Do you have the Skills to be a Manager?

By Elizabeth Butler, Dreamfedjob editor

A few weeks ago Dreamfedjob.com was looking to hire a new Marketing Manager. The position was advertised and we received a couple of hundred resumes, no kidding. There were so many applicants for this position that management divided the resumes between four of us and asked us to set aside resumes that showed leadership, people, thinking and work style skills.

Much to our surprise, the majority of the resumes we reviewed did not include examples or specific information addressing the skills listed below. This made our job easier since we could disqualify most of the resumes in a short period of time. If you are applying for a management job, make sure you address the skills listed below and don't forget to give examples or quantify results, where appropriate, throughout your work history.

1) Leadership Skills
Not surprisingly, Managers and Supervisors need to possess a strong set of leadership skills in order to be effective and constructive. Specific areas of leadership that have been found to be important to leadership success include one’s ability to effectively and willing mentor, coach, and develop their subordinates, one’s ability to empower and motivate employees, and the ability to provide behavioral feedback in a constructive way. Certain types of managerial roles require leadership skills that other managerial positions may not. For example, a Team Leader on the production floor would need to possess leadership skills related to employee safety that requires him or her to correct, address, or educate others about any hazardous situations on the job, where as our Marketing Manager would not.

2) People Skills
Let’s face it: if you aren’t comfortable working and communicating with others in the workplace, a managerial position likely isn’t going to work out. People skills that have been found to be predictive of successful leadership performance include one’s ability to effectively handle and resolve conflicts, one’s ability to work collaboratively and effectively with others, and having an awareness of one’s actions and how those actions impact others. Being able to engage in appropriate, interpersonal behaviors in the workplace is key to building successful and productive Supervisor-Incumbent relationships.

3) Thinking Skills
Having the ability to thoroughly and effectively make decisions and solve job-related problems is critical to supervisor success. One of the most common duties of a Manager or Supervisor is to make sure that client, customer, and employee obstacles are being removed or lessened. This includes making sure questions are being answered, proper actions are being taken, and problems are being resolved. All of these actions require one to use critical thinking and decision making skills. You can have the friendliest manager in the world, who possesses all the necessary leadership skills, but if they can’t solve problems, they will likely fail at being an effective Supervisor or Manager.

4) Work Style Skills
Becoming a leader does not mean that you get to stop being a working employee. Although Managers and Supervisors typically have the power to delegate, certain working skills are always going to be necessary to use and demonstrate. For example, it’s important to be and be viewed as reliable and accountable as a Manager or Supervisor. Other work style skills that are important to managerial success include one’s ability to plan and organize, stay proactive, and adapt to changing circumstances in the work place. Without these powers, becoming a successful manager is unlikely.