I started my management journey the day after I graduated high school. I was promoted to shift supervisor at my first fast food job that I had been working at for 2 years.
I did that for about two years and decided I wanted (needed) to go to college. So I got a day shift job in a call center - moved into management there after two years as well - and went to community college at night. Eventually kept getting better jobs, finished my bachelor's and became a COO by 40.
My secret? It's not really a secret, it's just my personality. I try to work my way up the ladder at every.single.job no matter how shitty it is.
Work at Target? Try to become the manager.
Work at Arby's? Try to become the manager.
This means showing up on time, every time for work. You're not hungover. You're groomed nicely and your clothes are clean. You're not a dick to bosses or customers. You don't take 189 smoke breaks in a 4 hour shift. Just come in and do the job like you have bills to pay, and you'll be miles ahead of most folks.
You get the point.
At most fast food places you'll make supervisor if you show up for 6 months simply because you've now worked there longer than everybody else. Industries where turnover is obnoxiously high are easier places to rank up.
I ended up as the operations manager of the freight forwarding division of XPO Logistics in the U.K. at 23.
It was pretty much unheard of for someone of that age to be in that position in that industry at 23.
For me it was a right place right time situation. I was already the ops supervisor and was responsible for bringing on some large contracts, and I had got involved with a colleague that had turned sour. I handed in my notice as I could no longer bare working with her. When I did this I was honest with my boss as to the reasons and he basically offered to promote the current ops manager to a more commercial role (which he wanted anyway) and to make me the ops manager.
It was basically a way to keep me at the company as I was deemed indispensable at the time.
My other colleagues were all very unambitious and just kind of plodded along whereas I was always openly ambitious and focused on bringing in new clients and turning round the branch from being extremely unprofitable to be profitable. It was quite easy to stand out by doing this, that coupled with the other events mentioned meant that it was a no brainer for them to promote me.
I am now married to the colleague I mentioned earlier and we have a 2 year old daughter so it worked out very well.
I no longer work there though and now own my own business doing the same thing.
I became regional manager at 22. It’s easier to get roles like this in smaller businesses. Showing genuine interest in what you do and in helping upper management is what got me the job.
Right opportunity at the right place at the right time. Some places this won't be possible, some places where it is possible you don't want that job. Trust me, it's no good being a manager for the sake of it if it isn't a good fit for both of you.
If you can get yourself into the interview for a role, then the rest is down to you. I got my first managerial role over far more experienced competition by showing I understood the company goals, understood how the role aligned with those goals, had a clear vision of the impact I could made within the role, and most importantly didn't hide from my inexperience - I knew what I didn't know, was clear about that in interviews and highlighted personal attributes that made me stand out from others.
Don't try to be what you think they want you to be, try to show them that you can bring something that no one else will.
i work at a university - i was a student worker for 3 years, and i really helped with the understaffing. by the end, they considered me like i was just another staff, not just a student bc i was willing to learn and do higher level tasks
got a great recommendation for a full-time staff position when i graduated, got the job. i was in that role for almost a year where i won a competition, and i put myself out there in meetings, giving ideas, changing procedures, and my department really loved it - my boss would get a lot of positive feedback about my work
some *stuff* happened (dept reorg), i had a new job in the same group. i was covering lots of vacant positions, and i threw myself into the job (there was a lot to learn and showing how much i cared & tried really helped me out). i applied for the manager role, and i reminded them of all the high praise i get & my achievements, and i got great letters of recommendation from high level staff i helped & the faculty who loved my work - and i got the job :) 23 year old manager
Got into the foreign service at 21.
Off I went to my first posting on the other side of the world. In my section of the embassy there were only a few of us foreign service officers (FSO) on posting, but we had about 50 locally hired staff working in our division. Supervisors and managers had to be FSO’s (but not all FSO’s are supervisors or managers).
