Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers
Skills & Knowledge
Most Important Skills for Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers
- Listening—Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
- Coordinating with Others—Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
- Reading—Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Speaking—Talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Thinking Critically—Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
- Being Aware of Others—Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
- Managing People—Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
- Managing Time—Managing one's own time and the time of others.
- Monitoring Performance—Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Negotiating—Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Most Important Knowledge Areas for Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers
- Administration and Management—Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- Customer and Personal Service—Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
- Production and Processing—Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.
- Transportation—Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Clerical—Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- Public Safety and Security—Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Education and Training—Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Mathematics—Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Computers and Electronics—Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- English Language—Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Interests
Different careers may be a good fit for your personality or interests. This career is:
- Enterprising—Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
- Realistic—Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
Learn more about your interests. Take the MnCareers Interest Assessment.
Describe Your Skills
People who have worked in this career typically perform the following tasks.
These statements can help a prospective employer understand what you can do, on a resume or during an interview.
- Communicating with supervisors, co-workers, or people that work under you.
- Coordinating the work or activities of other people.
- Training and teaching other people.
- Collecting information from different sources.
- Organizing, planning, and prioritizing work.
- Guiding, directing, and motivating people that work under you.
- Making decisions or solving problems.
- Coaching and developing other people.
Careers that Use Similar Skills
The following careers use skills, knowledge, and abilities that are similar to those used for Supervisors of Helpers, Laborers, and Material Movers.
View more careers in the Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics cluster
View more careers in the Warehousing and Distribution Center Operations pathway

This page includes information from the O*NET 24.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Source: You can learn about our data sources in the About Us section.