Research Paper Write Up (Autosaved)

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 Summary
For 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

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.
Introduction
The 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

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 Review
The 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

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.
Methods
Interviewees 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

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.
Results
The 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

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.

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
41, 25%
32, 20%
28, 17%
19, 12%
17, 11%
12, 7%
6, 4%
4, 3% 2, 1%
Common Entry Points
Front Desk Room Attendant
Server/ Bartender Dishwasher/ Prep Cook
Laundry Bellman/ Valet
Sales and Marketing Finance and Accounting
Maintenance and Engineering
Figure 2
Figure 3

departments followed by a 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
Supervisor,
25, 42%
Entry, 13,
22%
Assistant
Manager,
10, 17%
Manager,
10, 17%
1, 2% Director
or Higher
Best Level to Crossover
Figure 4

ground between two extremes. Refer to Figure 4: Best Level to Crossover for full listings.
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
$-
$10.00
$20.00
$30.00
$40.00
$50.00
$60.00
Entry Supervior
Hourly Compensation Compared
Minimum Average
Maximum Linear (Average )
Figure 5

have assistant managers. Smaller properties also lack the complexity needed to rationalize
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.
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 two
management
positions, and
usually just one
upper management
position. Refer to
Figure 8 for more
information.
Gaining department
Figure 7
Figure 8

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
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.
Findings
Recommended 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
“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
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.
Conclusion
Over 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
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 Research
Interviewing 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,
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.

References
Kokemuller, 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

Appendices
Interview Questions in Order Asked
2. 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?

Initial ContactEmail
Hello _________,
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 30 minutes
depending on the depth of your answers.
I am available by phone at the following times:
_______________
_______________
_______________
If this week does not work for you, please let me know and we can discuss future availability.
Thank you for assisting us – and if you have any further questions about the project, please contact Teran
(info is below).
Caity Kilgore
Hospitality Business Management Major
Washington State University NPS
t 425.344.6446
Teran Petrina
Vice President & COO
Washington Restaurant Association | Washington Lodging Association
t 360.956.7279 | f 360.357.9232
510 Plum Street SE, Suite 200
Olympia, WA 98501-1587
www.warestaurant.org | www.walodging.org

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