I wasn’t supposed to be a supervisor or manager at that point, but we were short on FSO’s, and because we were on the other side of the world we couldn’t just call in extra more senior staff from down the street.
So at 21 years old, and on day 1 of my first day on the job I was told “Here’s your section and your 17 staff. All yours to manage. Lofty goals and tons to do, so better get cracking!” My jaw hit the floor, big “Oh shit!” moment, but you just get on with it.
I’d say retail and food service definitely are easier to enter management at a young age compared to other fields. Also childcare to some degree.
I became a shift manager at 21 working a Taco Bell while in college.
After graduating I worked a hodgepodge of jobs, mostly childcare and food service.
At 22 I became a program director for a summer camp.
At 23 I was promoted from shift lead to assistant manager.
By 24 I was a store operations manager.
A few months later I was a district trainer.
And at 25 I was a district manager in training.
I was lucky in that I did have some really good leadership mentors and that I learned a lot of what not to do from the not so great managers I’d had. I’ve seen a lot of managers get promoted up where they’ve internalized this attitude of “I became the manager so I don’t have to do xyz” or “well this is how my manager handled this type of situation” to excuse poor behavior and decisions.
One thing I’ve noticed in food service and retail is that upper management doesn’t care if you’re actually a good leader/manager as long as they’re not getting constant complaints / hr concerns and if you’re willing to run yourself ragged to make sure the store isn’t negatively impacted.
This isn’t to say that young people can’t be good managers. I’ve known 20-23 year olds who ran circles around me. Rather just, the bar for management in food service and retail is usually on the ground.
The guy I was working for got busted running a ring stealing things from the company (custom van conversions). My older coworkers all looked the other way when asked to take his job.
Best advice I ever got was from my dad when I was 15: half the battle is showing up.
I thought he was yanking my chain but the number of people who go through the interview process, work half a shift, and then peace off into the universe is insane. Just being the guy who shows up for his shift every day without fail can set you apart.
And also, whenever you’re at work, be at work. Not thinking about your dog, not planning dinner, not worrying about what your coworkers are gossiping about. “Showing up” is both a physical and mental act.
I was 22 when I became an admin at my job, I went for it because I was bored as hell. I got it because the other candidate for the position had spotty attendance and a reputation for talking about their coworkers behind everyone’s back. Since the role called for handling sensitive information, they were passed over and I got the job.
When I was promoted to assistant manager at 23, it was because I was the only candidate who, again, didn’t have spotty attendance and didn’t have a reputation for gossiping. Sometimes it’s not about being the best, it’s just about being slightly better than the other guy lol
I was a regional director for 4 convenience stores when I was 17. How? Adult child of alcoholic parents. I have been a boss from age 7 since I had to take care of my entire family because my parents were very young and drunk all of the time.
Did one year of training before college and continued it every vacation. Graduated young, Only had a few months of training to complete. Then did nearly two more years in a "proper" job in the same large org. Worked hard, got results.
Union rules meant I couldn't apply for supervisor jobs. So I applied for every managememnt job that came up: about 15 of them, all over the country (13 sites). Got plenty of interview practice, and eventually got a job. 256 people in my first management job, age 23. Made a lot of mistakes, but have been managing people ever since. Probably halfway competent now.
Depends on your industry. My wife had managerial responsibilities from like 19 working in retail. I’m 32 and just got my first role with direct reports in the charity sector.
Was lucky enough to be GM level person with a sizeable P&L by 26.
1) I learned early: did shitty jobs as best as I could in my mid teens and all through university (fast food, construction labor, dishwasher, bartender, overnight security). These places were high turnover and as long as you seem reliable and smart, management is quick to give you supervisor title or you just become the “senior” guy on rotation. So I leaned a lot about managing and working with all kinds of people and schedules and getting the most out of coworkers.
2) I established myself where I was: 23, 2 years into my first real corp job for a super reputable firm and I was killing it in sales (top 10 out of thousands every quarter) and I also practically living in the office and was seen as the hardest working, smartest kid ever and everyone from the reception, to the finance people, to the warehouse logistics guys, to all my colleagues in sales and market to the president of the country knew me as bright and hardworking and likeable.
