4 answers
1
Question
Asked
1001 views
How did you go about becoming a office manager? #office
i need the pros and cons ofworking in an office #office
Login to comment
4 answers
Updated
Cindie’s Answer
Hi Juan.
There are basically 2 ways to become an office manager:
1. Work your way into the position by specializing in one area of office operations (e.g. billing) and then cross training to learn other areas until you understand and/or could do almost all functions of running the office
or
2. Get a business/management degree, do an internship or two during the summers to get some experience, and then get a job running an office.
I guess there's a third way; you may know someone who is looking for an office manager and will hire you because they like you and trust you. This, combined with #2 above, is how I became an office manager of a medical doctor's office.
Depending on the industry that you go into, the scope of activities involved in office management will vary, but there are similarities. In the medical doctor's office, I was responsible for payroll, paying bills, monitoring cash inflow and outflow, hiring and managing employees, advertising the business, ordering supplies, managing inventory, and developing and presenting reports to the owner. As you can see, it takes time to learn these areas of managing an office.
Not knowing much about your level of education, here are some possible ways you can go about reaching the goal of being an office manager:
1. If you have no college education or don't plan to go to college.... You need to know how to type really well and with little to no errors. You should know how to use Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint at least relatively well; it helps too if you can have some examples of your work with these applications should you be asked during the interview process. There are a lot of free courses online (e.g. www.coursera.org). You should also learn about the industry that you are interested in. It is important to be able to talk the language of the industry when you're interviewing. Keep in mind, too, that typically an office environment is professional. When you interview, always dress your best. This gives the impression that you are an individual who cares to make an impression and may also be someone who is attentive to details. Lastly, even though you don't plan to go to college, you should consider taking some business-related courses through a community school or what is often called "continuing education." These schools offer courses on various business proficiency areas such as learning how to use QuickBooks for managing a company's finances.
2. If you have or are acquiring a college education... Hopefully you're taking business-related courses. I encourage you to get good at understanding how to manage a company's finances. Internships are very important. Try to do one or two of them before you graduate; this will make you more competitive when you start to interview for a position.
Pros and Cons
The pros of working in an office is that you aren't outside doing manual labor or on your feet all day long. You're also acquiring skills that can be easily transferable across many industries. You'll likely make more money working in an office too because of the skills you'll learn *and* master.
The cons of working in an office include possibly sitting a good portion of your day which is not good for your health, but if your aware of this, you can do things to offset the negatives of sitting. As an office manager, you'll be involved in a lot of different aspects of the business so you likely will not be bored, but your world may be contained to a small environment. If you're the kind of person who likes to be out and about talking to and engaging with people, you might find that there is not enough of this in an office environment.
I hope this helps to answer your question. All the best to you, Juan. :)
There are basically 2 ways to become an office manager:
1. Work your way into the position by specializing in one area of office operations (e.g. billing) and then cross training to learn other areas until you understand and/or could do almost all functions of running the office
or
2. Get a business/management degree, do an internship or two during the summers to get some experience, and then get a job running an office.
I guess there's a third way; you may know someone who is looking for an office manager and will hire you because they like you and trust you. This, combined with #2 above, is how I became an office manager of a medical doctor's office.
Depending on the industry that you go into, the scope of activities involved in office management will vary, but there are similarities. In the medical doctor's office, I was responsible for payroll, paying bills, monitoring cash inflow and outflow, hiring and managing employees, advertising the business, ordering supplies, managing inventory, and developing and presenting reports to the owner. As you can see, it takes time to learn these areas of managing an office.
Not knowing much about your level of education, here are some possible ways you can go about reaching the goal of being an office manager:
1. If you have no college education or don't plan to go to college.... You need to know how to type really well and with little to no errors. You should know how to use Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft PowerPoint at least relatively well; it helps too if you can have some examples of your work with these applications should you be asked during the interview process. There are a lot of free courses online (e.g. www.coursera.org). You should also learn about the industry that you are interested in. It is important to be able to talk the language of the industry when you're interviewing. Keep in mind, too, that typically an office environment is professional. When you interview, always dress your best. This gives the impression that you are an individual who cares to make an impression and may also be someone who is attentive to details. Lastly, even though you don't plan to go to college, you should consider taking some business-related courses through a community school or what is often called "continuing education." These schools offer courses on various business proficiency areas such as learning how to use QuickBooks for managing a company's finances.
