What skills should a General and Operations Manager put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Monitoring, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, and Coordination among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a General and Operations Manager list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Act!, ActionWare, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, and Adobe Photoshop. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover General and Operations Manager work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including General Manager, GM, Operations Director, and Operations Manager. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a General and Operations Manager need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 29% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a General and Operations Manager role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

General and Operations Manager resume example

A resume for a General and Operations Manager needs to show the work itself: plan, direct, or coordinate the operations of public or private sector organizations, overseeing multiple departments or locations. Day to day that means work like this: review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to measure productivity or goal achievement or to identify areas needing cost reduction or program improvement; direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

General Manager
GM
Operations Director
Operations Manager
Store Manager
Business Manager
Center Manager
Department Manager
District Manager
Operations General Manager
Operations GM
Plant Superintendent
CAO
Dept Store GM
Dept Store Manager
IO Manager
Area Manager
Business Coordinator

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to measure productivity or goal achievement or to identify areas needing cost reduction or program improvement.
Direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products.
Direct administrative activities directly related to making products or providing services.
Prepare staff work schedules and assign specific duties.
Direct or coordinate financial or budget activities to fund operations, maximize investments, or increase efficiency.
Plan or direct activities, such as sales promotions, that require coordination with other department managers.
Perform personnel functions, such as selection, training, or evaluation.
Establish or implement departmental policies, goals, objectives, or procedures in conjunction with board members, organization officials, or staff members.
Monitor suppliers to ensure that they efficiently and effectively provide needed goods or services within budgetary limits.
Manage the movement of goods into and out of production facilities to ensure efficiency, effectiveness, or sustainability of operations.
Set prices or credit terms for goods or services, based on forecasts of customer demand.
Perform sales floor work, such as greeting or assisting customers, stocking shelves, or taking inventory.

17 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to measure productivity or goal achievement or to identify areas needing cost reduction or program improvement, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Direct administrative activities directly related to making products or providing services, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Prepare staff work schedules and assign specific duties, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Act!
ActionWare
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Creative Cloud software
Adobe Photoshop
ADP Workforce Now
Airtable
Amazon Web Services AWS software
AMG Teleran SalesInSync
Apache Hadoop
Apple Final Cut Pro
Apple Keynote
Apple macOS
Atlassian Confluence

146 software entries are recorded in total.

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

10-key calculators
Cell phones
Computer scanners
Credit card processing machines
Desktop computers
Digital cameras
Handtrucks
Humidity test chambers
Laptop computers
Magnetic card readers
Personal computers
Personal digital assistants PDA

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

operations management
team leadership
budgeting
process improvement
KPI tracking
vendor management
scheduling
hire personnel

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Monitoring
03Reading Comprehension
04Speaking
05Coordination
06Critical Thinking
07Management of Personnel Resources
08Social Perceptiveness
09Active Learning
10Complex Problem Solving

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Administration and Management
Customer and Personal Service
English Language
Production and Processing
Mathematics
Personnel and Human Resources
Administrative
Economics and Accounting

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

29%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
27%Bachelor's Degree
22%Some College Courses

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Considerable Preparation Needed”. Most of these occupations require a four-year bachelor's degree, but some do not.

A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.

Common questions

What does a General and Operations Manager do?: Plan, direct, or coordinate the operations of public or private sector organizations, overseeing multiple departments or locations. Day to day that includes work like review financial statements, sales or activity reports, or other performance data to measure productivity or goal achievement or to identify areas needing cost reduction or program improvement and Direct and coordinate activities of businesses or departments concerned with the production, pricing, sales, or distribution of products.
What skills should a General and Operations Manager put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Monitoring, Reading Comprehension, Speaking, and Coordination among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a General and Operations Manager list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Act!, ActionWare, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Creative Cloud software, and Adobe Photoshop. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover General and Operations Manager work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including General Manager, GM, Operations Director, and Operations Manager. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a General and Operations Manager need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 29% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a General and Operations Manager role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.