A general manager position is a senior role in a company, usually retail, responsible for overseeing most of its administrative, management, and financial functions, including formulating an overall sales strategy, directing people, and establishing all key policies. If you want to work as a general manager at a store, such as a car dealership, and are looking for a way to improve your resume, this page can be your one-stop destination. The guide will help you create a resume that matches the job requirements while clearly defining your skills and experience.We have to start by learning about the three standard resume formats:
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Job Duties of a General Manager
General managers are the backbone of a well-managed company. They manage departments, individual business locations, and segment groups in larger companies. They are crucial in ensuring sustainable growth and staff performance. And a successful general manager’s primary duties usually remain the same, regardless of the company’s size or the industry.
Some of these duties are:
Creating and enforcing company policies.
Evaluating staff productivity through engagement activities like celebrating birthdays and personal milestones.
Developing project timelines and assigning weekly and monthly goals to staff and oneself.
Allocating and managing resources.
Improving customer service by teaching best customer service practices to employees through training programs.
Maintaining service quality.
Preparing budget and managing expenses.
Overseeing hiring.
Working with advertising and marketing partners for regular campaigns.
Delegating responsibilities as needed.
Scheduling team meetings to discuss business issues, sales recommendations, and company updates.
General Manager Average Salary
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, general managers’ median salary across the United States is $123,030.
Top Skills for General Managers
To fit the ideal general manager description, you need to have specific skills under your belt. We have curated a list of the essential skills you need to get a job offer.
- Adept using automated technology: Daily operations management requires training employees to create budgets and running a fast delivery and sales ship. Managing such a wide range of activities manually at one time can be a challenge, so you are expected to use automated digital technology to accomplish each task. For example, staying on top of and constantly updating your inventory through systems like Zenput and Yoobic helps bring all your functions under one platform and keeps track of things like delivery dates, time-on-site, and total sales volume.
- Financing and budgeting expertise: A general manager is always looking to make crucial investments and investment recommendations about the business to his superiors, including the owner, a board of directors, or even stock investors. It is hence paramount for them to have a good hold over budgeting, finance, and accounting. Hands-on experience in tools like Quicken and YNAB will help you immensely in this process. And deep knowledge of spreadsheet techs like Excel and Google Sheets will also be an added advantage to prepare budget plans and annual reports.
- Innovative strategic sales planning: Making sound decisions under pressure is an essential skill set in this field. You need to adopt a problem-solving and analytical mindset that will enable you to make sales decisions strategically and under deadline. More importantly, though, you need to choose successful strategies. For example, you should use a SWOT analysis to learn your company’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. You should also establish long-term and short-term goals and change them based on customers’ responses. You should give your workers detailed feedback since they’re 30 times more “likely to remain engaged in their work” as a result. And you can use software like Hootsuite and Olark to keep in touch with them to accomplish productivity, and individual and team goals appropriately. You should make sure people know to cold call properly and close sales opportunities. And you should learn how people use social media to scrutinize their needs and grievances.
- Training and coaching proficiency: An intrinsic part of a general manager’s work profile includes overseeing employees’ performance and looking for ways to elevate it. They should conduct relevant training on time and find specific coaching programs for underperforming team members. This will significantly boost their performance, like increased adherence to quality standards and better consistency. You should set objectives for these programs and ensure employees have all the resources to carry out their duties effectively.
- Exceptional leadership skills: Inc. Magazine says that 79% of staff quit their jobs due to inefficient leadership, which often leads to an improper understanding of who they are serving in their careers. So, a general manager should exhibit quality leadership attributes and keep their team motivated.
- Negotiation: The daily duties of general managers require them to deal with vendors and suppliers. So, automatically they are loaded with the responsibility to network with them and develop long-lasting relationships. Good general managers should develop mutually beneficial agreements to negotiate supply chain costs, among key tasks.
