Office Manager Career Guide and Counseling

Question: What are good questions to ask when interviewing office manager candidates? I'm in the process of hiring an office manager for my small company. I've conducted a lot of interviews in the past for hiring people that do the same work I do but this is the first time I'm interviewing candidates for a position I know little about. Any good advice would be greatly appreciated.

Answer: Being an office manager is a difficult position in it's self. I have worked as one and I own my own company and had to hire one. 1. Are you familiar with they type of work we do here? If they can not tell you the basic concept of your company then they really don't know what position they are applying for? 2. Have you don't ANY type of managing positions in this type of business? (since I don't know what type you run fill in the blanks). 3. Are you familiar with what ever type of accounting software you use? This is a big one for me since I have specialized software for my line of business. While most office managers have worked on the basic software you will have to realize that you may need to train them on YOUR software. 4. Do they appear organized to you? 5. Ask them if they consider themselves organized person? (since both of us know how organized an office manager needs to be) 6. How do they handle things under pressure? Can they handle deadlines? 7. DETAILES...Do they pay attention to the fine print? My ex-office manager almost cost me my business, due to her failure to multi-task and pay attention to the DETAILES. 8. Last but not least. CALL FOR REFERENCES!!!! Even though companies are not allowed to disclose why the person was fired or left the job most do....get a little nosey, after all your business is your lively hood. I hope this helps you a little, I could keep going but they don't give ya a lot of room here. Don't make the same mistake I did, I took their word that they were a detailed, organized, multi-tasking, can funtion under highly stressful situations. It almost cost me my business. I NOW run the office!

Question: Where can I find an office manager? I have a financial planning practice and need to find an office manager. I posted an ad in the NY Times and Craig's list but havent met the right candidates. I guess I can try Monster, or a recruiter but if i can avoid the fee i would like to. Any suggestions?

Answer: One such networking site, That I like is RYZE business professionals. Hope you find someone you are looking for. Good Luck, James P Reardon Sr. Founder of BetterMember http://www.bettermember.net

Question: What should you major in for your associates if you want to be an office manager? I am looking to go back to school and get my associates degree. I want to know what I should major in if my goal is to be an office manager. Also, does anyone know how well an office manager gets paid?

Answer: What an office manager gets paid depends on how much related experience the office manager has, as well as the size of the office, the type of company you are working for, and the city/region you work in. I've seen office managers for small, family owned businesses, small offices, make as little as $35,000 per year. I've also seen office managers for law firms or large corporate offices make upwards of $75,000+. Some colleges actually have a major in administrative assistant, or office technologies, or something similar. But to be an office manager, even if college offers an office type major, you may want to double major in business as well, or do a business management minor. And if your school doesn't offer an office tech type major, then majoring in business or something related may do just fine. Just make sure that you graduate with some management coursework, good English and communication skills, strong typing skills, and excellent computer skills. If your school has an internship program, or you can arrange an internship on your own, then doing an internship, working for an office manager could really help you enter the field when you graduate.

Question: How to prevail on office manager to hire some babes? How can I prevail on my fat a$$ed office manager (a lady) to start hiring some foxy looking girls instead of the homely fat women shes been hiring?

Answer: Tell her in front of everyone, "Hey boss, these women are homely and fat and therefore obviously incapable of doing their jobs. You need to hire some sexy chicks, but don't get the smart ones, because they'll quickly figure out what an idiot I am. Oh, by the way, where's our policy on workplace harassment, and did you want to fire me now, or tomorrow?"

Question: How much should I be making as an office manager? I work as an office manager at a small import/export company. I use bilingual skills everyday, work alone several times a week and manage every part of the business except accounting/bookkeeping. I am 27 years old and make minimum salary (28,000), and would just like to know if other people think I should be making more. I've only been here for less than 6 months, is it too early to ask for a raise? Also, I live in an expensive city where rent is high. Any comments would be appreciated, thanks!

Answer: Here in Texas,you can start at about 40,000 and go up to at least 62,000.

Question: Is it right for the office manager to be able to open everyones mail? Our office manager sorts our mail - but even when things are addressed to certain people in the office she goes ahead and opens the mail and reads it to see what it is. As office manager can she legally do this??

