If you can’t start from the bottom and work up into management, you can train for a management position. Management trainee programs are one way to land a job at the top in the long term, and several industries and companies ranging from retail operations to large corporations offer management trainee jobs. Fields range from being a manager in retail to a department head in finance, trading, manufacturing, government operations, marketing, or accounting.

Management trainee programs are common in retail, and those in such a program receive company-specific training through an on-the-job apprenticeship to be a store manager. Training involves learning and using general supervisory skills – and these are needed in a management role in any industry – and job-specific technical skills. A trainee will work under a manager, pick up these skills, and use them on the job. The goal is to have the trainee become a manager in six to 18 months’ time.

Skills a trainee learns on the job include merchandising, advertising, inventory, bookkeeping, and human resources. He or she will work with employees on the team, including hiring and interviewing potential new team members and training, coaching, motivating, disciplining, reviewing, and resolving conflicts with the existing team. The trainee will be responsible for various basic finance aspects, as well, such as banking transactions, paperwork, and company reports. Additionally, when the manager is absent, the trainee will take over the store until he or she returns.

Office work and corporate management trainee jobs have a similar approach to those in retail, but the training needed is a combination of on-the-job skill building and classes. A trainee in finance or marketing, for example, may work with a department or team and pick up their skills, and, in addition, the trainee will have on-the-job classes. Lectures, speakers, projects, and tests may all be part of these job-related classes offered by the company.

In total, with classes or on-the-job training, a management trainee will work 40 to 50 hours per week, will be paid an hourly wage or salary, and may receive benefits. However, some management trainee jobs come in the form on internships and compensation for these will vary from experience only to pay without benefits. A management trainee, additionally, will most likely be employed by the company or within the industry after training.

Becoming a management trainee is much like applying to any other job: experience and education are needed, but the employer also needs to see your aptitude for leadership from the start. An applicant may be selected by test and, in addition to positive results, he or she should have a bachelor’s degree (a high school diploma may be enough for some retail management programs, however) and some experience in the field. Assertiveness, communication skills, leadership abilities, and a positive attitude should also come across when the candidate is being interviewed for a trainee program.

As management trainee jobs are a path into higher-level positions, such jobs are offered through ManagementJobs.net. Find a position in such a program that fits your interest and skill level and increase your experience with on-the-job training and mentoring.

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