Being an outsider is hard.

        You cannot get a job as a general manager, the thinking goes, unless you stay with a company for a number of years and get promoted. It’s difficult to join a restaurant company as a GM, even if you worked as a GM somewhere else in the past.

        That may be true, industry experts say, but don’t be discouraged. Some people do get hired as GMs.

        “It does happen, and it can happen, but be open to the opportunities being presented,” says Karean Wrightson, director of employment for the 75-location Black Angus Steakhouse, which is based in Los Altos, California. “Anybody who has been a general manager knows if you’ve got skills you will be able to prove yourself again.”

        She says even if you worked as a GM somewhere, chances are another company will not hire you to start right away as a GM.

        “Usually you’re hired at a more entry-level position such as an assistant manager, so you have the opportunity to learn the culture, which is a really important piece for many companies,” she says. “You also learn the system, how the operation works, and prove your ability to understand and execute.”

        There’s no specific timeline, she says. Some people learn the processes and get used to the culture right away, and others take a while. It depends on the individual.

        If you apply for a GM job, Wrightson says it helps if you have experience in the same concept. It’s easier for a fine-dining GM to move to another fine-dining restaurant than for a fast-food GM to do so.

        “People that have management experience with similar concepts and similar volumes, that’s what we look for,” she says.

        Her advice: When you interview, don’t pretend to have knowledge of the company if you don’t.

        “I’ve had people say, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve been to your location,’” Wrightson says. ‘“I was just there with my family, we ate this,’ and then they name three items we have never had on the menu. Be honest. If you try to fake it, it leaves a less favorable impression.”

        John Pickerel, co-owner of the seven-restaurant Buckhorn Restaurant Group in Winters, Calif., says it is possible to move from one management job to one in another company. He agrees that it’s important to do some research before you apply
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       “I rarely see applicants take time to research the place they are applying for,” he says. “I’m actually more shocked than amazed given the portion of their life they will devote to the job.”

               

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