Answer: i dont think so business mail or not. if it has your name on it then she needs to let you open it.

Question: Office Manager: What questions should I ask when checking references? I'm currently an office manager hiring a new receptionist for my dad's office. What questions should I ask when trying to check references for someone who apllied? What can or can't I ask when checking for references to make it sound as professional as possible? Thanks!

Answer: Normally Companies refrain from answering questions regarding performance of their previous employees, the normal information they give, is the employees work start and separation date and the latest position held. If you want to ask them about their previous employee's performance, the safest question would be, "Are you willing to rehire this employee if he/she re-applied to your company?" If they say, yes, this means that the applicant is a good performer. If they say, he is not qualified for rehire, it means he is not a good performer. I hope I was able to help you. My source? Oh, I've been an HR practitioner for 25 years. Alecs

Question: What is a better title to use rather than office manager? I need a more professional sounding title that still means office manager but I want it to look better on paper. Help please!

Answer: Office Supervisor General Manager General Supervisor Office coordinator Executive Assistant Executive Manager But it really depends on what you are in charge of and what are your responsibilities at the office. Good luck

Question: What are the responsibilities of an office Manager? I work for an overseas education consultants. I have recently joined as office manager. I would like to be very creative and the best in my overall performance. Kindly advice?

Answer: dont be like my new boss who has changed every single process around, added loads of additional work to do and doesn't do anything to help when my team has a problem. my boss is mega unaproachable and whenever they asks my team for our advice, goes and does the complete opposite. basically, help you team out if they are struggling. also, be prepared to help do the work of the people you are managing when they are very busy as their opinion of you will improve no end. my boss does none of these things and my opinion of them is absolute rock bottom.

Question: whats the difference between an office manager and an office assistant? just wondering because theres a debate going on in my office between my coworker and i whether or not im an office manager or not. any help would be great - thanks!

Answer: Office managers run the office for the professionals (doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc.). They are kind of like the chief of all administrative staff. Office assistant is just a person working in the office staff. In small companies, the difference is small. In large companies, the difference in responsibility, authority, and pay can be considerable. Generally, if you are the office manager, you have been told quite clearly that you are. This isn't a role you just "assume." Good luck, work hard, and enjoy your job!

Question: How much an hour do you think an Office Manager should make? I have asked my bosses for a raise because I make 14.50 an hour have been with the company for three years and was recently promoted to Office Manager. Here is what I do. I keep track of three bosses, I am the only full time office employee with the best days-on record, I know every job, every invoice, do all of the bookkeeping, clean, run errands, organize...blah blah blah. We are a fairly small town and the only engineering company in the region. I feel undercompensated.

Answer: you are about normal it all depends what city you are in. that is amost 30, 000 a year. but around 14-16 dollars an hour is normal

Question: How do I add a player to a Major League roster in MLB Front Office Manager? I have MLB Front Office Manager for Windows, and have obtained a player through a trade, and another through free agency. However, it keeps alerting me that these two players will be released if not placed on an Major League roster 10 days after their acquistion. I have cleared spots for these players but can't figure out how to move them to my roster.

Answer: Go to the pending transactions page. Then move them over.

Question: What is the key of success for an office manager? I just was promoted as a new office manager and would like to do a great job.

Answer: Take a look at what you appreciated in a manager when you were their employee. Look to your boss as an example. Stay focused and organized,dont double talk,stay approachable and dont give up learning... Congratulations!

Question: What are the job responsibilities for an Office Manager? This is for an assignment. What are the job responsibilities for an Office Manager of a Law Firm?

Answer: The most important one is keeping the peace amongst the staff -- almost like a day care at times. Next comes financial - what's coming in, what's going out. Also doing things necessary to make the performance more efficient.

