Skills
IT Manager Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in IT managers, and how to build and show them.
What skills do IT managers need?
IT Managers need technical skills such as it strategy, budgeting, and infrastructure and cloud, plus people skills like leadership and communication. They also use tools such as IT service management platforms such as ServiceNow and Project management tools.
Technical (hard) skills
- IT strategy
- Budgeting
- Infrastructure and cloud
- Cybersecurity management
- Project management
- Vendor management
People (soft) skills
- Leadership
- Communication
- Decision making
- Business acumen
Tools, equipment and technology
- IT service management platforms such as ServiceNow
- Project management tools
- Cloud consoles
- Security monitoring tools
- Budget spreadsheets
- Collaboration tools
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how IT managers put their skills to work:
- How to build an annual IT budget
- How to lead a major incident response
- How to evaluate a new software vendor
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “IT strategy” and “Budgeting.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “leadership,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as Project Management Professional (PMP) near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our IT manager glossary covers the terms hiring managers expect.
How to build these skills
Formal training, supervised practice and certification are the most direct routes. Our IT Manager training introduces each of these skills with plain-language lessons, procedures and a final knowledge check: a strong foundation before hands-on training or your first day.