2. If you have or are acquiring a college education... Hopefully you're taking business-related courses. I encourage you to get good at understanding how to manage a company's finances. Internships are very important. Try to do one or two of them before you graduate; this will make you more competitive when you start to interview for a position.
Pros and Cons
The pros of working in an office is that you aren't outside doing manual labor or on your feet all day long. You're also acquiring skills that can be easily transferable across many industries. You'll likely make more money working in an office too because of the skills you'll learn *and* master.
The cons of working in an office include possibly sitting a good portion of your day which is not good for your health, but if your aware of this, you can do things to offset the negatives of sitting. As an office manager, you'll be involved in a lot of different aspects of the business so you likely will not be bored, but your world may be contained to a small environment. If you're the kind of person who likes to be out and about talking to and engaging with people, you might find that there is not enough of this in an office environment.
I hope this helps to answer your question. All the best to you, Juan. :)
Updated
Jennifer’s Answer
I started my property management career by first becoming an office manager. I got the position through a staffing agency and although I didnt have any experience in property management the job itself covered a wide range of areas and allowed me an opportunity to learn all about the industry. Many office manager positions will require good organizational skills, flexibility, time management and good interpersonal skills.
Updated
Katya’s Answer
hi, it all depends on what kind of an office manager you are interested in becoming. you can be a bank office manager, a real estate office manager, a medical field office manager, ets.
some great factors working in the office is that you will be responsible for many daily tasks. If you enjoy being the go to person- this is the job for you. You might need to hire and fire people depending on your tasks given by your leadership. There will be a lot of paperwork involved , some depending on which type of office you working in modern or old fashion- you might need to organize everything on the outlook email. create daily calendars and follow up on previous inquiries.
Being an office manager requires long hours, if someone calls out on your team you might need to step in and do that individual job duty for the day . As an office manager -you are in charge and need to learn your entire team responsibilities in case no one shows up and you still need to operate -you will be bale to do so.
Your office does get audited- so you most likely will be respond or the operational excellence.
If you are the type of person who can work in different teams and deal with different personalities such as clients and peers than this is a good fit for you.
‘Cons- depending on which office -depends what that company offers as benefits- so you always want to ask about sick paid leave, insurance they offer, ets.
some great factors working in the office is that you will be responsible for many daily tasks. If you enjoy being the go to person- this is the job for you. You might need to hire and fire people depending on your tasks given by your leadership. There will be a lot of paperwork involved , some depending on which type of office you working in modern or old fashion- you might need to organize everything on the outlook email. create daily calendars and follow up on previous inquiries.
Being an office manager requires long hours, if someone calls out on your team you might need to step in and do that individual job duty for the day . As an office manager -you are in charge and need to learn your entire team responsibilities in case no one shows up and you still need to operate -you will be bale to do so.
Your office does get audited- so you most likely will be respond or the operational excellence.
If you are the type of person who can work in different teams and deal with different personalities such as clients and peers than this is a good fit for you.
‘Cons- depending on which office -depends what that company offers as benefits- so you always want to ask about sick paid leave, insurance they offer, ets.
Updated
Eméline’s Answer
Hi Juan,
I hope you are well. I started my career working as a receptionist and literally just built my skills from there. You really just need to have great communication skills, Organisational skills, planning skills, and just be great at multi-tasking, I will say first pick the industry that you would like to work in and go from there. I come from having a Masters Degree in Law, so it really doesn't matter on your career background. Just literally build your skills on your journey. Ask all your employers for as much training as possible.
I hope this help.
Best wishes in your future Endeavours.
I hope you are well. I started my career working as a receptionist and literally just built my skills from there. You really just need to have great communication skills, Organisational skills, planning skills, and just be great at multi-tasking, I will say first pick the industry that you would like to work in and go from there. I come from having a Masters Degree in Law, so it really doesn't matter on your career background. Just literally build your skills on your journey. Ask all your employers for as much training as possible.
I hope this help.
Best wishes in your future Endeavours.