Do you have business sense and love organizing? Then perhaps a role in operations management is for you.
For those with a talent for organization and an eye for detail, operations management may well be an ideal career. You might ask at this point, "What is operations management?" It is often described as the practice of overseeing business production and operations to ensure efficiency and effectiveness, but this definition does not begin to cover the complexity and interest within the field.
An operations manager must be able to think logically, manage both processes and people, and operate with the key goal of satisfying the end client or customer as efficiently as possible.
Because of its ubiquity in businesses and public services, there are many ways to enter the field of operations management, including working your way up in a single organization.
If you are thinking about entering the field as a new starter, however, there are several qualifications that can help you at the start of your career. The most obvious is to take an operations management major as part of a business degree as an undergraduate or at an advanced level. This requires a considerable investment of time and money, but is widely recognized and would enable you to be confident in applying to almost any company in an operations management role.
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You can also gain practical experience and supplement a business degree with short courses and accredited learning. Many companies welcome employees who have taken an operations management course, even if it is only a short one.
In fact, some companies may even help to pay for staff to take such courses once they are employed. It is often worth asking your employer if they would support you in furthering your operations management skills.
If you enjoy math, but are not interested in working in finance or actuary, the operational research portion of operations management may also be attractive. This is the process of improving operations by applying mathematical and social models to analyze problems and come to solutions, whether in a production line or interoffice relationships.
The application of operations management covers a huge area, as it applies to all types of business functions, from manufacturing to service or information industries. This means that operations management jobs are as varied as businesses.
The constants are the need for organization and the understanding of any operation as a process with inputs and outputs that need to be managed through a transformation. An operations manager's responsibilities therefore vary from company to company, and it is the skills that an experienced operations manager can bring to bear on a variety of situations that count.
Operations management may be ideal for you if you have a skillset that encourages efficiency and effectiveness, applicable across a wide range of businesses.
Photo credit: operations manager and employees by Victor1558 via Compfight CC.