Office manager - career development

As an office manager, you’ll be responsible for ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of an office, using your financial, administrative and managerial skills. Find out what it’s like to work as an office manager, what skills you’ll need and what you should study to qualify.

Find out how you'll build skills and experience below.

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How will your office manager career progress?

To progress your career as an office manager, you’ll need to gain more experience and potentially more qualifications. This could lead to becoming a personal assistant for a member of senior management or an operations manager.

You may choose to specialise in a particular area such as finance, human resources or business management to boost your employment prospects.

Becoming an office manager usually needs a few years of administrative experience beforehand. So you might start out in a similar role at entry level before moving up to an office manager position.

What opportunities are there for career development?

If you want to develop your skills as an office manager, you can take on high-profile projects and manage a team of staff. A lot of your development will come from using your own initiative and asking for more responsibility.

Your company may also offer to pay for courses that you feel will benefit both the business and your career.

You could also become a member of a professional society for office managers such as the Institute of Administrative Management.

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