Judging from what I've read online, there's a range of ways people can become imams. It varies from place to place, and so on. This makes it hard to envisage the underlying general process of becoming an imam, i.e., what ordinarily happens, and what are the key steps. I'm aiming to get a better mental picture of the process. I don't have in mind anything glamorous, just an imam at a small, local mosque.

Question: What is the basic process of becoming an imam (prayer leader) at a local mosque?

This seems to be referred to as imam khatib in Sunni Islam.

A Reddit user writes:

The process to become a qualified imam is relatively similar to becoming a priest. One has to go through years of training in traditional Islamic sciences. Arabic first, then study of fiqh (jurisprudence), 'aqidah (creed/belief), Quranic studies, Hadith studies, spirituality, etc. You have to study Arabic first because all the other subjects are taught through books in Arabic, and Islam was originally revealed and recorded in Arabic.

But that's just some user on Reddit, so it's not reliable.