Minor Hotels Ascent Graduate Journey: how it works and what an Anantara general manager says about learning the trade

The Ascent Graduate Journey is Minor Hotels’ structured way in for a new hospitality graduate: an 18 month management trainee programme run from Minor International in Bangkok that rotates you through four departments in two very different resorts, under senior coaches, before a specialization, across the Anantara, Avani, Tivoli, NH Hotels, Oaks and Elewana brands and six regions. This page describes the programme as Minor presents it in its own postings, adds a note on NH Collection, which many European graduates will know better than the parent company, and then turns to what a posting cannot tell you, which is what the general manager of an Anantara resort in my books says about his own first jobs and about learning from the people above you.

The programme, as Minor Hotels describes it

Minor recruits for Ascent through postings rather than a permanent landing page. The one I have drawn on is the Ascent Graduate Journey posting from Minor International in Bangkok, which had expired when I checked it; the structure it describes is the clearest statement of the programme I have found, and the group’s Europe and Americas careers site confirms the same 18 month length and says the programme runs in editions. The posting calls Ascent an “18 months Management Trainee programme” and addresses it to “new hospitality management graduates” who will become “a future leader in our organization.”

The structure runs in two halves. In the first six months the trainee is “rotated in four key departments,” which the posting names as Operations, Finance, HR and Commercial. The second placement is a specialization in the field the trainee chooses. Across the programme Minor promises experience in “at least 2 different types of resorts,” and its benefits list says plainly, “Experience two very different resorts.” The settings it describes are “the blue seas of the Maldives,” “the yellow sands of the Middle East” and “the silver skyscrapers of Asia,” and the regions it lists are Asia Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Europe and the Americas. Development is supported by “Senior coaches supporting your development.” The brands named are Anantara, Avani, Oaks, Elewana, Tivoli and NH Hotels, with Minor International itself.

Who it is for is put as a set of questions. Do you have “a College Degree in Hotel Management or related field? Or do you already have related experience in Hotel Operations?” Do you have “passion for leadership and teamwork,” “an Eye for detail to achieve operational excellence” and “determination to succeed”? The posting lists “flight, work visa, traineeship remuneration among other property specific benefits,” and does not name an exit role beyond the future leader framing. Pay, dates and the current locations are on the live listing when an edition opens and change each time, so I have left them out. One caution on names: Minor also ran an Explorer programme in the Maldives, which trade press described as an apprenticeship for school leavers; it is a different thing from Ascent and not a graduate route.

A note on NH Collection

NH Collection, NH Hotels, nhow and Tivoli in Europe sit inside Minor Hotels Europe & Americas, the group’s European arm, and a graduate in Amsterdam, Berlin or Madrid is more likely to meet the group through an NH Collection hotel than through an Anantara resort. There is no separate NH graduate scheme. The European arm’s Career Starters page lists the Ascent Graduate Programme as its 18 month management route, with mentorship, alumni connections and job placement support, alongside two other early career doors: internships of six months to a year in hotel roles such as Front Office, Housekeeping and Food and Beverage and in central services such as IT, Marketing, Sales and Finance, and multiyear dual apprenticeships that “combine structured theoretical education with hands-on practice.” Listings on that site have included NH Collection hotels in Berlin, Amsterdam, Genoa and Salzburg among others. If Europe is where you want to train, that site is the one to search.

What an Anantara general manager says about learning the trade

No one in my books came through Ascent. But one of the general managers I interviewed was running an Anantara resort when we spoke, and his account of how he learned the trade is the honest companion to a programme built on rotations and coaches. Axel Bethke, then general manager of Qasr Al Sarab Desert Resort by Anantara in Abu Dhabi and now general manager of Kempinski Hotel Das Tirol in Austria, began as an intern waiting tables at a luxury hotel in Hamburg.

“My first job in the hospitality business was an internship as a waiter at a luxury hotel in Hamburg. I learned that while it was important to have the technical skills for the position, it was more important to have the right service attitude towards guests. A smile makes all the difference.” Axel Bethke, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)

His first serious leadership job came at twenty five, as restaurant manager of a Michelin starred restaurant in Germany with fourteen people reporting to him, and what he remembers is the work of knowing them.

“The learning curve was immense, but I realized I had to learn as much as I could about each and every employee. What motivates them? What are their strengths? What are their weaknesses? I needed to understand everyone individually so that I could inspire them, support them, and set them up for success.” Axel Bethke, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)

The part of his account that speaks most directly to the senior coaches in the Ascent posting is his rule about teachers. His aunt, a hotel general manager, taught him about hiring good people, listening and staying humble; a three star Michelin chef taught him quality and how to survive a competitive kitchen; and at forty, when he joined Kempinski in Beijing, the managing director took him under his wing.

“When people with more experience and insight offer to teach you, always say yes, and learn as much as you can.” Axel Bethke, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)

A trainee who is handed a senior coach for 18 months has been offered exactly that. Most do not use it fully.

Anantara as a training ground

Bethke is also clear about how he hired and coached once he was in charge, which tells you what the far end of the programme looks like at an Anantara resort. He involved his existing team in every hire. “The right cultural fit is very important to maintain momentum, keep the team motivated, and continue the success story. In addition to ambition, I look for warm-hearted people with a positive attitude. People without aspiration are usually not a good fit, particularly for leadership positions.” He coached his staff on one skill above the rest.

“Anticipating the needs of guests is the best way to demonstrate excellent service and to make guests feel cared for. Nevertheless, it is difficult to teach anticipation and even more difficult to execute it consistently. Conversation is the best way to understand our guests and their preferences. This is why we emphasize this topic so much when we’re coaching our staff.” Axel Bethke, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)

He names the pressure that makes a programme like Ascent matter to a group of Minor’s size, too: “The number of new luxury hotels in some cities is already surpassing the demand,” he says, and when room rates come under pressure “luxury hotel operators are challenged to decrease expenses to remain profitable.” A group that is opening resorts across six regions needs people who can run them, which is what the posting’s future leader language means in practice.

What to take from it

Search for the live Ascent listing rather than waiting for a landing page, and search both of Minor’s careers sites, since the European arm recruits for the same programme and for NH Collection internships. Treat the first six months across Operations, Finance, HR and Commercial as the chance to learn the parts of a hotel a graduate usually avoids, and choose the specialization after you have seen them, not before. Ask in the interview which two resorts, since the two very different settings are the programme’s distinctive promise. Use the senior coaches the way Bethke used his aunt, his chef and his managing director, and say yes. And read his full account on the Voices page above before you go in. Chapter 2 of The Luxury of Attention, The Apprenticeship, is about exactly these years.