Office Manager Resume Example

Office managers are valuable employees in any office. As an office manager, you restock supplies, order furniture, and perform accounting, all the while overseeing the whole admin team. Effective, efficient office managers multitask, improve processes, and get things done before other staff members even know they need it.

You need to highlight these traits and skills on your resume to maximize your chances of landing an interview.

Here’s where to start:

1. Add sought-after office manager skills to your resume

The more skills a candidate for an office manager role can offer, the more likely the hiring manager is to give them an interview, and the faster they can start earning a salary.

Displaying all the skills needed to be an office manager in the various sections of your resume is therefore essential.

Basic office management skills include the technical skills necessary to use office equipment, such as photocopiers and printers, as well as accounting skills because you’re likely to manage a budget for purchasing office supplies.

As an office manager, computer skills are also essential because you primarily use a computer, so list any computer-related certifications on your resume to prove your value.

Additionally, management skills are indispensable for office manager roles. Our candidate proves their talent for managing by mentioning team leadership skills on their resume.

Here are more essential office manager hard and soft skills:

• Typing (you can mention your typing speed)
• Microsoft Office
• Organizational skills
• Record keeping
• Project management skills
• Supplies management
• Administrative skills
• Confidentiality/discretion
• Customer service skills (for customer-facing roles)
• Communication skills

2. Make your opening stand out with a resume objective

An effective resume objective gives hiring managers a reason to continue reading your resume by placing your most hireable traits at the top.

Here’s what an effective resume objective for an office manager looks like:

Office Manager with over 10+ years of experience providing administrative support to up to 50 staff members. Adept at organizing meetings, managing inventory, training and supervising staff, and implementing office processes and procedures that expedite work and significantly save costs. Possess strong multi-tasking skills, with ability to simultaneously manage various projects and schedules. Looking to apply my office manager skills to become Acme’s next Office Manager.

This is an effective resume objective because the candidate:

• describes what they’re proficient in, as well as the scope of what they can achieve
• uses numbers to back up their assertion they can manage large offices
• mentions how many years of experience they have

In short, they make a good argument for why they’d be a good candidate for the job in a  small amount of space.

Your resume objective should similarly summarize why you’d be a great fit for the job to tempt the hiring manager into reading the rest of your resume.

3. Optimize your work history bullet points

Back up the claims about your office manager skill set with examples in your work history bullet points. Below, we’ve highlighted three persuasive bullet points (and we’ve bolded the strongest parts of each bullet point):

• Slashed office expenditures by $35K by negotiating cheaper supply contracts, implementing inventory control, and standardizing ordering procedures

This bullet point proves that the candidate can innovatively save companies money. They’re also adept at negotiations, which is a trait that helps a company grow. Hiring managers are on the lookout for such details on your resume, so try and include them if possible.

• Developed paperless environment, by implementing online system to manage data, fulfil orders, and integrate processes, resulting in improved efficiencies of 47% and reduced labor hours of 2.5 hours per week

The office manager’s ability to revamp office processes shows initiative and forward-thinking. They understand how to make an office more efficient.

• Discovered and rectified erroneous vendor billing, saving $2K in potential costs

Here the candidate shows they’ve got an eye for detail and put corrective measures into place when necessary. Helping their company save a substantial amount of money is also a resume accomplishment that’s sure to impress employers.

4. Start each bullet point with a descriptive action verbs

Many job seekers start their bullet points with “Responsible for” or varieties like “Tasked with.” Not only are these sentence starters resume clichés, but they also tend to lead you to list the duties associated with office manager job descriptions, rather than present your achievements.

By contrast, compelling resume action verbs help you introduce your relevant accomplishments and present yourself as a proactive, innovative employee.

Try starting your resume bullet points with some of these actions verbs: