Finding the Way:Mapping out Hotel General Manager’s Career Paths

Caity Scott

Washington State University Student, NPS

July 31, 2016

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 2

Executive SummaryFor the past several months, the Washington Restaurant Association and Washington

Lodging Association worked with top hoteliers to address the need for skilled employees. As a

result, the Associations are opening a training facility in Seattle for hospitality employees to gain

relevant leadership skills. To create training material and guide employees as they make career

choices it was necessary to map out the career path of General Managers. On March 29th, 2016,

Teran Petrina, Vice President of the Associations, contacted Caity Scott, a hospitality student

from WSU NPS, through her program director, Mark Beattie, about conducting an independent

study over the summer. The purpose of this study is to map out the career path of Hotel General

Managers’ career path using interview data from top hoteliers. To do this, contacts and interview

questions were provided to Scott who was responsible for gathering data, analyzing it through

writing and graphing, and mapping out the Career Map. Interviews were conducted over the

phone and consisted of nine base questions with optional relationship building questions. Out of

81 original contacts, 36 were interviewed as well as an additional eight alternative contacts for a

total of 42 interviewed.

Key finding of this study include a defined career path, timeframe and number of

positions to reach attain a GM position, salaries at different levels, and important advice for

hospitality employees. The most common career path for GMs is to start at Front Desk, work up

through the Rooms Division and transfer between Front Desk and Housekeeping, become either

a Front Office Manager or Executive Housekeeper, and become a Director of Rooms before

eventually becoming GM. “Front Desk” was the most common entry point mentioned by

interviewees while “Supervisor” was indicated to be the best level to switch departments at. On

average, it took 11.74 years and 5.67 positions for hospitality employees to transition from entry

level to GM. The average salary of a GM was $121,944.44 per year with a median of $90,000

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 3

suggesting the data is skewed to the right. Key advice given to hospitality employees included

emphasis on starting from the bottom, flexibility, passion for hospitality, and clearly

communicating career goals.

A few areas require further research beyond the scope of this study which include the

decreased popularity of Food and Beverage (F and B) as a career path to GM as well the

tendency for F and B and Housekeeping employees to stay in their departments. Additionally,

new salary compensation laws going into effect the beginning of December will impact hotel

organization and managerial salary.

IntroductionThe Washington Lodging Association and Washington Restaurant Association have

worked with Hotel employees over the past few months to address employment concerns. In

particular, Seattle hotels lack skilled employees and require programs to prepare entry level

employees for leadership roles. The Associations are opening a training school in Seattle for

hospitality employees. In order to create relevant training material and guide employees through

their careers, map General Manager’s (GM’s) career paths needed to be mapped. On March 29th,

2016 Mark Beattie, professor and Hospitality Program Coordinator at Washington State

University North Puget Sound (WSU NPS), connected Teran Petrina, Vice President of the

Washington Restaurant Association and Washington Lodging Association, with Caity Scott,

hospitality major at WSU NPS, with regards to conducting an independent study over the

summer. The study aimed at mapping out the career path of GM’s in Washington State,

particularly the greater Seattle area, through phone interviews on behalf of the Associations.

Following initial contact, Petrina and Scott communicated over phone and email and discussed

the specifics of the study including providing interview questions, contacts, and final product

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 4

expectations. Scott began emailing contacts on May 1st, 2016 and interviewing contacts May 3rd.

Initial contact was made through email and subsequent contacts were through phone and

additional emails. Contacts were asked the same nine base questions and prompted with

additional questions if they did not answer in full. As of July 1st, 2016, 34 original contacts and

eight additional contacts had been interviewed out of eighty one. The purpose of this study is

map out Hotel General Managers’ career paths using interview data from top hoteliers. This

report will cover external research about hotel career paths, the study and methods used to

conduct it, results, implications, and areas of further study.

Literature ReviewThe first step to starting a career in hospitality as a GM is to begin working at a hotel.

Common entry level positions that open the door to a GM position include Front Desk Agent,

Housekeeping Attendant, Server, Dishwasher and Prep Cook (Torrence, 2016). Positions with

guest interaction tend to prepare employees better than back of house positions because they

develop strong interpersonal communication skills. The path to becoming a GM often includes

some degree of higher education (Hospitality and Business Degrees preferred), work experience,

and leadership skills (Kokemuller, 2016). Experience is a necessity because most hotels only

promote from within and leadership skills must be learned on the job.

Interviewing current GMs provides experienced insight into the qualities of successful

GMs. Dr. Lily Lin, lead lecturer at the Hague Hotel School for over 20 years, interviewed 44 top

hoteliers from major international chains in her book, “Interviewing Successful Hotel

Managers.” In an article about her experiences, Lin quoted GMs discussing the most important

traits for a GM to have. Every quote emphasized passion, ambition and experience. GMs must be

willing to go the extra mile for their guests and leave them with “unforgettable experiences that

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 5

lure them back over and over again” (Lin, 2014.) These qualities are mentioned again by Larry

Mogelonksy, a Caguya Member and Associate of the G7 Hospitality Group, who also adds

availability, patience, and determination to the list in his article, “The Ten Essential Traits of a

Great GM. (3 Dec. 2012).”

Compensation for GMs is worthwhile compared to the years it takes to reach a GM

position. Salaries for General Managers range from $31,230 to $109,831 according to

PayScale.com (2016). The median salary for a GM is approximately $51,827 not including

benefits. Factors that influence salary include work experience, years in the position, location,

property size, and hotel brand. The average amount of years it takes for a GM to reach their

position is approximately 10 to 20 years with most GMs being promoted internally by working

their way up through the ranks than by external hiring (Landman, 7 Aug. 2012). If a college

student is dedicated, they can work their way up from an entry level position to the top by their

mid-thirties.

MethodsInterviewees were contacted initially through email with the same standard message and

listed time slots for interviews. A copy of the email is included in the appendices. Follow up

contact was by phone up and additional emailing up to three times. After the third unsuccessful

contact, Teran Petrina and Katie Solovich were contacted and alternative interviewees were

contacted. Out of 81 initial contacts, 34 were interviewed as well as eight alternative contacts for

a total of 42 interviewed. Alternative contacts were recommended by original contacts and by

Katie Sokolik due to their experience, position, and availability to participate in an interview.

Interviews were conducted on the phone with the exception of one done through email.

Every interviewee was asked the same nine base questions while a few were asked additional

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relationship building questions to spark interest in the project. If interviewees did not give clear,

measurable responses, they were prompted with additional questions aimed at expanding their

answers.

Data was collected through handwritten notes later typed up and analyzed. Microsoft

Excel was used to catalogue and sort data according to interviewee, question, and variable.

Graphs shown were created using data charts in Excel. All data and interview noted are attached

to this report.

ResultsThe most common career path for GMs is to start at Front Desk, work through the Rooms

Division by transferring between Front Desk and Housekeeping, become either a Front Desk or

and Housekeeping Manager, graduate to Director of Rooms, and finally step into a GM role.

Figure 1 shows a comprehensive map of the most commonly recommended career paths by

Hoteliers. The vertical axis shows general hierarchy levels from Entry up until GM. Levels Four,

“Director/ AGM,” encompasses the following positions because they were reported as the

Figure 1

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positions directly under GMs: Department Directors, Director of Operations, Hotel Manager and

AGM. Many Department Directors report to the AGM, Hotel Manager or Director of Operations,

so these positions are reserved to Level Four Column two and a half. “GM” was placed in

column two and a half to center the position over the hotel structure. Level Two, or

“Supervisor,” also encompasses Assistant Managers because they were described by respondents

to be similar and, in some cases, interchangeable. Career paths recommended by interviewees are

shown in the same shade of light blue. The darker an area is, the more career paths are shown

overlapping.

The Rooms Division is a more recommended path than F and B. Most GMs begin at

Front Desk and become supervisors. From this point it is more difficult to trace a straight line

path, though it is evident employees transfer between Front Desk and Housekeeping either as

Supervisors or Entry Level Managers. After becoming a Manager, employees step into a

Director of Rooms position which can lead directly to a GM position as well as AGM, Hotel

Manager, Director of Operations and other leadership positions.

Figure 1 is telling but it does not show a few key factors in a GMs career ladder. Number

of positions worked, salary, and years needed to reach a GM positions are not shown in this

graph. Rather, each level an employee works is shown. For example, a hotel employee may work

as a server, host and barista yet only one point will be shown on the graph is in column three,

row one for entry level F and B. Besides not showing the number of positions an employee

works, the map is also lacking two respondents’ career paths (Daryl King from Bacon Mansion

and Shelley Goulding from 9 Cranes Inn) because their data was not complete enough to be

graphed.

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Out of 42 interviewees, 40

listed “Front Desk” as a common

entry position into the hotel

industry with “Room Attendant”

coming in 2nd at 31 listings,

“Server/ Bartender” coming in at

3rd with 27 listings and

“Dishwasher/ Prep Cook” coming

in 4th at 19 listings. The top four

listings comprised 74% of total

listings indicating that while other

entry positions are certainly

available, the four most popular

comprise the majority of entry points. Top entry positions for GMs were Front Desk (worked by

33% of GMs), Laundry (19%) and

Server/Bartender, 12%. These

results are similar to Figure 2:

Common Entry Level Positions.

Many GMs worked multiple entry

level positions and a few

participated in rotating internships

that placed them in multiple

departments followed by a

41; 25%

32; 20%

28; 17%

19; 12%

17; 11%

12; 7%6, 4%

4, 2%2, 1%

Common Entry Points

Front Desk Room AttendantServer/ Bartender Dishwasher/ Prep CookLaundry Bellman/ ValetSales and Marketing Finance and AccountingMaintenance and Engineering

Figure 2

Figure 3

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 9

promotion to Supervisor. Overall, recommendations for entry level positions were similar to

actual potions worked by GMs though actual positions had more variety and were less clustered

into few key sections. Refer to Figure 3: Entry Level Positions of GMs for full listings.

When asked which level (i.e. entry, supervisor, manager, etc.) was ideal for horizontally

crossing over to a different department, “Supervisor” was the top response with 25 listings

comprising 43% of total listings.

“Entry” came in 2nd with 12 listings and

“Assistant Manager” came in 3rd with

10 listings. Interviewees reasoned that

“Supervisor” was a low enough

position to cross train without taking a

demotion and high enough for

employees to have basic operational

knowledge of the department they are

coming from. Entry level positions are

the most flexible and have the highest turnover allowing current employees to transfer quickest

at this level. Unfortunately, entry level positions are basic and offer little operational knowledge.

A GM that cleaned rooms as an attendant 25 years ago will not remember much about their

housekeeping duties and will have little operational knowledge if that was their only experience

with housekeeping. On the other hand, transferring from Director positions or higher often

required employees to be demoted and take a pay cut in order to work line level and learn their

department from the ground up. Supervisor is the optimal middle ground between two extremes.

Refer to Figure 4: Best Level to Crossover for full listings.

Supervisor; 25; 42%

Entry; 13; 22%

Assistant Manager; 10;

17%

Manager; 10; 17%

1, 2% Director or Higher

Best Level to Crossover

Figure 4

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 10

Hourly compensation increased from entry level to supervisor on average. The overall

increase is minor but it is substantial enough

to distinguish a trend. Average entry level

wage is $15.85 (slightly above Seattle’s

minimum wage) while the median entry

wage is $15.00. Average supervisor wage is

$21.69 while median wage is $17.00

indicating that the data is skewed to the right

by a few outliers. Indeed, one interviewee,

Matt Van Der Peet, GM of Westin, indicated that supervisors were paid anywhere from $40 to

$50 an hour. Other responses listed were equal to or less than $21 so it is likely that Van Der

Peet’s response is limited to his property and not typical of the industry. Refer to Figure 5:

Hourly Compensation Compared for a comparison of wage compensation.

Salary was relatively stable and increased exponentially with each promotion. Most

hospitality employees reach the $50,000 salary range as entry level managers. According to the

compiled interview data, the average salary range of a manager is $54,053.57 while the median

salary is 47,203 indicating the data distribution is relatively normal. Interestingly enough,

assistant managers were reported to have higher average salaries and substantially higher median

salaries than managers. This is likely attributed to two factors with 1) being only five

respondents reported salary rates for assistant managers so this set of data is lacking and likely

not reliable and 2) the properties with assistant managers are often larger and compensate more.

Due to recent federal compensation requirements, only large, complex properties can afford to

have assistant managers. Smaller properties also lack the complexity needed to rationalize

Entry Supervior $-

$10.00

$20.00

$30.00

$40.00

$50.00

$60.00

Hourly Compensation Compared

Minimum Average Linear (Average ) Maximum

Figure 5

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 11

assistant manager positions when supervisor and entry level manager positions provide sufficient

operational organization. Assistant Managers showed higher salaries because of limited data: not

because they actually make more than their superiors.

The average salary for a GM was $121,944.44 per year with benefits. Median salary was

$90,000 suggesting the data skewed to the right by a few high figures while a majority of GMs

are paid around $100,000 per year. Salary, especially for GMs, was dependent on the size and

profitability of the hotel as well as GM experience. Other forms of compensation, such as stock

bonuses, vacation, discounted and/or free hotel stays, and medical and dental were mentioned as

part of compensation but were not accounted for in this study.

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 12

Reaching a

General Manager

Position is not

necessarily the 15 to

20 year process

some would suspect

((Landman, 7 Aug.

2012). The average

timeframe for a GM to reach their position from entry level is 11.74 years while the median

timeframe is 12 years indicating the data follows a regular distribution. Overall, employees are

recommended to stay in entry level positions for about a year, move on to supervisor positions

for a year to two years, and spend a few years in each management position. Management

positions require additional time compared to entry level positions because of their complex

organizational nature. Managers often dedicate their first year to flipping their departments

before spending subsequent years implementing new structures and enforcing beneficial

behaviors. Refer to Figure 7: Years in Current Position: Bar for the full spread.

Employees often work multiple positions at each level before being vertically promoted.

The average number of positions a general manager works prior to becoming a GM is 5.67

positions. This

figure includes a

few entry level and

supervisor

positions, one or

Figure 7

Figure 8

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 13

two management positions, and usually just one upper management position. Refer to Figure 8

for more information. Gaining department experience is easiest with entry level positions

because skills can be trained on the job Entry level employees are recommended to leverage their

position and cross-train as much as possible before moving up. As employees reach upper level

manager positions, cross training become more difficult and usually requires taking a pay cut and

demotion to learn a different department. Upper level management does not move as often as

entry level employees for a few reasons: 1) less opportunistic positions, such as title promotions

or pay raises, are open, 2) compensation is sufficient at upper level management positions to

keep employees where they are at compared to minimum wage received by entry level

employees, and 3) company loyalty and job satisfaction drive upper level management are reason

enough for a manager not to leave their position.

The $50,000 per year salary range was attained by most entry level managers. Recent

labor laws require all salaried employees to be paid at least $47,476 per year or to be paid

overtime based on the number of hours worked. These laws will be put into effect the beginning

of December and are expected to boost wages $12 billion over the next 10 years (Trottman and

Morath, 17 May 2016). The average number of positions managers work in before becoming

managers is five point fifty six. Entry level employees work 1.46 positions for a year before

moving to 1.70 supervisor position they will work in approximately 1.70 years each. Taken

together, it takes an entry level employee 4.58 years to reach $50,000 salary as a manager.

Part of working in hospitality is training mentors and being a servant leader. Interviewees

had a variety of advice to give to new employees entering the industry. Typical responses fell

into the following four categories: work through the ranks, be flexible, love serving, and be

ambitious. Working through the ranks is vital to become hotel leadership: most hotels only

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 14

higher internally. On the job experience empowered employees to decide whether hospitality is

the industry for them. Gaining work experience also gives employees an edge as manager. Mike

Giles, GM of FourPoints by Sheraton, and Tim Blathke, GM at Warwick Hotel emphasized that

on the job experience is all an employee needs to work through the ranks though higher

education is also advantageous. Flexibility is important for a GM and can be demonstrated as

early as entry level by taking on the extra shift, staying late, and being willing to move

geographical areas. Besides being flexible, GMs must love people: customers and employees

alike. Hospitality is the people industry, after all so a passion for people is expected. Finally,

being ambitious was important because working through the ranks is only possible if employees

are promoted which only happens if they express interest in new open positions.

FindingsRecommended entry level positions varied from actual entry level positions worked by

GMs. “Front Desk” was mentioned by 41 (98%) interviewees and accounted for 25% of total

responses for most common entry pointy. Most interviewees framed ideal career path around

Front Desk and almost all but a few interviewees included it as a necessity for anyone

considering a GM position. Compared to actual GM career paths though, only 45% of GMs

started in Front Desk. The reason for this disconnect is likely due to a few factors: 1) looking

back on their own experience and the experience of other hoteliers, current GMs recognize Front

Desk has more opportunity than the entry level positions they worked, 2) current GMs are aware

of shifts in the industry from when they started and recommend Front Desk based on these shifts

and 3) the duties and responsibilities of Front Desk have changed since GMs entered the industry

and these duties prepares employees better than other entry level positions. The second and third

most recommended entry level positions were “Room Attendant” with 32 listings (76%) and

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 15

“Server/ Bartender” with 28 listings (67%) while the second and third most common entry level

positions for GMs were “Laundry” and “Server/ Bartender” with 11 (26%) and 9 (21%) listings.

The order of popularity is relatively similar between actual and recommended entry level

positions even if the proportionality is different.

While the most common path traveled to GM includes Front Desk, many interviewees

mentioned Housekeeping by name and recommended employees gain experience in this

department early on. Housekeeping is so vital to hotel operations that it was described as the

“backbone of hotels” by Lacey King, Manager of the University Inn (personal communication,

June 9th, 2016). Regardless of how stellar a hotel’s food is or how friendly and accommodating

the Front Desk might be, a poorly run Housekeeping department can cripple the hotel’s

operations and lead to angry guests and loss of sales. Due to its back of house nature,

housekeeping tends to be more diverse than other departments and have a higher proportion of

non-English speaking individuals. This diversity gives hotels culturally rich environments while

unfortunately creating a Back of House to Front of House separation in the Rooms division

narrowing housekeepers’ careers to Housekeeping. As stated by Richard Schezinger (GM of the

Mayflower), Carl Anton (Manager at Hilton Garden Inn), Jason Cairns (Food and Beverage

Director at Fairmont Hotel) and Scott Snofsky (GM at Hollywood Suites) Housekeeping

Attendants tend to stay in Housekeeping. The key to getting Housekeeping experience is to move

often. Transitions can be vertically to supervisor, horizontally to other departments, or to

different hotels in the same position.

Another department frequently found in GM’s career paths is Food and Beverage (F and

B) though it is becoming increasingly less common. A disproportionally large number of

interviewees (12 out of 42), including David Watkins (GM of the Inn at the Market), Matthew

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 16

McGuigan (GM at Roosevelt Hotel), Ben Thiele (Manager at Palladian Hotel), and Tim Blathke

(GM at Warwick Seattle Hotel) indicated F and B was becoming increasingly less common of a

career path to GMs. Specifically, interviewees stated F and B was either “less common” had

“less opportunity” or “more specialized” than other departments or “difficult to move out of.”

Lucas Lee (Manager at Hotel 5), stated that “employees who start in Food and Beverage tend to

stay in Food and Beverage” (personal communication, June13, 2016.) When asked why F and B

Employees stick to one department common responses were 1) food and beverage operates

differently than other departments so switching to operations is difficult 2) and servers would

have to work more hours at a lower salary.

Hotel organization is also a contributing factor in decreasing the commonality of an F and

B career. It is possible to stay only in Front Desk or Housekeeping and become GM, though

difficult, but it is both unusual and impractical to become GM by only staying in F and B. Most

GM positions require Front Desk and Housekeeping putting F and B employees a step behind in

gathering department experience compared to hotel employees starting in Rooms Division

positions. Many hotels also lack full service Food and Beverage divisions and choose instead to

hire out directors, limiting an employee’s ability to create a career by staying at one hotel.

Skilled F and B employees either stay at their hotel or move on to work at a restaurant as

compared to transferring to other hotels. Specialization and hotel organization are contributing

factors to the decreased popularity of F and B as a pathway to GM.

ConclusionOver the past two months, Caity Scott interviewed 42 top hoteliers, including GMs, HR

Representatives, Hotel Managers, and F and B Directors, to collect data and map out the career

path of GMs. Out of 81 original contacts, 34 were interviewed as well as eight alternative

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 17

contacts. The Washington Lodging Association and Washington Restaurant Association will use

this report and the data accompanying it to create relevant training material and guide hospitality

employees through their careers. Interviews were conducted over the phone with the exception of

one over email and consisted of the nine base questions. Interview notes as well as charted data

are attached to this report.

According to the data generated through interviews, the most common career path for a

GM is to start at Front Desk, work up through the Rooms division, and step into a Director of

Rooms position before becoming GM. The Rooms division is traversed more by GMs than any

other division while F and B is increasingly less popular of a career path than it was only a few

decades ago. On average, reaching GM takes approximately 11.74 years and 5.56 positions. GMs

are paid $121,944.44 per year depending on their personal experience, size of the property, and

location.

Areas of Further ResearchInterviewing hoteliers and industry professionals has answered some questions, but raised

many more. Why have GMs strayed from F and B to the Rooms division? Why do F and B

employees stay in F and B? How will new labor laws impact salaries and hotel structure?

Additional research outside of the scope of this study is needed to answer these questions.