Question: How does an office manager and an Amtrack worker come up with 28K for campaign contributions? Ten senior Hess Corporation executives and/or members of the Hess family each gave $28,500 to the joint RNC-McCain fundraising committee, just days after McCain reversed himself to favor offshore drilling, according to Federal Election Commission reports. Nine of these contributions, seven from Hess executives and two from members of the Hess family, came on the same day, June 24th, the records show. The total collected in the wake of McCain's reversal for the fund, called McCain Victory 2008, from Hess execs and family is $285,000. We were alerted to the contributions by Campaign Money Watch, a non-partisan group that tracks campaign contributions. The contributions were given a quick mention deep in a report the group issued late last week, but with no names or other details provided. The Hess contributions are clearly newsworthy on their own. The Washington Post reported last week that campaign contributions from oil industry execs rose in a big way in the last half of June, after McCain drew a huge amount of attention by reversing his opposition on June 16th to the federal ban on offshore drilling. These Hess contributions, however, hadn't been reported until now, and they will give more ammo to those arguing that McCain is being rewarded by campaign contributions in exchange for pro-industry positions. Here's a table detailing the contributions: J. Barclay Collins Hess Corp. Attorney $28,500 19-Jun John B. Hess Hess Corp. Executive $28,500 24-Jun Susan K. Hess Homemaker Homemaker $28,500 24-Jun Norma W. Hess Retired Retired $28,500 24-Jun John J. O'Connor Hess Corp. Executive $28,500 24-Jun Lawrence Ornstein Hess Corp. Senior VP $28,500 24-Jun John Reilly Hess Corp. Executive $28,500 24-Jun Alice Rocchio Hess Corp. Office Manager $28,500 24-Jun John Scelfo Hess Corp. Senior VP of Finance $28,500 24-Jun F. Borden Walker Hess Corp. Businessman $28,500 24-Jun Norma W. Hess is the widow of oil magnate and company founder Leon Hess, and Susan K. Hess is the wife of Hess chairman and CEO John Hess. Neither a spokesperson for Hess nor the McCain campaign immediately responded to requests for comment. More on this in a bit. Late Update: It turns out that $28,500 is the maximum that can be given to the RNC, but because this particular victory fund collects money via various channels, an individual donor can actually give more than that to it. I've edited out "maximum" from the headline. Obviously this doesn't change the story in any way. Late Late Update: A Hess office manager and her husband, an Amtrak worker, each chipped in $28,000 apiece, too. Late Late Late Update: Turns out that the office manager and her Amtrak husband rent their home in Flushing, Queens. Still Later Update: It's likely that the Amtrak worker makes considerably less than $100,000 a year.

Answer: i was thinking, maybe........ ah....Ahhhh...... Door to Door selling of Amway Products, Mary Kay Cosmetics ( do any of the afore-mentioned drive a pink Caddilac)~?..........hmmmmm..........! for extra money i used to deliver the Morning World Herald Bundles of Newspapers to Office Buildings in the Downtown area before they opened real early in the morning, but then i went to classes, then my regular job, so no i dont think........... i think they are Joshin us~!!!!

Question: How do I deal with an office manager who is nasty when the boss is gone? I work in a small office (there are 6 of us total). There is an agency owner and a separate office manager. My office manager and I, despite different backgrounds and lifestyles, seem to get along fine when the owner is around. Trouble is, the owner is an older man and he likes to go out of town fairly often. When this happens, she is responsible for the office. It seems as soon as this happens, she is downright nasty to me. She has yelled at me numerous times in front of my co-workers, to which I have always responded "please don't yell at me". It is always over little things too, like when I take a cigarette break (I don't smoke excessively), or today when she tried to start an argument about me going to get gas on my lunch break instead of coming right back. These are all things that the owner doesn't really care about, as he is a very easygoing man. However, I cannot go to him about this problem because at that point it will be my word against hers. How do I deal?

Answer: tell your boss that you would like to have a conversation with the office manager in his presence. With all three of you in the room, calmly say to her, "When you yell at me in front of my co-workers, I feel humiliated because my mistakes are none of their business. In addition, I think that the situations that cause you to yell aren't really bid deals because we are normally permitted to do those things when is here. If you do want to correct something that I've done wrong, I would like to ask that you pull me aside & tell me politely." And as for the she said/he said thing, if she is yelling at you in front of other people, then they should have your back.