The Rosewood Management Trainee Program is Rosewood Hotel Group’s structured way in for a recent graduate: an accelerated learning journey inside one Rosewood property that combines on the job training with exposure to the group’s senior leaders, workshops and self paced learning, and is offered by department. This page describes the program as Rosewood presents it in its own listings and then turns to what the careers site cannot tell you, which is what a Rosewood managing director in my books says about his first day, his own corporate training and how he develops the people who work for him.
The program, as Rosewood describes it
Rosewood has no single landing page for the program. It recruits through individual listings on the Rosewood Hotel Group careers site, one per hotel and department; the Rooms listing at Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas is the one I have drawn on. It describes the program as “accelerated,” a learning journey at a Rosewood property that mixes training on the job with exposure to corporate senior leaders, workshops and self paced study, and presents it as “a tailored learning experience for you to craft your own career journey.” The stated purpose is plain: the trainees are “becoming future leaders of Rosewood Hotel Group.”
The tracks follow the departments that post listings. Rooms, Food and Beverage, Spa and Wellness, and Talent and Culture have all appeared, from hotels in London, Madrid, Dallas, Doha and Hong Kong among others. The listing does not describe a formal mentoring scheme or set projects; the exposure to senior leaders is the closest thing the company names.
Who it is for is spelled out. Rosewood wants “aspiring talent with a passion to build a career in the luxury lifestyle sector,” and the Dallas listing asks for a “recent graduate of bachelor’s degree or above with top academic results,” with “less than 2 years of post-graduate work experience,” “at least two internships” or one longer internship, and “exceptional communication skills in written and spoken English.” You apply to the listing itself; there is no separate program application. The program’s length, pay, start dates and the exact requirements vary by hotel and change from year to year, so I have left them out; each listing carries them.
What a Rosewood managing director says about the first years
One person in my books was running Rosewood hotels when I interviewed him. Marc C. Brugger, then managing director of Rosewood Hong Kong and Rosewood Beijing, is a graduate of the Ecole Hoteliere de Lausanne, came through a corporate training program himself and runs the kind of hotel that takes trainees in. His first job was as a waiter on the terrace of the Royal Savoy Hotel in Lausanne, and his first day went badly.
“It was my first day and I had just bought brand new shoes with leather soles for the occasion. Inevitably, I slipped with two plates in my hand. The first dish ended up exactly as plated, but on the tablecloth without a plate. The second plate, with fresh tomato sauce, ended up on the immaculate white dress of a guest. This was not a great first day, but I did learn three things: never underestimate seemingly easy tasks; stay humble; and don’t wear new shoes on your first day.” Marc C. Brugger, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)
His first management role came straight out of his corporate training, in a fine dining restaurant in a hotel in Cancun. The restaurant had lost a long serving manager, the replacement had failed to win the floor, and the staff who had opened the restaurant made their own choice.
“Having earned the trust and respect of the team in just a few short weeks during my corporate training, it was the wait staff who suggested to the general manager that I be hired for the role. It’s not every day that the very team you are meant to lead is the one that wants you in charge. As a newcomer to a deeply-knowledgeable team, I realized that regardless of your position, you very often learn more from your colleagues than they do from you.” Marc C. Brugger, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)
For a trainee that is the whole program in one story. The rotation puts you beside people who have done the job for years; what they decide about you in the first weeks is what you leave with.
Rosewood as a training ground
Brugger is also clear about how he develops people once they are in, which tells you what the far end of the program looks like. “One of the most important aspects of leadership is how you invest in and continually develop the skills of your team,” he says, and he treats it as a bespoke process.
“For some, they may benefit from exposure to another hotel. Others may require more one-on-one executive coaching sessions. Others still may benefit from online courses or attending specific seminars or conferences. A tailored path to individual development is good for the team member and the company.” Marc C. Brugger, in A Wealth of Insight (2017)
He also names the pressure that makes a program like this matter to the company. “In very dynamic and booming markets like Beijing or Hong Kong, it is difficult to compete with the sheer number of opportunities available to join the industry. Attracting, selecting, retaining, and developing the right associates to continually reinforce the culture of the company and hotel is therefore an industry-wide challenge.” A trainee program is one of the group’s answers to that, which is why the listing talks about future leaders.
What to take from it
Apply to a hotel and a department, since that is how Rosewood recruits. Treat the first weeks as Brugger’s Cancun weeks: the people you work beside are the ones who will decide whether you are ready to lead them. Expect your development after the program to be tailored to you, and ask in the interview what that looks like at that hotel. 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.
Questions people also ask
What is the Rosewood Management Trainee Program?
Rosewood Hotel Group’s entry route for recent graduates: an accelerated learning journey run inside a single Rosewood property, combining on the job training with exposure to the group’s senior leaders, workshops and self paced learning. Rosewood describes it as a tailored learning experience whose purpose is to develop the future leaders of Rosewood Hotel Group.
How do you apply to the Rosewood Management Trainee Program?
Through the Rosewood Hotel Group careers site. There is no single program landing page or global intake; each hotel posts its own Management Trainee listing by department, so the way in is to search the careers site for Management Trainee and apply to the properties and departments that are hiring. Recent listings have covered hotels in London, Madrid, Dallas, Doha and Hong Kong.
Which track should you choose in the Rosewood Management Trainee Program?
Listings are posted by department, with Rooms, Food and Beverage, Spa and Wellness, and Talent and Culture among the tracks on offer. The Rosewood managing director in my books came up through restaurants, and his first management role came because the waiters he had trained alongside asked for him; whichever track you choose, the people around you in the first weeks will decide more than the title does.
Does the Rosewood Management Trainee Program lead to general manager?
It leads to a first management role at a Rosewood property; the years after that are the career. Marc C. Brugger, then managing director of Rosewood Hong Kong and Rosewood Beijing, started as a waiter in Lausanne and came through a corporate training program himself. He says development after that is a bespoke process, with exposure to another hotel, coaching, courses or conferences chosen for each person.