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Office manager skills for your resume and career

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted experts

Dr. Timothy Edwards,

Bernie Cerasaro

Below we've compiled a list of the most critical office manager skills. We ranked the top skills for office managers based on the percentage of resumes they appeared on. For example, 19.1% of office manager resumes contained customer service as a skill. Continue reading to find out what skills an office manager needs to be successful in the workplace.

15 office manager skills for your resume and career

1. Customer Service

Customer service is the process of offering assistance to all the current and potential customers -- answering questions, fixing problems, and providing excellent service. The main goal of customer service is to build a strong relationship with the customers so that they keep coming back for more business.

Here's how office managers use customer service:

Developed and implemented new supervisor training, including management processes, business etiquette, customer service skills and conflict resolution.
Strengthened my customer service, communication, problem-solving and management skills by collaborating with various health care professionals and patients.

2. Patients

Here's how office managers use patients:

Called patients periodically for encouragement and to form a relationship with open communication during this personal time.
Prevented scheduling conflicts and maximized billing revenue by verifying appointment times professionally and courteously with patients.

3. Financial Statements

A financial statement is a report of an individual or a company that includes all the information about the declared assets, the use of money, income, and also the contribution of shareholders over a certain period.

Here's how office managers use financial statements:

Managed inventory weekly, prepared financial statements, handled marketing, and managed internal business operations with and without direct supervision.
Maintained responsibility for month-end closing, preparation and analysis of financial statements, general ledger balancing, and bank account reconciliation.

4. Office Operations

Here's how office managers use office operations:

Managed all daily office operations including accounts receivable/payable, billing, insurance processing, confidential patient files, and scheduled appointments.
Monitored and organized office operations and procedures, such as typing, bookkeeping, preparation, and verified dental/medical insurance.

5. Office Equipment

Here's how office managers use office equipment:

Facilitated completion of incorporation filing, acquisition of office equipment and establishment of financial accounts, insurance policies, and payroll.
Provided on-site management of the computer network; coordinated technical support and maintenance of computers and office equipment.

6. Scheduling Appointments

Scheduling appointments is the practice of finding a free slot with the person(s) you want to meet. The process of scheduling appointments involves finding mutually free time, negotiating follow-ups, sending reminders, and creating new appointments. Scheduling appointments is important to ensure that the timings of consecutive meetings do not clash with each other.

Here's how office managers use scheduling appointments:

Performed daily operations of business including general accounting, ordering equipment and supplies, scheduling appointments, and supervising employees.
Carpet Cleaning/Shampoo Technician Scheduling Appointments Processing payments Filing paperwork and creating work orders Order and stock inventory of supplies and chemicals

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7. Human Resources

Human resources is a set of people in a business or a corporation that are designated to locate, interview, and recruit new employees into the company. They are also responsible to maintain the integrity of the employees and help them sort their problems out. They try to introduce and manage employee-benefit programs.

Here's how office managers use human resources:

Serve as department liaison with all centralized University services including Human Resources, Facilities Management and Information Technology and Finance Department.
Contributed to the efficiency of company operations by managing the company's financial portfolio and staff by incorporating human resources functions.

8. Office Management

Here's how office managers use office management:

Support company operations of mental health counseling office by designing and maintaining office management systems, operational procedures and databases.
Provided general office management services for residential construction company that specialized in new construction, additions and large-scale remodels.

9. Accounts Receivables

Here's how office managers use accounts receivables:

Maintain accounts receivables, collecting on past due invoices maintaining reputable relationships with customers to ensure satisfaction and customer retention.
Managed payment delinquencies with former patients to reduce accounts receivables and consulted with management on profit maximization strategies.

10. Bank Deposits

Any money that a customer chooses to leave with their bank account is a deposit. Deposits can vary in amounts and different banks have limits on the deposits their customers can have as a minimum. Banks charge customers for deposits especially when a teller is used by the customer to deposit money into their account.

