Four Seasons Manager in Training program: how it works and what Four Seasons general managers say about rising there

The Four Seasons Manager in Training program, known inside the company as MIT, is the structured way into Four Seasons for a hospitality graduate: a rotational program in one hotel, built around two operational leadership roles in a chosen division, with a senior mentor, projects and feedback throughout. This page describes the program as Four Seasons presents it and then turns to something the company’s own page cannot offer, which is what two Four Seasons general managers in my books say about the first years and about the company as a place that trains people.

The program, as Four Seasons describes it

Four Seasons calls the MIT program “a vital bridge between the theoretical knowledge gained in hospitality management school and the day-to-day reality of working in a luxury hotel.” Trainees complete “immersive, rotational experiences across two operational leadership roles” in their chosen division, are “paired with a senior leadership mentor,” are “assigned strategic projects,” and receive “ongoing feedback throughout.” The divisions on offer vary by hotel; the alumni the company quotes came through rooms, and the roles they later held include assistant restaurant manager and rooms and residences manager.

Two practical points that the careers page implies rather than states. First, the program is recruited hotel by hotel, not through a single global intake, so the way in is the vacancy listings on the Four Seasons careers site, searching for Manager in Training, and the campus visits and talent community the company runs for students. Second, the program’s length, pay, intake dates and requirements are set by each hotel and change from year to year, so I have left them out; the company’s page and the listing for each hotel carry them.

What Four Seasons general managers say about the first years

Neither of the two Four Seasons general managers in my books came in through a graduate program. Both came in through the kitchen door, which is the pattern across the seventy nine careers in the books, and both say the early humble jobs made the manager.

The late Patrizio Cipollini, who opened Four Seasons Hotel Firenze as its general manager and led it from its opening until his passing, started at fifteen. “My first job was as a dishwasher in Versilia on the Tuscan coast.” He drew a direct line from those jobs to the way he ran a hotel:

“Early on in my career I experienced many humble jobs in hospitality and learned exactly how grueling they could be. This instilled in me the empathy and compassion required to truly acknowledge, appreciate, and respect all staff serving in those positions. In doing the work myself and working my way up, I now know exactly how much time you need to prepare a martini or to clean a pile of dishes, and this insight makes me more aware for when I ask my employees to do something. I believe all managers should expose themselves to as many roles as possible so that they too can support their colleagues in a meaningful and substantive way when needed.” Patrizio Cipollini, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)

That last sentence is the case for a rotational program in one line, from a man who did his rotation the hard way.

Tom Roelens, then general manager of Four Seasons Resort Lanaʻi, started at fourteen: “I started in the kitchen washing dishes, and then served in a more visible role in restaurants as a Commis de Rang.” His first leadership post, after hotel school, was assistant room service manager, and he describes it as the place he learned to build a team from people with nothing in common: “It taught me to truly value diversity and difference, and to play to the strengths of each of my colleagues in order to build a strong team.”

Four Seasons as a training ground

Cipollini was candid about what it means to run a hotel that trains people well. The ones you train leave, and you plan for it.

“Many colleagues who have grown up with me have moved to other Four Seasons hotels and resorts all over the world and have been promoted to very senior positions. It is bittersweet when a staff member decides to move elsewhere to try a new location and experience, but I am very proud of them and am glad that their time with us was valued and recognized as they advanced professionally. We must plan for this eventuality by ensuring we have a strong pipeline of talent ready to be empowered to take on additional responsibilities.” Patrizio Cipollini, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)

For a trainee that passage is the most useful thing on this page. It says that movement between Four Seasons hotels is how careers in the company advance, that a general manager expects to lose good people to it, and that the hotel you join is choosing you partly for what you will become somewhere else.

Roelens describes the other end of the pipeline, the first days of anyone who joins: “All new employees at Four Seasons Resort Lana’i participate in a series of on-boarding and training programs.” It is a two day affair about the company’s goals and beliefs and the culture of the place, followed by close attention once they land in their departments. “When you hire motivated people, you need to train them to perform in an extraordinary way.”

What to take from it

Apply to hotels, not to a brand: the program is recruited property by property, and the general manager and the mentor you get are the program. Expect the first roles to be operational and small, and treat them as Cipollini did, as the years that teach you what you will later ask of others. And read the two men’s full accounts before an interview; each Voices page above carries their complete profile in their own words, including how they lead the hotels you may be applying to. Chapter 2 of The Luxury of Attention, The Apprenticeship, is about exactly these years.