While specialization and hotel organization are contributing factors to the decreased

popularity of F and B as a pathway to GM, additional factors influence employees’ decisions to

stay in F and B or transfer to operations. Compensation, for example, has more potential to

fluctuate in entry F and B positions than in entry level Rooms Division positions. Servers are

capable of earning up to $90,000 per year depending on the property they are employed by,

restaurant they serve in, and tips (Richard Scherzinger, personal communications, May 17th,

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 18

2016) often stay in their positions. Jason Cairns, F and B Director at Fairmont Hotel, referred to

this as the “Golden Handcuff” scenario and stated that servers may reach a level of compensation

so high that any title promotion leads to a pay cut and increase in hours: a bleak alternative to

simply staying in the same position. Interestingly enough, Cairns also noted any server serious

about moving up F and B or switching to Rooms Division would not be deterred by increased

hours and a pay cut. Using his own career path, Cairns stated he understood the pay cut was

“only temporary” and after a few years it would “be worthwhile.” Indeed, he took a pay cut as

Banquet Captain but eventually reached a higher salary level as F and B Director than he would

have as a server. While hotel organization, high compensation and low hours could be a factor in

why F and B is increasingly less common, there are additional factors influencing employees

decisions to stay in F and B or transfer to other departments and locations.

Recent labor laws require all salaried employees to be paid at least $47,476 per year

(Trottman and Morath, 17 May 2016) but most employees still earn less than the new minimum

threshold. Rather than increasing salaries, most hotels are predicted to eliminate positions and

merge responsibilities. Kevin Scott, Manager at the Hotel Max, stated “entry level manager

positions will be eliminated” after new annual salary threshold comes into effect (personal

communication, 25 May 2016). Out of 42 respondents, 29 indicated the average salary range for

managers was less than the new threshold while the average salary for managers based on

responses is only $47,303.57. Over the next few months, hotel management and salary levels

should be closely monitored to measure the impact of labor regulation on hotel organization.

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 19

ReferencesKokemuller, N. (2016.) Path to becoming hotel general manager. Our

Every Day Life. Studio D. Retrieved 26 July 2016 from http://oureverydaylife.com/path-

becoming-hotel-general-manager-10864.html

Lin, L. (25 March 2015). How to become a top hotelier. WeAreHoteliers. Lin and Pavelson.

Retrieved 28 July 2016 from http://wearehoteliers.com/how-to-become-a-hotel-general-

manager/

Mongelonsky, L. (3 Dec. 2012). The ten essential traits of great GMs. Hospitality Net.

HospitalityNet. Retrieved 30 July 2016 from

http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/4058696.html

Torrance, M. (2016). What entry level positions can lead to a hotel general manager? Houston

Chronicle. Hearst Newspaper. Retrieved July 30 2016 from http://work.chron.com/entry-

level-positions-can-lead-hotel-general-manager-26981.html

Trottman, M and Morath E. (17 May 2016). Obama Administration extends overtime pay to

millions. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 31 July 2016 from

http://www.wsj.com/articles/obama-administration-set-to-extend-overtime-pay-to-

millions-1463502142

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AppendicesInterview Questions in Order Asked2. Where did you get your start in the hospitality industry?

1. What the most common entry level positions?

2. What is a typical career path in this business?

1. Provide specific role examples for each track i.e. front desk, food & beverage, housekeeping etc.?

2. If you work your way up via F&B, how does one cross over to path of Rooms Division Director and/or GM on the hotel side or vice versa?

1. What would the time frame look like for each position? (Years of experience)

1. What would the salary range look like in each position on a career ladder?

1. How many different positions would an employee hold before they reached a director/ management level title?

1. How does an individual reach the $50K level?

2. What would you tell someone who is thinking about starting a career in this field?

Finding the Way July 31, 2016 Scott 21

Initial Contact EmailHello _________,

My name is Caity Kilgore and I am a Washington State University Hospitality student. 

I am reaching out to you on behalf of the Washington Lodging and Washington Restaurant Associations.

For the last several months, we have been involved with a group of top hoteliers in Seattle trying to address the employment issue.

We are aware of all of the construction going on in downtown Seattle and understand that the need for hospitality employees will only increase over the next two to four years. We have also noticed the recent Craig’s list ads for hospitality employees exceeds 1,000.

In an effort to help build an employment pipeline, we are creating a lodging career ladder. We have developed it for the foodservice side and with your help today, we can complete our building of the lodging side. In the coming months, we will have a training facility in Seattle for entry level lodging employees….and will ultimately add more levels to the curriculum. The information gathered through speaking to you will enable the associations to create relevant training materials and build additional levels of curriculum.

I am emailing you to schedule a nine question interview which will take approximately 20 to