Here's how office managers use bank deposits:

Managed accounts payable/receivable, managed internal/external mail, processed company payroll and made nightly bank deposits for business.
Completed staff work schedules Collected fees/wrote receipts Completed bank deposits and maintained accurate records Greeted guests

11. Front Desk

Here's how office managers use front desk:

Managed front desk functions and maintained a working knowledge of registration, appointment scheduling, insurance verification/authorization process, payment collect.
Provide front desk management and administrative support to all departments of a full-service sports management and marketing agency.

12. Accounts Payables

Here's how office managers use accounts payables:

Prepared and processed escrow accounting, accounts payables/receivables/reconciliations (QuickBooks) covering 5 lenders for an average of 30 closings/monthly.
Manage organization for business operations including purchasing and inventory as well as accounts payables/receivables and collections.

13. PowerPoint

Here's how office managers use powerpoint:

Developed informative and motivational PowerPoint presentations for sales and regional meetings as well as to facilitate communications with potential partners.
Developed innovative PowerPoint presentation used by the corporate offices to market executive support programs to potential customers/clients.

14. Travel Arrangements

Here's how office managers use travel arrangements:

Coordinated weekly travel arrangements for field personnel to travel to multiple military bases to install equipment for military personnel.
Provided administrative support to department head and Quality Assurance Team; coordinated meetings, calendar and travel arrangements.

15. Office Policies

Here's how office managers use office policies:

Designed and implemented office policies, established standards and procedures, supervised office staff, evaluated staff performances and controlled correspondences.
Constructed and implemented office policies by establishing standards and procedures; measured results against industry standards and made adjustments when necessary.

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What skills help Office Managers find jobs?

Tell us what job you are looking for, we’ll show you what skills employers want.

What skills stand out on office manager resumes?

Dr. Timothy Edwards

Professor, Interim Director, University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Writing and research skills. Analytical and critical thinking skills. Technical skills such as web design, graphic design, audio and video production skills. Employers are interested in potential employees knowledge, intelligence and skills.

What soft skills should all office managers possess?

Bernie Cerasaro

Assistant Teaching Professor, Pennsylvania State University - Greater Allegheny

Soft skills or conceptual skills are critical in today's business world. Lack of such interpersonal skills is a major reason highly qualified professionals are not promoted (Lee, n.d.)

As a former recruiter for Xerox Corporation, I looked for problem-solving, decision-making, and time management skills. Problem-solving supports creativity allowing workers to evaluate and prioritize options to determine the best solution. Much time and money can be wasted in selecting the wrong option.

Proper decision-making allows companies to quickly react to internal problems, customer concerns, changing market trends, and the use of ever-advancing technology in the workplace. The increased use of empowerment in the workplace, which has been enhanced due to the pandemic, has allowed employees to make more decisions, which requires strong decision-making capability. In addition, the pandemic has caused many businesses to use alternate work structures such as working from home, leading to less direct supervision. Consequently, employers are looking for people who are self-motivated, self-directed, and who employ good time management skills.

Teamwork is one of the most commonly required skills in the work environment. The ability to work together is essential. Due to downsizing, there are fewer managers within companies. Since few individuals possess all the knowledge and skills needed, teamwork has become essential. Getting along and working together to achieve objectives and meet deliverables is critical to project completion. Managers are also looking to teams to provide a greater range of ideas and innovation. Teams can also motivate each other for the timely completion of tasks.

Conflict management enhances decision-making abilities and increases creativity which produces innovative solutions for ongoing problems. The ability to handle conflict productively helps solve problems resulting in demoralization, absenteeism, and turnover. Productive resolution of such problems leads to increased trust and increased employee involvement.

For those aspiring to management positions, leadership is key. Leaders need to promote the company's mission and vision among their subordinates. They need to influence employees to achieve goals by motivating them, resulting in a higher level of performance. This type of leadership is paramount in today's marketplace for company advancement, expansion, and survival.

