Office manager

As part of your day-to-day duties you may:

• establish policies and procedures for staff
•  develop quality control processes
•  carry out staff appraisals and measure performance
•  deal with disciplinary issues
•  prepare reports and give presentations to the senior management team
•  manage the office budget
•  support staff career development
•  attend conferences and training events
•  deal with staff recruitment

• business management skills 
• administration skills
• patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• the ability to organise your time and workload
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to work well with others
• the ability to think clearly using logic and reasoning
• excellent verbal communication skills
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

You can get into this job through:

• a university course
• a college course
• an apprenticeship
• working towards this role

You could take on more responsibility for managing projects, or provide cover for senior management duties.

With experience and more qualifications you could become a personal assistant or executive officer.

Other career options include moving into buying and procurement, financial management, business development and operations management.