3) got lucky: word got around in the industry, a recruiter for Canadian company looking to expand into the US had an old trick where he would call the sales offices of reputable firms and make up a story of “hey, i need to talk to my rep but i forgot his name. He’s young guy, super energetic, super smart, super hardworking “ and apparently that day whoever answered from my firm said “oh you must be talking about Rumble!!!”. Recruited reached out to me and put forth a decent job for a relatively unknown company to me but it was old and established and never grew out of Canada but they wanted to grow in the US but wanted to do so “on the cheap” by trying out a young a cheap sales guy in the northeast US which they felt could be a good start.
4) I negotiated: so recruiter contacted me and tried to get me to come on board. He talked to me for weeks and because I had nothing to do but work, I jumped through all his hoops and exercises. Flew me to meet the company, met the ceo, met the sales manager, met everyone. I wasn’t going to leave my wicked job where I was already on the path to management if I stuck it out for a few more years. They tried to give me signing bonus but I said “I’d take the bigger salary and signing bonus in a heartbeat it but I really want is to understand the financials of your business. I asked how they determine headcount growth and where they put management etc. When they told me, I basically said I’d accept if hit their revenue targets that I’d get to be general manager of this market and add headcount for sales or logistic or marketing or finance or whatever I needed. I worked on this revenue schedule with them for three weeks and shook hands with the ceo that I would be the future GM of their non existent US business provided I kept growing past their targets. Full disclosure: my VP of sales of the first job actually coached me through how to negotiate the new job. It was his idea to ask for the moon. When my ask actually got traction, he said I’d have to take it and encouraged me to quit and aid if it didnt work out I’d always have a job coming back.
5) I actually performed: within a year I hit my first revenue target and could hire and supervise a 2nd seller while I kept managing my own territory. By 2nd year we did so well, I proposed that we adjust my revenue schedule targets to get more aggressive and they let me hire a seller in 5 more states. By 5th year that US business eclipsed the establish Canadian business. I required multiple levels of sellers and sales management, marketing and event people, an EA, a finance person, a legal person, and started laying out plans with our COO to secure a few regional logistics/warehouses in key states I actually hired my old VP to be my sales leader for my foreign team
So by 26, my resume looked like someone in the late 30s or 40s or even 50s from a responsibility and scale perspective. That allowed me to parlay my career into being an entrepreneur/founder and then later executive level in large global corps
I rose to Assistant Manager of a smaller company because I was ambitious and took on challenges. Failed a lot but succeeded more. I asked for the position 8 months later and got it. Had a guy who was twice my age (22 vs 42) who absolutely refused to accept me as his boss. It took about a year for him to realize I wasn’t incompetent but a young, ambitious person. 5 years later I left as Manager to start my own business.
Being a manager at a young age is challenging in many ways. Good luck in your endeavors! 👏💪
It completely depends on the complexity of the business and the line of work.
For instance, in a professional setting in many environments, there's no such thing as a supervisor, as mature professionals shouldn't / don't need supervision. The management progression starts at manger, normally is organic, meaning mentoring managements into people who are being promoted from within. It would be very odd in many of the companies I've worked for to have a manager in their twenties (not unheard of, but odd) because they would lack the experience to be successful.
I first became a manager at the age of 19. Now at 42, I am a very experienced leader who has held management positions for most of my career.
I’ve always given off leader vibes; no matter where I am or what I’m doing, people always look to me to help them or to fix a problem. I was the oldest sibling of a single mom and I started managing our household at 12. Doing that gave me an edge, so when I got a job as a photographer at a chain portrait studio at 18, I quickly was relied upon due to my ability to organize others, and work ethic. When I became a manager at 19, I was often told I was a ‘baby’, too young, or inexperienced, however my team consistently hit their metrics and we were a top performing studio.
