How To Become A Play Leader: What It Is and Career Path

What is a play leader and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

2 min read

There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a play leader. For example, did you know that they make an average of $18.27 an hour? That's $38,011 a year! Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 10% and produce 28,100 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScorePlay LeaderUS Average

Salary

3.0

Avg. Salary $38,011

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

9.1

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

9.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.71%

Asian 5.06%

Black or African American 12.00%

Hispanic or Latino 15.07%

Unknown 5.72%

White 61.45%

Gender

female 47.14%

male 52.86%

Age - 43

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 - 43

Stress level

9.1

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

7.9

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.5

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a play leader

Explore play leader education requirements

Most common play leader degrees

Bachelor's

57.5 %

Associate

15.8 %

High School Diploma

12.1 %

Start to develop specific play leader skills

Skills	Percentages
Guest Service	18.47%
Excellent Guest	16.54%
Customer Issues	8.89%
Championship	8.28%
Conflict Resolution	7.80%

Complete relevant play leader training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New play leaders 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 play leader based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real play leader resumes.

Research play leader duties and responsibilities

Lead a group to help a dog food producer to gain traction in the grocery store channel
Involve in test case review meeting with QA team and provide suggestions on the changes to functionalities.
Provide direction for employees both orally and written facilitate meetings in the form of PowerPoint presentations and administer all department communication.
Instruct teens on how to create arts and crafts while stimulating their minds with learning activities.

Get play leader experience

Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a play leader. The most common roles before becoming a play leader include volunteer, cashier team lead and internship.

Apply for play leader jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a play leader 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