How To Become An Office Manager/Supervisor: What It Is and Career Path

What is an office manager/supervisor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Kerem Cakirer Ph.D.

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being an office manager/supervisor. For example, did you know that they make an average of $25.75 an hour? That's $53,566 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow -8% and produce -286,900 job opportunities across the U.S.

What's a day at work look like for an office manager/supervisor?

Kerem Cakirer Ph.D.

Senior Lecturer, Indiana University Bloomington

This is a great question. The pandemic has changed the working life for good. Usually, a day at work for a graduate starts very early with commuting to the main office of the company they work. However, this is the past now. Graduates may start working from their home office and expected to be online for 8-10 hours a day, sitting in front of their computer, probably fifteen minutes after breakfast. They may not be even required to wear a suit! The living room could be the new graduate's work office too. When the day kicks off, it will definitely include lots of email correspondence, Zoom meetings and Microsoft's team collaboration works. The painted picture here may sound arbitrary; however, the whole way of doing business can create different challenges for a recent graduate. In my opinion, the most difficult challenge will be, what I call as, the no-curtain effect, which is, separating the work life from the personal life. With no hard boundaries, such as business offices or on site working projects, graduates may find very difficult to adopt the business world than ever after the pandemic. Post pandemic era, the graduates could find sustaining a balanced lifestyle more challenging because they would be expected to learn and achieve a lot in their job while they are young and novice in their career. The whole transformation of "a day at work" can even create a new demand for different line of jobs, (a life coach may be?). I am very curious to see how the evolution of "day at work" will be.

ScoreOffice Manager/SupervisorUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $53,566

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.0

Growth rate -8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.4

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.64%

Asian 5.44%

Black or African American 10.28%

Hispanic or Latino 18.97%

Unknown 4.76%

White 59.91%

Gender

female 76.85%

male 23.15%

Age - 48

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 - 48

Stress level

8.0

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.2

Work life balance is fair

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become an office manager/supervisor

Explore office manager/supervisor education requirements

Most common office manager/supervisor degrees

Bachelor's

43.3 %

Associate

25.2 %

High School Diploma

16.2 %

Start to develop specific office manager/supervisor skills

Skills	Percentages
Customer Service	20.47%
Office Procedures	18.14%
Financial Reports	7.43%
Bank Deposits	5.20%
Office Operations	3.42%

Complete relevant office manager/supervisor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New office manager/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 an office manager/supervisor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real office manager/supervisor resumes.

Research office manager/supervisor duties and responsibilities

Manage operational duties including payroll issues, workers compensation, FMLA, unemployment hearings, counseling, terminations and reporting.
Maintain compliance for all HIPPA regulations.
Create PowerPoint presentations for the potential clients.
Ensure compliance with corporate policies and procedures including HIPAA and OSHA.

Prepare your office manager/supervisor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your office manager/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 an office manager/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 office manager/supervisor resume templates

Build a professional office manager/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 office manager/supervisor resume.