What are the schooling/steps/positions to becoming a successful GM of a upscale restaurant?
Asked by LDH
I am pursuing a degree in Hotel and Restaurant Management in Cal Poly Pomona right now. Tips?

Best Answer:
Starting out taking the courses you are taking is the first best step. You should work in any and every restaurant you can find jobs in while you are going to school. Work every position and don't be a wimp about stocking shelves and cleaning things. Ask at your college about career fairs. LArge restaurant companies come to them looking for potential employees and if you are good, they will notice. My son is working an internship in Chicago this summer with a major restaurant company and he has spent many hours workign with and tlaking to the key management. I know that companies consider kids who have that kind of experience as future GM material much quicker than they do just having a degree from a H & R program. Good luck!

Well, my sister has no degree but has worked as a waitress and then PIC (Person In Charge) during the managers' absences. She is now in line for a promotion to GM at a major restaurant chain, after 20 years of experience and working her way up. The best way to learn to be a good manager of any job is to learn the job from the ground up--then no one can take advantage of you or your employees. Too many young people think that because they have formal degrees that they should just step into a management position without any real experience. Most of those do not last and end up having to re-start at the bottom anyway because they refused to learn the basics. I worked my way up in the entertainment industry and so did another of my sisters. The degreed managers who just walked in and tried to assume positions of power with no experience or even knowledge of the industry quickly lost their jobs and have not been heard of since. I suggest you try, if you have time, to get a part-time job at a restaurant in the lowest position if need be yet let the current manager know you are getting a degree and plan to move into management. That way, you can learn the basics and still get degreed. You at least have some idea of how a restaurant works in reality as opposed to theory.
Answered by TheFlowerLady