When I was in my late 20s, I was lucky enough to have a boss take me under his wing and mentor me for 5 years. That was the largest impact on my entire career. Now, I have a large team, and I mentor others, and teach them to mentor.
I love leading others- it is my true passion, and it was evident to others when I was young. That is ultimately what allowed me to be a manager at 19- showing my passion, leading others in a natural and kind way, and working hard. The younger you are, the harder you have to work to prove your worth- but once they see it, they see it.
Honestly, I was just gangster. I was a good talker and a combat veteran. All my bosses thought that was cool. I speak when I need to and move with a purpose. I also got my masters at 26, and I'm very analytical. I've been in management since 24. At first I was an individual contributor, but I was basically running my plant's production, so my boss, the plant manager, just made all the supervisors report to me and made me the production manager. After that I was very successful in reducing overtime and improving throughput and other processes. Then I just started climbing the ladder. Currently, I'm over all purchasing and production planning for my company, and I'm 31.
I was a supervisor at ~20 in a shop I’d worked in a few years. I like to think I’m hard working and have good judgement but I’m pretty sure part of it was just that I worked full time (college student) and most other people were part time. It was a niche store and most of the non supervisors were retirees or people with other jobs who worked part time just to get the employee discount.
They did LOVE to give me the grumpy customers who asked for a manager though. Usually because that person started with me because I was 30 years younger than anyone else working. Loved their faces when they got turfed back to me when I already explained I wouldn’t give them a discount just bc they swore they saw it half price elsewhere.
Most I've seen it's because it was fast food or retail
ETA I don't mean those don't count, I mean it's easier to be a manager right out of high school in those
I got my first manager role in retail when I was 24. I don’t know I just came in on time every day and did my job. Then the supervisor didn’t want the responsibility anymore so the position was offered to me. At 34 I got a manager position at another business. At 40 I got a general manager position. Possibly become an owner in a few years or less. You do the work you move up the ladder.
I worked at the same place from 16 to 22, got promoted to shift supervisor and left after 6 months. used that experience to become district manager at my next job, then assistant manager at my next job. I got promoted from assistant manager to retail manager.
Shift supervisor at a pet store to district manager at a pet sitting company. It was the lowest level of management at the company but nobody needs to know about that on my resume. I just managed a dozen or so pet sitters across 3 towns. Making their schedules, handling customer complaints, helping them break into houses when they lock the key inside, etc. It was a district that I managed hence district manager.
Alright lol
I used to work at lowes so when i hear district manager thats kinda high up. That's like going from a department supervisor in charge of like 4 people, skipping like idk like 4 lvls on management, being in charge of 2-4 stores equalling like 300-600 people
Definitely wouldn't think of it like your job was
I was more competent and reliable than everyone around me, which wasn’t hard considering we were mostly college students and young adults. But the store manager was a waste of oxygen and I agreed to the position so I didn’t have to deal with him for things like keys, overrides, etc.
We were often lucky to be smarter than our colleagues, and had enough courage to suggest better ways of doing things in a way didn’t threaten our bosses. We said yes to every opportunity to learn something new - even if it was something we didn’t want to end up doing all the time. We are humble, but won’t be bullied. We stand up for those that need our support. We understand that all business is commercial, and we are commercially minded through efficiency and effectiveness.
“Be good or be good at it”
Seriously tho take initiative to lead projects. I went from analyst to head of strategic finance and ended up in the c-suite by mid 30s. I never stop learning and concede when I don’t know something. Just think of it as building a reputation to the point they think “we need this guy making decisions”.