Educational Requirements for General Managers
A degree
In terms of qualifications, most companies look for candidates who have a bachelor’s degree in any business-related field such as marketing, finance and accounting. Preference is given to candidates who pursue their MBA.Managers previously employed by tech companies, who often have a background in IT or computer science, are also in demand, as are managers who have previously worked at research firms and come from science backgrounds. General managers in public administration usually come from candidates with law degrees or liberal arts degree backgrounds.Certifications
Certifications to be a general manager are not required but strongly recommended. They add credentials to your profile that advance your career and make you a more competent manager. During a turbulent job market period or a transition to the next phase of your career, certificates can provide an edge over your peers and make you an attractive candidate.For the general manager’s role, you can choose among the following group of certifications:- Universities and colleges: The Advanced Certificate in General Management by The University of the Potomac can be a good pick if you’re specifically looking for a retail position. The course focuses on equipping you with skills and knowledge related to management functions, business communication, and other external factors that impact the business. A GED certificate is the minimum requirement for the program. If you’re looking to manage a community organization, such as a nonprofit, check out programs such as Tufts’ Management of Community Organizations Certificate from its Department of Urban and Environmental Policy Planning.Other great universities with certificate programs include UC Berkeley and Harvard.
- Member associations: The American Institute for Business Management and Communication offers a Certified General Manager certification for all aspiring candidates in the retail industry. Through it, you will ace the general management and business management verticals and acquire essential administrative and corporate general management skills. To get into the course, you will have to successfully clear the CGM exam, possess a bachelor’s degree, and work for a minimum of 25 hours in this type of general management-approved training. You can also obtain a Certified Manager Certification from the Institute of Certified Professional Managers after finishing the certification program and passing three exams. The requirements for the same are a Bachelor’s degree and management experience of four years.
- Industry-related organizations: Another significant industry certification is the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification administered by the Project Management Institute (PMI). This certification helps general managers expand their horizons and gain necessary industry knowledge.But the big trend to know about the general manager career inside organizations is that dozens of American companies offer in-house certifications. If you’re a hotel general manager, Hilton, Marriott and Best Western are among your certification options. Subway, McDonald’s, Jimmy Johns, and other food retailers have their own. So do, of course, the hundreds of technology companies such as Microsoft, Apple, Oracle, Salesforce and Amazon. This is an excellent opportunity to research and find out more about career options that you can bring up as a question during your interview.
- For-profit organizations: The Strategic Leadership and Management Specialization program by Coursera will allow you to gain first-hand experience in leading and managing organizations. At the end of this course, you will earn a certificate that will help you gain a competitive edge over other candidates. There are many differences between for-profit companies as well.
General Manager Resume-Writing Tips
Resumes can vary according to work experience and skills, and you need to construct a resume that works around your strengths and abilities. Here are three tips you need to keep in mind while writing your resume:
- Write a strong summary. Make sure you begin your resume with a strong opening summary that grabs the readers’ attention. If you have the proper work experience and skills, the professional summary should depict that. You do this by having a clear objective in mind, explaining why you’re a good fit for the job.
- Choose your content wisely. It’s essential to read the job description and prepare a resume accordingly. So you interned at a content-writing firm during your bachelor’s degree years? Great! But how does that help your cause as an aspiring general manager? Most resumes get rejected based on irrelevant information. All of your achievements, however great, do not pertain to your dream job.
- Your resume, while emphasizing all the necessary skills, should be crisp and relevant to the job you’re applying to.
- Highlight your strengths. Put your best foot forward, and don’t be shy while listing your achievements and qualities.
- Ask yourself how the company will benefit from your presence. An excellent way to answer that question is by emphasizing your soft skills that are relevant to the position, like your attention to detail and your representative background (think of how few people from underrepresented communities like Black people, Latinx, and women are in management positions).
- You’re applying for an important administrative position, so think of all the leadership projects you have been a part of. Like the class project you spearheaded or the internship teams you led.
- Back yourself with numbers. Back up your achievements and experience with numbers to make a significant impact. How did you impact your previous company? What were the financial results before and after you joined? What quantifiable changes did you bring to your job or internship? Providing numbers along with your claims increases your credibility.
FAQ
How do you get to the position of general manager?
To be a general manager, you need a degree in business-related spheres such as management and finance. Most companies prefer candidates who pursued a master’s degree in business administration. An MBA degree equips you with all the skills you need to manage a department or a company, such as technical, communication, and networking skills.
The smaller-level managers that fill most of these positions work their way up the corporate ladder and get promoted to management. Sometimes experienced general managers are hired from the outside, so you need work experience in relevant fields and industries.
Is the general manager going to provide good wages?
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests employment in management will grow by 5% from 2019 to 2029, a faster average than all other occupations. Moreover, the median annual wage of the management field was the highest wage of all other disciplines.