management, which refers to the various levels of management within an organization.