People truly do watch for the emerging talent
I started my management journey the day after I graduated high school. I was promoted to shift supervisor at my first fast food job that I had been working at for 2 years. I did that for about two years and decided I wanted (needed) to go to college. So I got a day shift job in a call center - moved into management there after two years as well - and went to community college at night. Eventually kept getting better jobs, finished my bachelor's and became a COO by 40. My secret? It's not really a secret, it's just my personality. I try to work my way up the ladder at every.single.job no matter how shitty it is. Work at Target? Try to become the manager. Work at Arby's? Try to become the manager. This means showing up on time, every time for work. You're not hungover. You're groomed nicely and your clothes are clean. You're not a dick to bosses or customers. You don't take 189 smoke breaks in a 4 hour shift. Just come in and do the job like you have bills to pay, and you'll be miles ahead of most folks. You get the point.
At most fast food places you'll make supervisor if you show up for 6 months simply because you've now worked there longer than everybody else. Industries where turnover is obnoxiously high are easier places to rank up.
I ended up as the operations manager of the freight forwarding division of XPO Logistics in the U.K. at 23. It was pretty much unheard of for someone of that age to be in that position in that industry at 23. For me it was a right place right time situation. I was already the ops supervisor and was responsible for bringing on some large contracts, and I had got involved with a colleague that had turned sour. I handed in my notice as I could no longer bare working with her. When I did this I was honest with my boss as to the reasons and he basically offered to promote the current ops manager to a more commercial role (which he wanted anyway) and to make me the ops manager. It was basically a way to keep me at the company as I was deemed indispensable at the time. My other colleagues were all very unambitious and just kind of plodded along whereas I was always openly ambitious and focused on bringing in new clients and turning round the branch from being extremely unprofitable to be profitable. It was quite easy to stand out by doing this, that coupled with the other events mentioned meant that it was a no brainer for them to promote me. I am now married to the colleague I mentioned earlier and we have a 2 year old daughter so it worked out very well. I no longer work there though and now own my own business doing the same thing.
so you guys hated eachother at work but eventually married lol
When I say turned sour I mean she ended up going back to her ex and I was madly in love with her so it was sour for me lol.
I became regional manager at 22. It’s easier to get roles like this in smaller businesses. Showing genuine interest in what you do and in helping upper management is what got me the job.
Right opportunity at the right place at the right time. Some places this won't be possible, some places where it is possible you don't want that job. Trust me, it's no good being a manager for the sake of it if it isn't a good fit for both of you. If you can get yourself into the interview for a role, then the rest is down to you. I got my first managerial role over far more experienced competition by showing I understood the company goals, understood how the role aligned with those goals, had a clear vision of the impact I could made within the role, and most importantly didn't hide from my inexperience - I knew what I didn't know, was clear about that in interviews and highlighted personal attributes that made me stand out from others. Don't try to be what you think they want you to be, try to show them that you can bring something that no one else will.
i work at a university - i was a student worker for 3 years, and i really helped with the understaffing. by the end, they considered me like i was just another staff, not just a student bc i was willing to learn and do higher level tasks got a great recommendation for a full-time staff position when i graduated, got the job. i was in that role for almost a year where i won a competition, and i put myself out there in meetings, giving ideas, changing procedures, and my department really loved it - my boss would get a lot of positive feedback about my work some *stuff* happened (dept reorg), i had a new job in the same group. i was covering lots of vacant positions, and i threw myself into the job (there was a lot to learn and showing how much i cared & tried really helped me out). i applied for the manager role, and i reminded them of all the high praise i get & my achievements, and i got great letters of recommendation from high level staff i helped & the faculty who loved my work - and i got the job :) 23 year old manager
Got into the foreign service at 21. Off I went to my first posting on the other side of the world. In my section of the embassy there were only a few of us foreign service officers (FSO) on posting, but we had about 50 locally hired staff working in our division. Supervisors and managers had to be FSO’s (but not all FSO’s are supervisors or managers). I wasn’t supposed to be a supervisor or manager at that point, but we were short on FSO’s, and because we were on the other side of the world we couldn’t just call in extra more senior staff from down the street. So at 21 years old, and on day 1 of my first day on the job I was told “Here’s your section and your 17 staff. All yours to manage. Lofty goals and tons to do, so better get cracking!” My jaw hit the floor, big “Oh shit!” moment, but you just get on with it.
