Why I Love My Job is a series of interviews with HBS students and alumni on what drives their satisfaction at work.
Current Position:
Manager - Management Acceleration Program (MAP)
Current Location:
Atlanta - GA
Describe your role at Marriott.
Marriott's Management Acceleration Program (MAP) is designed to bring MBA graduates into hotel management. The 18- to 24-month on-property immersion includes rotations in operations, sales, marketing, revenue management, hotel openings, and more! In my first six months, I have worked as a cook helping to prepare 3,000 meals for families in need during the Annual Atlanta Community Food Bank Big Dish, as a restaurant manager, as a housekeeper, as a server, and have spent time learning Marriott’s sales processes in our Southeast sales office. My next role will be in Human Resources at the 2,882-room Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN. After my rotations, I will be allocated to a hotel. The program’s goal is that I become a hotel General Manager.
What’s your favorite part of working for Marriott?
Marriott is a global company; as of today, we are the largest hotel company in the world, with more than 5,700 properties. I see endless opportunities working for a company with 30 brands and properties in more than 100 countries. Being part of a company with such a global footprint has also afforded me the opportunity to work with a diverse set of colleagues. I truly enjoy learning from other Associates with different backgrounds and from different cultures. Finally, I deeply appreciate Marriott’s emphasis on people. It is inspiring to be part of an organization that will go to great lengths to make sure their own are taken care of.
What attracted you to this opportunity?
Marriott’s MAP program is unique because it has afforded me invaluable on-the-ground management experience and has given me the opportunity to be hands-on with different activities at the hotels. I learn best by doing, thus I believe the experience of being on the properties has no substitute - it will definitely prepare me to be a better hotel General Manager and hotelier in the future.
What is your most memorable moment on the job?
In my first rotation I became very close with the housekeeping staff. They taught me how to clean a room to the Marriott standard and how to make each guest’s stay unique. I am so proud of their hard work and dedication! The overall experience was very rewarding.
It was also very memorable to spend time with the culinary team. I had never spent time in a professional kitchen before, so I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to mingle with the cooks, spend time with the Executive Chef, and slice many pounds of turkey for Thanksgiving!
Last, but not certainly not least, meeting Mr. J.W. Marriott, Jr. is an experience that I will never forget! In our brief discussion, he told me that learning operations from the ground up is invaluable for my development, noting that he started out in the same manner when his parents opened the Hot Shoppes restaurant chain and the first Marriott hotel 60 years ago.
Current Position:
Manager - Management Acceleration Program (MAP)
Current Location:
Atlanta - GA
Describe your role at Marriott.
Marriott's Management Acceleration Program (MAP) is designed to bring MBA graduates into hotel management. The 18- to 24-month on-property immersion includes rotations in operations, sales, marketing, revenue management, hotel openings, and more! In my first six months, I have worked as a cook helping to prepare 3,000 meals for families in need during the Annual Atlanta Community Food Bank Big Dish, as a restaurant manager, as a housekeeper, as a server, and have spent time learning Marriott’s sales processes in our Southeast sales office. My next role will be in Human Resources at the 2,882-room Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, TN. After my rotations, I will be allocated to a hotel. The program’s goal is that I become a hotel General Manager.
What’s your favorite part of working for Marriott?
Marriott is a global company; as of today, we are the largest hotel company in the world, with more than 5,700 properties. I see endless opportunities working for a company with 30 brands and properties in more than 100 countries. Being part of a company with such a global footprint has also afforded me the opportunity to work with a diverse set of colleagues. I truly enjoy learning from other Associates with different backgrounds and from different cultures. Finally, I deeply appreciate Marriott’s emphasis on people. It is inspiring to be part of an organization that will go to great lengths to make sure their own are taken care of.
What attracted you to this opportunity?
Marriott’s MAP program is unique because it has afforded me invaluable on-the-ground management experience and has given me the opportunity to be hands-on with different activities at the hotels. I learn best by doing, thus I believe the experience of being on the properties has no substitute - it will definitely prepare me to be a better hotel General Manager and hotelier in the future.
What is your most memorable moment on the job?
In my first rotation I became very close with the housekeeping staff. They taught me how to clean a room to the Marriott standard and how to make each guest’s stay unique. I am so proud of their hard work and dedication! The overall experience was very rewarding.
It was also very memorable to spend time with the culinary team. I had never spent time in a professional kitchen before, so I greatly enjoyed the opportunity to mingle with the cooks, spend time with the Executive Chef, and slice many pounds of turkey for Thanksgiving!
Last, but not certainly not least, meeting Mr. J.W. Marriott, Jr. is an experience that I will never forget! In our brief discussion, he told me that learning operations from the ground up is invaluable for my development, noting that he started out in the same manner when his parents opened the Hot Shoppes restaurant chain and the first Marriott hotel 60 years ago.
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