Office Manager

Career Overview

Office managers keep workplaces organized and running smoothly. They coordinate schedules, supplies, records, staff support, and day-to-day administrative tasks.

Education

A bachelor’s degree is common for management positions, although some people move into office management after gaining experience in administrative roles. Business, management, communications, and computer skills can all be useful.

Work Environment

Office managers work in many types of organizations and usually spend much of their time in an office or workplace setting. They work with employees, customers, and other professionals and may manage schedules, budgets, facilities, and office operations.

Future Outlook

The outlook is steady. Organizations will continue to need people who can coordinate daily operations, manage information, and keep workplaces running efficiently. Technology and AI are changing administrative tasks, so office managers who are comfortable with digital tools and adaptable to new ways of working will be well positioned for the future.

Recommended High School Courses

Business
Communication
Marketing
Accounting
Computer Applications

Active Learning - Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Active Listening - Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Complex Problem Solving - Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Coordination - Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Critical Thinking - Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
Instructing - Teaching others how to do something.
Judgment and Decision Making - Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Learning Strategies - Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Management of Personnel Resources - Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Negotiation - Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Persuasion - Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
Service Orientation - Actively looking for ways to help people.
Social Perceptiveness - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Speaking - Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Systems Analysis - Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Time Management - Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Writing - Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.

Administration and Management - Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Clerical - Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
Computers and Electronics - Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Customer and Personal Service - Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
English Language - Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Mathematics - Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Personnel and Human Resources - Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
Public Safety and Security - Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

Category Flexibility - The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Deductive Reasoning - The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Fluency of Ideas - The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Inductive Reasoning - The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Information Ordering - The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Near Vision - The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Oral Comprehension - The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Originality - The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Problem Sensitivity - The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
Selective Attention - The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
Speech Clarity - The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition - The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Time Sharing - The ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
Written Comprehension - The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Written Expression - The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.

Prepare operational budgets.
Hire personnel.
Direct administrative or support services.
Monitor facilities or operational systems.
Develop organizational goals or objectives.
Prepare operational progress or status reports.
Direct facility maintenance or repair activities.
Manage construction activities.
Purchase materials, equipment, or other resources.
Manage inventories of products or organizational resources.
Analyze data to inform operational decisions or activities.
Recommend organizational process or policy changes.
Plan facility layouts or designs.
Conduct employee training programs.

Schools

Arizona Western College

Austin Community College...

Bemidji State University

Bowling Green State Unive...

Bradley University

Brandeis University

Brazosport College

Brenau University

Brescia University

Brigham Young University-...

Bryan College

Bryan University

Bryant University

Butler University

Cal Poly Pomona

California Baptist Univer...

California Coast Universi...

California Institute Of A...

California State Universi...

Central New Mexico Commun...

Clark State Community Col...

College Of Business And T...

Cypress College

Daytona State College

Delaware Technical And Co...

Dickinson State Universit...

Durham Technical Communit...

Eastern Florida State Col...

El Camino College

Gadsden State Community C...

George Washington Univers...

Georgetown College

Georgia Piedmont Technica...

Harrisburg Area Community...

Herzing University- Atlan...

Herzing University- Minne...

Herzing University- New O...

Hillsborough Community Co...

Iḷisaġvik College

Lanier Technical College-...

Northwest Iowa Community...

Northwest Louisiana Techn...

Pitt Community College

Plaza College

South Suburban College

Spokane Community College

Suny Erie Community Colle...

University Of Northwester...

York College

York Technical College

Academy Canada- Corner... ●

Academy Canada- St. Jo...

Academy Of Learning- R...

Acadia College- Surrey...

Anderson College Of He...

Assiniboine Community...

Aurora College

Brock University

Burman University

Canadian Business Coll...

Canadian College Of He...

Canadian Institute Of...

Canadian Mennonite Uni...

Canadore College- Coll...

Canadore College- Stan...

Cape Breton Business C...

Cape Breton University

Capilano University- L...

Carlton Trail Regional...

Cdi College- Burnaby C...

Cdi College- Calgary C...

Cdi College- Calgary N...

Cdi College- Calgary S...

Cdi College- Edmonton...

Cdi College- Mississau...

Cdi College- North Yor...

Cdi College- Red Deer...

Cdi College- Scarborou...

College Of The North A...

Conestoga College- Bra...

Conestoga College- Gue...

Cts Canadian Career Co...

Cumberland Regional Co...

Douglas College- Coqui...

Douglas College- New W...

Durham College- Oshawa...

Durham College- Whitby...

Faithway Baptist Colle...

Fleming College- Suthe...

Georgian College- Oran...

Georgian College- Owen...

Georgian College- Sout...

Herzing College- Ottaw...

Herzing College- Toron...

Huron University Colle...

Ibt College

Keyano College- Clearw...

Keyin College

King's University Coll...

Klc College- Kingston...

Lakehead University- O...

Maritime Business Coll...

Medix College- Brampto...

Medix College- Scarbor...

Medix College- Toronto...

Niagara College- Niaga...

Niagara College- Wella...

Nicola Valley Institut...

North West College- Ba...

North West College- Me...

Northern Lakes College

Nova Scotia Community...

Okanagan College- Kelo...

Okanagan College- Pent...

Okanagan Valley Colleg...

Oulton College- Main C...

Portage College- Cold...

Queen's College

Robertson College- Mai...

Saskatchewan Polytechn...

Seneca College- Seneca...

Sheridan College Insti...

Southeast Regional Col...

Sprott Shaw Community...

St. Claire College- Ch...

Vancouver Career Colle...

Vancouver Community Co...

Westervelt College

Yukon University

USA

Canada

Potential Scholarships

Cad - Seymour Schulich En...

Cad - Retail Education Sc...

Cad - Rbc Elevate Scholar...

Cad - Horatio Alger Canad...

Cad - Allied Van Lines Lo...

Cad - Loran Award (loran...

Cad - Degroote School Of...

Cad - Horatio Alger Canad...

Usd - Aicpa Foundation Sc...

Usd - Acfe Ritchie-jennin...

Usd - Fbla Distinguished...

Usd - Deca Student Execut...

Usd - Afef Future Busines...

Approx Salary Expectation

Low End:

$65,000.00 /yr

Avg/Med:

$108,000.00 /yr

High End:

$200,000.00 /yr

Related Careers

Accountants and Auditors

Sales Coordinator

Bookkeeper

Retail Store Manager

References

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, https://www.bls.gov/ooh/.
Trend Analysis - Explorer the Market, Labour Market Information, Government of Canada https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis.
O*NET OnLine, National Center for O*NET Development, https://www.onetonline.org/.