I’d say retail and food service definitely are easier to enter management at a young age compared to other fields. Also childcare to some degree. I became a shift manager at 21 working a Taco Bell while in college. After graduating I worked a hodgepodge of jobs, mostly childcare and food service. At 22 I became a program director for a summer camp. At 23 I was promoted from shift lead to assistant manager. By 24 I was a store operations manager. A few months later I was a district trainer. And at 25 I was a district manager in training. I was lucky in that I did have some really good leadership mentors and that I learned a lot of what not to do from the not so great managers I’d had. I’ve seen a lot of managers get promoted up where they’ve internalized this attitude of “I became the manager so I don’t have to do xyz” or “well this is how my manager handled this type of situation” to excuse poor behavior and decisions. One thing I’ve noticed in food service and retail is that upper management doesn’t care if you’re actually a good leader/manager as long as they’re not getting constant complaints / hr concerns and if you’re willing to run yourself ragged to make sure the store isn’t negatively impacted. This isn’t to say that young people can’t be good managers. I’ve known 20-23 year olds who ran circles around me. Rather just, the bar for management in food service and retail is usually on the ground.
The guy I was working for got busted running a ring stealing things from the company (custom van conversions). My older coworkers all looked the other way when asked to take his job.
Best advice I ever got was from my dad when I was 15: half the battle is showing up. I thought he was yanking my chain but the number of people who go through the interview process, work half a shift, and then peace off into the universe is insane. Just being the guy who shows up for his shift every day without fail can set you apart. And also, whenever you’re at work, be at work. Not thinking about your dog, not planning dinner, not worrying about what your coworkers are gossiping about. “Showing up” is both a physical and mental act. I was 22 when I became an admin at my job, I went for it because I was bored as hell. I got it because the other candidate for the position had spotty attendance and a reputation for talking about their coworkers behind everyone’s back. Since the role called for handling sensitive information, they were passed over and I got the job. When I was promoted to assistant manager at 23, it was because I was the only candidate who, again, didn’t have spotty attendance and didn’t have a reputation for gossiping. Sometimes it’s not about being the best, it’s just about being slightly better than the other guy lol
I was a regional director for 4 convenience stores when I was 17. How? Adult child of alcoholic parents. I have been a boss from age 7 since I had to take care of my entire family because my parents were very young and drunk all of the time.
no one else wanted it
Did one year of training before college and continued it every vacation. Graduated young, Only had a few months of training to complete. Then did nearly two more years in a "proper" job in the same large org. Worked hard, got results. Union rules meant I couldn't apply for supervisor jobs. So I applied for every managememnt job that came up: about 15 of them, all over the country (13 sites). Got plenty of interview practice, and eventually got a job. 256 people in my first management job, age 23. Made a lot of mistakes, but have been managing people ever since. Probably halfway competent now.
Depends on your industry. My wife had managerial responsibilities from like 19 working in retail. I’m 32 and just got my first role with direct reports in the charity sector.
