City Manager jobs may entail preparing budgets, hiring administrative help, overseeing the accounting, record keeping, and supervising the heads of the other municipal departments. Most city managers should have some type of background or be familiar with government and public works or they will feel lost in the position.
Most city managers need to have a college degree and often have specialties in finance, management, political science, economics or urban planning. Since this involves dealing with many political aspects and interest groups, city managers need to be professional, unbiased administrators that keep the city government operating efficiently.
Most management jobs have several things in common, and city manager jobs are no different. They involve coordination of employees, departments and services while staying within budgetary guidelines. The major difference in city manager jobs is that they often are in the middle of a political battlefield, while trying to look out for the best interest of the people in the municipality.
This is where City Manager jobs may require specialized degrees and training. Many of them have worked in the city for a number of years and worked their way to higher ranking positions. As they become familiar with the operations of city governments and their budget or funding requests, they are often able to find a city manager job they are qualified for in a smaller municipality.
All management jobs require a certain amount of negotiating and compromising to get goals and deadlines accomplished. This certainly carries over to a City Manager job. Because of the different departments and answering to different groups, such as politicians and the general public, this requires a balancing act to keep everyone happy.
City manager jobs require accounting skills and general political knowledge of board of alderman meetings and town hall types of meetings. The city manager is often in charge of the specifics of tasks that have been budgeted, and making sure they stay within those budgets. Accounting procedures are necessary to avoid an audit by the State for questionable practices, so attention to detail is important.
It is possible that a city manager job is filled by one of several applicants in the community that have become known for strong ethics and concern for the growth of the city. Because the candidates are often interviewed and voted on, it is normally filled by a person that has some ability and is known in the community. Once you have filled a city manager job, it then becomes easier to get your next position.
That is not to say that you would not be capable of filling a city manager job, if you have the qualifications or degree they are looking for. Many times, they will openly advertise the position to allow fairness to applicants. While sometimes these management jobs may be listed in the classifieds, it is possible they are advertised on specialized management websites, where qualified applicants may see the position.
Most other management jobs often involve many of the same skills required by a city manager job, and often all types of management jobs may be listed on a specialized job board website, that has researched all the career sites and companies or municipalities to compile a comprehensive list of job positions.
These websites often save the city or employer time, and are often free for them to list their available management jobs or positions on. It saves the expense and time of running classifieds or other means to get the positions in front of qualified applicants. It saves the job seeker time, in that they can locate many positions to choose from in one session. Often, you can apply or submit your resume online in a matter of minutes to several management jobs that match your skill set.
If you want manager jobs that are not your normal business environment, you may want to consider city manager jobs. They offer a political arena that can make a management job more interesting, especially if you have some background in city government or political science. These jobs are often fairly high profile management jobs that carry a good salary range, depending on the size of the municipality.
City manager jobs can be a rewarding management job that allows you to make a difference in the direction and efficiency of a city. If you have the degree they are looking for, this can be a lifelong career. If you have the experience, but not the political background, you may want to research the requirements for backgrounds in a city manager education, versus general management jobs and some cities may have assistant city manager jobs.
It is easy to find out what you need to know, and find listings of municipalities that may be looking to fill city manager jobs by looking on the Internet.
