How to become a Store Manager: education, training and skills.
What workers in the job actually report about their education, experience and training, the skills to build first, and the stepping-stone roles that lead in.
- 52% High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 19% Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree
- 14% Less than a High School Diploma
- 9% Post-Secondary Certificate
- 6% Some College Courses
BLS typical entry-level education: a high school diploma or equivalent
BLS lists a high school diploma or equivalent as the typical entry-level education for first-line supervisors of retail sales workers in the United States (Employment Projections, 2025–35). Most store managers report needing a high school diploma or equivalent (52% of workers surveyed by O*NET). O*NET places the job in Job Zone 1-2 of 5 (very little to some preparation). The most common answer for related work experience was “over 4 years, up to and including 6 years” (36%), and for on-the-job training “over 6 months, up to and including 1 year” (41%).
Data Government data groups this job as First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers (O*NET-SOC 41-1011.00). Figures on this page are for that occupation.
What BLS lists for first-line supervisors of retail sales workers
According to BLS 2025–35 projections data, first-line supervisors of retail sales workers in the United States typically need less than 5 years of work experience in a related occupation to enter the occupation.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Once hired, first-line supervisors of retail sales workers in the United States typically need no on-the-job training to become fully competent, according to BLS 2025–35 projections data.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Six steps to becoming a Store Manager
Data Steps 1 to 5 summarise BLS and O*NET data for the role; step 6 is advice.
- EducationPlan for a high school diploma or equivalent
BLS typical entry-level education, 2025–35 projections. In O*NET's worker survey, 52% report a high school diploma or equivalent. 81% report no college degree needed.
- TrainingExpect on-the-job training
Most common: over 6 months, up to and including 1 year.
- ExperienceRelated experience
Most common: over 4 years, up to and including 6 years (36% of workers).
- SkillsBuild the core skills
Active Listening, Service Orientation, Speaking are rated most important.
- ToolsLearn the tools
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop.
- CredentialsCheck licensing where you live
Many occupations need a state license or certification. Requirements vary by state, so confirm with your state's licensing board.
What workers report
Data Share of workers giving each answer, O*NET.
O*NET Job Zone 1-2 (Very Little to Some Preparation Needed): Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience. For example, landscaping and groundskeeping workers might require very little training or previous experience, while agricultural equipment operators can benefit from on-the job training.
Data Pay once you are in the job: the BLS median is $48,520; the lowest-paid quarter earn $38,590 or less. See the full Store Manager salary data.
What employers require, by BLS survey
Data BLS figures for first-line supervisors of retail sales workers (SOC 41-1011), 2025 preliminary BLS Occupational Requirements Survey.
- Most common minimum education
- High school diploma
- 58.2% of workers
- No minimum education
- 32.4%
- of workers
- No prior experience required
- 12.1%
- of workers
- On-the-job training required
- 74.1%
- of workers
- Median on-the-job training
- 27 days
- License or certification required
- 3.5%
- of workers, as reported by employers (state licensing rules are separate)
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Requirements Survey. Minimum requirements reported by employers for average performance; individual employers differ. Estimates are preliminary; ranges are shown as published.
How this page is built
Education, experience, training and Job Zone come from O*NET 31.0 survey data for the occupation. The typical entry-level education, work experience and on-the-job training lines come from BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35. O*NET answers with low-precision estimates are not shown, and an answer is called the most common only when no hidden answer could be larger. Stepping-stone roles use our skill-match score: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- Licensing rules in your state.
- Requirements at a specific employer.
- How long the path will take you personally.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.
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