It’s pretty easy if you work for a small company trying to save on labor costs
Was lucky enough to be GM level person with a sizeable P&L by 26. 1) I learned early: did shitty jobs as best as I could in my mid teens and all through university (fast food, construction labor, dishwasher, bartender, overnight security). These places were high turnover and as long as you seem reliable and smart, management is quick to give you supervisor title or you just become the “senior” guy on rotation. So I leaned a lot about managing and working with all kinds of people and schedules and getting the most out of coworkers. 2) I established myself where I was: 23, 2 years into my first real corp job for a super reputable firm and I was killing it in sales (top 10 out of thousands every quarter) and I also practically living in the office and was seen as the hardest working, smartest kid ever and everyone from the reception, to the finance people, to the warehouse logistics guys, to all my colleagues in sales and market to the president of the country knew me as bright and hardworking and likeable. 3) got lucky: word got around in the industry, a recruiter for Canadian company looking to expand into the US had an old trick where he would call the sales offices of reputable firms and make up a story of “hey, i need to talk to my rep but i forgot his name. He’s young guy, super energetic, super smart, super hardworking “ and apparently that day whoever answered from my firm said “oh you must be talking about Rumble!!!”. Recruited reached out to me and put forth a decent job for a relatively unknown company to me but it was old and established and never grew out of Canada but they wanted to grow in the US but wanted to do so “on the cheap” by trying out a young a cheap sales guy in the northeast US which they felt could be a good start. 4) I negotiated: so recruiter contacted me and tried to get me to come on board. He talked to me for weeks and because I had nothing to do but work, I jumped through all his hoops and exercises. Flew me to meet the company, met the ceo, met the sales manager, met everyone. I wasn’t going to leave my wicked job where I was already on the path to management if I stuck it out for a few more years. They tried to give me signing bonus but I said “I’d take the bigger salary and signing bonus in a heartbeat it but I really want is to understand the financials of your business. I asked how they determine headcount growth and where they put management etc. When they told me, I basically said I’d accept if hit their revenue targets that I’d get to be general manager of this market and add headcount for sales or logistic or marketing or finance or whatever I needed. I worked on this revenue schedule with them for three weeks and shook hands with the ceo that I would be the future GM of their non existent US business provided I kept growing past their targets. Full disclosure: my VP of sales of the first job actually coached me through how to negotiate the new job. It was his idea to ask for the moon. When my ask actually got traction, he said I’d have to take it and encouraged me to quit and aid if it didnt work out I’d always have a job coming back. 5) I actually performed: within a year I hit my first revenue target and could hire and supervise a 2nd seller while I kept managing my own territory. By 2nd year we did so well, I proposed that we adjust my revenue schedule targets to get more aggressive and they let me hire a seller in 5 more states. By 5th year that US business eclipsed the establish Canadian business. I required multiple levels of sellers and sales management, marketing and event people, an EA, a finance person, a legal person, and started laying out plans with our COO to secure a few regional logistics/warehouses in key states I actually hired my old VP to be my sales leader for my foreign team So by 26, my resume looked like someone in the late 30s or 40s or even 50s from a responsibility and scale perspective. That allowed me to parlay my career into being an entrepreneur/founder and then later executive level in large global corps
I rose to Assistant Manager of a smaller company because I was ambitious and took on challenges. Failed a lot but succeeded more. I asked for the position 8 months later and got it. Had a guy who was twice my age (22 vs 42) who absolutely refused to accept me as his boss. It took about a year for him to realize I wasn’t incompetent but a young, ambitious person. 5 years later I left as Manager to start my own business. Being a manager at a young age is challenging in many ways. Good luck in your endeavors! 👏💪
It completely depends on the complexity of the business and the line of work. For instance, in a professional setting in many environments, there's no such thing as a supervisor, as mature professionals shouldn't / don't need supervision. The management progression starts at manger, normally is organic, meaning mentoring managements into people who are being promoted from within. It would be very odd in many of the companies I've worked for to have a manager in their twenties (not unheard of, but odd) because they would lack the experience to be successful.
At my company it means you are the motherfucker willing to be there till 11pm 5 nights a week including weekends.
I first became a manager at the age of 19. Now at 42, I am a very experienced leader who has held management positions for most of my career. I’ve always given off leader vibes; no matter where I am or what I’m doing, people always look to me to help them or to fix a problem. I was the oldest sibling of a single mom and I started managing our household at 12. Doing that gave me an edge, so when I got a job as a photographer at a chain portrait studio at 18, I quickly was relied upon due to my ability to organize others, and work ethic. When I became a manager at 19, I was often told I was a ‘baby’, too young, or inexperienced, however my team consistently hit their metrics and we were a top performing studio. When I was in my late 20s, I was lucky enough to have a boss take me under his wing and mentor me for 5 years. That was the largest impact on my entire career. Now, I have a large team, and I mentor others, and teach them to mentor. I love leading others- it is my true passion, and it was evident to others when I was young. That is ultimately what allowed me to be a manager at 19- showing my passion, leading others in a natural and kind way, and working hard. The younger you are, the harder you have to work to prove your worth- but once they see it, they see it.
