Skills
Social and Community Service Manager Skills & Tools
The technical skills, people skills and tools employers look for in social and community service managers, and how to build and show them.
Social and Community Service Managers need technical skills such as program management, budgeting, and grant management, plus people skills like leadership and communication. They also use tools such as Case and data systems and Spreadsheets and budgeting tools.
Technical (hard) skills
- Program management
- Budgeting
- Grant management
- Outcome evaluation
- Staff supervision
- Compliance
People (soft) skills
- Leadership
- Communication
- Strategic thinking
- Relationship building
Tools, equipment and technology
- Case and data systems
- Spreadsheets and budgeting tools
- Grant management software
- Presentation tools
- Project management tools
- CRM systems
Skills in action: common tasks
These step-by-step guides show how social and community service managers put their skills to work:
How to show these skills on a resume
- Lead your skills section with the technical skills from the job posting, for example, “Program management” and “Budgeting.”
- Prove soft skills with results: instead of listing “leadership,” describe a situation where you used it.
- List credentials such as Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) near the top, with the issuing organization and date.
- Use the employer’s vocabulary. Our social and community service 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 Social and Community Service 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.