Be a Better Boss: Restaurant Management Degree Programs

For some people, the appeal of working as a restaurant manager is that you can learn on the job and be promoted. You can, but in today's competitive job market, a restaurant management degree program can make you stand out from the crowd. The more you know about the business, the higher you can go. This is especially true of larger or more expensive restaurants, which can be very complex to manage.

Restaurant Management Available Degrees

Many restaurant management degree programs are available online, which can be a boon to anyone already working in the industry that needs a great deal of flexibility in scheduling classes around a busy work schedule. You can obtain a certificate, associate's degree, or bachelor's degree, with specialties in areas such as:

• Restaurant management
• Hotel, restaurant, and institutional management
• Culinary arts

Typical Coursework for Restaurant Managers

You can rest assured that the majority of your classes for an online degree in restaurant management are directly related to your chosen career, with skills you can use every day on the job such as:

• Marketing
• Customer service
• Critical thinking
• Human resources
• Recruiting

When combined with work experience, the concepts and theory behind the operation of a successful restaurant can become much clearer to you as you see the big picture.

Restaurant Management Career Options

You can work in the restaurant business and be promoted without earning a degree in restaurant management, but degree holders are in greater demand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that many new manager jobs will be at large corporations that tend to require a college degree.
The median annual salary for a restaurant manager in 2007 was $44,570. However, salaries can vary drastically based on education and experience; in 2007, the top 10 percent of restaurant managers had median annual wages of $74,060.
Source:
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Food Service Managers

Andrew Freiburghouse is a writer and businessman. As a partner at Los Angeles tax preparation firm Pronto Income Tax of California, Inc., Andrew learned the fine art of growing a small business into a not-so-small business. Currently, Andrew lives in Brooklyn, NY.