Five to 10 years of increasingly responsible management experience are needed to become qualified for city manager positions.
City managers need the will, desire, and strength to lead an organization. The manager is the person held primarily responsible for the administration of the city and often takes a lot of criticism from citizens and opponents. You must be able to handle the stress of the job and the long and frequently unpredictable hours.
You'll need to be decisive, confident, and staunch in making managerial decisions. You need to be skilled at solving problems, while flexible enough to consider the ideas of others. Managers must also have a knack for working with people, have the ability to negotiate and tactfully debate with coworkers and other officials, and be able to listen to the opinions and concerns of the people they represent. Other important traits include strong organizational and time-management skills.
- Advertising Managers
- Agile Coaches or Trainers
- Ambassadors
- Aviation Safety Inspectors
- Bailiffs
- Bank Examiners
- Border Patrol Agents
- Campaign Workers
- Civil Engineers
- Congressional Aides
- Construction Inspectors
- Construction Managers
- Cryptographic Technicians
- Customs Officials
- Demographers
- Deputy U.S. Marshals
- Economists
- Emergency Management Directors
- Environmental Lobbyists
- Environmental Planners
- EPA Special Agents
- FBI Agents
- Federal and State Officials
- Fish and Game Wardens
- Foreign Service Officers
- Fraud Examiners, Investigators, and Analysts
- Futurists
- Health and Regulatory Inspectors
- Information Technology Consultants
- Information Technology Project Managers
- Intelligence Officers
- Internet Developers
- Interpreters
- Land Acquisition Professionals
- Land Trust or Preserve Managers
- Lobbyists
- Manufacturing Supervisors
- Marketing Managers
- Military Recruiters
- Military Workers, Enlisted
- National Park Service Employees
- Occupational Safety and Health Workers
- Park Rangers
- Policy Analysts
- Political Columnists and Writers
- Political Consultants
- Political Reporters
- Political Scientists
- Political Speechwriters
- Press Secretaries
- Product Owners
- Project Managers
- Property and Real Estate Managers
- Public Opinion Researchers
- Real Estate Developers
- Recycling Coordinators
- Regional and Local Officials
- Scrum Masters
- Secret Service Special Agents
- Statisticians
- Traffic Engineers
- Traffic Managers
- Translators
- Transportation Planners
- Urban and Regional Planners
- Wind Energy Project Managers