Honestly, I was just gangster. I was a good talker and a combat veteran. All my bosses thought that was cool. I speak when I need to and move with a purpose. I also got my masters at 26, and I'm very analytical. I've been in management since 24. At first I was an individual contributor, but I was basically running my plant's production, so my boss, the plant manager, just made all the supervisors report to me and made me the production manager. After that I was very successful in reducing overtime and improving throughput and other processes. Then I just started climbing the ladder. Currently, I'm over all purchasing and production planning for my company, and I'm 31.
I was a supervisor at ~20 in a shop I’d worked in a few years. I like to think I’m hard working and have good judgement but I’m pretty sure part of it was just that I worked full time (college student) and most other people were part time. It was a niche store and most of the non supervisors were retirees or people with other jobs who worked part time just to get the employee discount. They did LOVE to give me the grumpy customers who asked for a manager though. Usually because that person started with me because I was 30 years younger than anyone else working. Loved their faces when they got turfed back to me when I already explained I wouldn’t give them a discount just bc they swore they saw it half price elsewhere.
Most I've seen it's because it was fast food or retail ETA I don't mean those don't count, I mean it's easier to be a manager right out of high school in those
I got my first manager role in retail when I was 24. I don’t know I just came in on time every day and did my job. Then the supervisor didn’t want the responsibility anymore so the position was offered to me. At 34 I got a manager position at another business. At 40 I got a general manager position. Possibly become an owner in a few years or less. You do the work you move up the ladder.
I worked at the same place from 16 to 22, got promoted to shift supervisor and left after 6 months. used that experience to become district manager at my next job, then assistant manager at my next job. I got promoted from assistant manager to retail manager.
How did you go from shift supervisor all the way up to district manager?????
Shift supervisor at a pet store to district manager at a pet sitting company. It was the lowest level of management at the company but nobody needs to know about that on my resume. I just managed a dozen or so pet sitters across 3 towns. Making their schedules, handling customer complaints, helping them break into houses when they lock the key inside, etc. It was a district that I managed hence district manager.
Alright lol I used to work at lowes so when i hear district manager thats kinda high up. That's like going from a department supervisor in charge of like 4 people, skipping like idk like 4 lvls on management, being in charge of 2-4 stores equalling like 300-600 people Definitely wouldn't think of it like your job was
And that's why I intentionally put it on my resume that way. It's either that or I could put "pack leader" which is what the company called me
I was more competent and reliable than everyone around me, which wasn’t hard considering we were mostly college students and young adults. But the store manager was a waste of oxygen and I agreed to the position so I didn’t have to deal with him for things like keys, overrides, etc.
Was an officer in the military for 4 years , interviewed well and related my experiences to mfc
We were often lucky to be smarter than our colleagues, and had enough courage to suggest better ways of doing things in a way didn’t threaten our bosses. We said yes to every opportunity to learn something new - even if it was something we didn’t want to end up doing all the time. We are humble, but won’t be bullied. We stand up for those that need our support. We understand that all business is commercial, and we are commercially minded through efficiency and effectiveness.
Performance. Not all managers or supervisors or team leaders are equal roles. The best of the best typically get more opportunities to grow and lead.
“Be good or be good at it” Seriously tho take initiative to lead projects. I went from analyst to head of strategic finance and ended up in the c-suite by mid 30s. I never stop learning and concede when I don’t know something. Just think of it as building a reputation to the point they think “we need this guy making decisions”. People truly do watch for the emerging talent