Other important soft skills include verbal and written communication, persuasive skills, negotiation, and listening skills. Communication is vital to company performance. The ability of company personnel to communicate clearly, succinctly, and accurately will increase productivity. Good communication requires being observant of both verbal and nonverbal signals.

Persuasion and negotiation, two other soft skills, require good listening skills. In today's work environment, employees are no longer subject to a hierarchical structure, a structure of non-questioning of their manager's requests. This requires managers to be more persuasive. Negotiation is practiced by all of us on a day-to-day basis, and more so in business. Strong negotiation skills are essential internally (managers and employees) and externally (sales negotiations, contract negotiations, etc.).

We often forget the skill of listening, as most of us prefer to talk rather than listen. However, it is essential to understand what your company and customers want. This is not just "hearing" but actually practicing listening skills by asking questions, confirming content heard, and providing feedback. Listening requires effort; it requires concentration and attention to what is being said.

What office manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?

Dr. Darrin Cox

Professor of History, West Liberty University

Reading. Then read some more. Read a wide array of materials from multiple perspectives related to your fields of interest and on topics that impact your immediate world. Reading will increase your specific knowledge in these areas, introduce you to competing interpretations, and hopefully stimulate critical thinking as you reconcile new information and perspectives into your own conclusions. Oh, and then read some more. Did I mention you should read?

What type of skills will young office managers need?

Patrick Scott Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Economics, Louisiana Tech University

I think the importance of critical thinking and reasoning skills cannot be overstated enough. In this area, economics shines. Additionally, analytical and quantitative skills are more important than ever. Businesses continue to make the shift towards data-driven decision making. The ability to quickly analyze data and correctly assign an interpretation or meaning to that data is an important job market skill. With just a little bit of economic intuition, combined data science skills, business economics majors are uniquely positioned for success in the job market of tomorrow.

What technical skills for an office manager stand out to employers?

Christi Patton Luks

Professor (NTT) and Associate Chair for Academic Affairs, Missouri University of Science & Technology

I've always felt that the most important thing we teach our students is problem-solving skills. The students who can readily relate the theory to their practical experience to develop new solutions are the most valuable. Engineering students that are active on design teams or took advantage of internships and co-ops are in great position for this.

What hard/technical skills are most important for office managers?

Bruce Heiman Ph.D.

Professor of International Business, San Francisco State University

-Analytical skills (ability to gather data, clean it, analyze it, write-up results and present on what the meaning of the analysis suggests for action (the last one is most important--"what does it really mean?"

-Some experience and skills with coding in any language (at the moment, Python or C++ are preferred, though Ruby on Rails is also good)

-Deep spreadsheet skills (pivot tables and macros, as examples).

-Relational database skills, including programming (e.g., MySQL)

-Data mining

-AI/Machine Learning experience

Do you want to know more?

List of office manager skills to add to your resume

The most important skills for an office manager resume and required skills for an office manager to have include:

Customer Service
Patients
Financial Statements
Office Operations
Office Equipment
Scheduling Appointments
Human Resources
Office Management
Accounts Receivables
Bank Deposits
Front Desk
Accounts Payables
PowerPoint
Travel Arrangements
Office Policies
Office Procedures
Patient Care

Financial Reports
Expense Reports
Word Processing
Background Checks
Quickbooks Pro
Inventory Control
General Ledger
Administrative Tasks
Bank Reconciliations
Insurance Claims
Office Functions
HIPAA
Office Services
Administrative Functions
Insurance Verification
Medicaid
Clerical Functions

Computer System
Customer Complaints
Bank Accounts
Bank Statements
Tax Returns
Office Systems
Hippa
Medical Billing
Telephone Calls
Process Payroll
Customer Accounts
Office Efficiency
Journal Entries
Payroll Taxes
Customer Relations
Aspen

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

Updated January 8, 2025

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