Talents
Are you analytical? Can you see both fine details and the broad picture at the same time? Are you a good leader? Are you both flexible and decisive? Do you have good leadership skills? Can you communicate well, be calm in tense situations, and point the people working under you in the right direction?
You will need to be open to working with the people from a number of backgrounds, and you will need to be able to communicate with people in ways they can understand. That may mean you are going to have to be able to change how you speak and the level on which you speak depending on whom you are talking to.
Preparing for an Operations Manager Job
No matter your area of expertise, it is likely that you are going to start a new career on a more entry-level position and then work your way into operations management as you gain more experience. Incidentally, you are also working in operations management if you are running your own business and oversee most operations yourself.
The point is, though, preparing for an operations manager job is not as simple as going to school and acquiring a specific skill set. Instead, what you need to do is to get the experience in your career on an ongoing basis; at some point, you are going to realize you are ready for a position as an operations manager in some capacity and at that point, you will be able to do it.
Looking for Operations Manager Job Openings
If you have gained enough experience in your particular area of expertise and you feel it is time for you to become an operations manager, you can look for specific job openings that focus on these skills. Remember, you need to be good at working with people, you need to be analytical and able to solve problems, and you need to see both the big picture and the finer details all at once. In short, your job as an operations manager is to make your particular sector or department run at its most efficient level.
What Type of Operations Job Are You Interested In?
If you run your own business it is likely that you will be in charge of all operations, at least to start. However, as companies increase in size and scope, their managers, too, must specialize. Therefore, while some operations managers may be in charge of day-to-day operations or in dealing directly with employees and enforcing company policies and procedures, other operations managers may be in charge of developing the company's long-term vision, focus, goals, and policies. Therefore, the type of work you do as an operations manager depends upon your position within the particular company as well as what that company does.
Applying for Operations Manager Jobs
Once you know you have got the skills for a particular operations job within your particular sector, it can be quite easy to apply for operations manager jobs. In some cases, it is a matter of moving up in your company as you progress through your career. However, if you are actually looking for an operations manager job, you can do Internet searches or searches through employment agencies or job banks to help you find your next position. Recruiters, too, can be a great help to you as you look for your next operations management job.
Recruiters can be especially useful because they are hired by companies to help them find suitable job candidates. Therefore, it costs you no money to find and introduce yourself to a recruiter. That recruiter just might find you a much more suitable position than you could find on your own.
Education and Background
In general, to eventually become a candidate for an operations manager job, you will need to get a college degree in your particular area of focus. In some cases, this is not necessary (especially if you start your own company) but it most often is if you are going to go work for a company, usually beginning at entry level.
Once you have got an entry-level position and have proven yourself, you may simply be promoted as a matter of course as your career continues. Networking, too, can help you find your next position once you are ready to move up. And of course, the aforementioned recruiter services can help you find suitable operations management jobs.
Your resume should be in order before you go to apply for your next position. If you decide to sign up with a recruiter, the recruiter can help you tweak your resume so that it fits a particular company in question who may be looking for you as a candidate. And of course, if you look for positions on the Internet, it is quite easy to have master resume and draw from it a specific resume so that it fits each position closely. This is another method to help you get operations manager jobs.
Compensation
Because operations manager jobs occur in every industry and at every level of accountability, there is no one set salary. As one example, company managers in top sectors had a mean salary of about $127,000 per year as of 2007. This is just a general average across all industries, though, and does not represent what you might make as an operations manager in your particular sector.
