Rotational programs allow early career professionals and recent graduates to cultivate skills and experience. These programs often last upwards of a year because participants rotate through multiple job assignments and departments while working for a single company. By doing so, these early career professionals develop a thorough understanding of business functions and job responsibilities relevant to their career track. Companies offer rotational programs for all kinds of career areas, from engineering to marketing. These six companies with rotational programs are working to pave the way for career advancement.
Companies With Rotational Programs
- Amazon
- Mastercard
- General Motors
- Caterpillar
- Cigna
Companies With Rotational Programs
What New York Life Insurance Company Does:
New York Life Insurance Company was founded in 1845 and has since become the largest mutual insurer in the United States.
New York Life Insurance Company’s Rotational Program:
New York Life Insurance Company’s actuarial trainee rotational program is designed to place early-career professionals in a variety of assignments that span different business areas, products and functions. The program is supported by structured staff meetings, exam preparation workshops, formal training seminars and dedicated mentoring.
Impact of New York Life Insurance Company’s Rotational Program:
Throughout New York Life Insurance Company’s trainee rotational program, participants collaborate with experienced actuarial leaders and executives, developing both technical and business acumen.
What Cargill Does:
Cargill is a food, agriculture and industrial solutions company working to support supply chains all over the world.
Cargill’s Rotational Program:
Cargill has a number of rotational programs for candidates interested in logistics, business management and engineering. These programs vary in length from six months to two years, and provide participants with hands-on experience working across diverse specialties.
Impact of Cargill’s Rotational Program:
Completing Cargill’s rotation programs help participants advance their career through hands-on experience, mentorship and cross-functional experience, and can to lead roles like associate software engineering at Cargill.
What Cox Enterprises Does:
Cox Enterprises is the global parent company for Cox Automotive, Cox Media Group and Cox Communications, along with new ventures in cleantech and agriculture.
Cox Enterprises’ Rotational Program:
Cox’s LEAD program helps candidates develop leadership skills by connecting with leaders from the organizations across multiple industries, who provide coaching and mentorship.
Impact of Cox Enterprises’ Rotational Program:
The LEAD program is a full-time, paid rotational leadership development program that provides opportunities for rapid career growth to early-career talent.
What General Motors Does:
General Motors designs, develops, manufactures and markets vehicles and automotive parts, and offers vehicle financing through its own financial subsidiary company.
General Motors’ Rotational Program:
GM’s onboarding program for new hires includes the TRACK program, which places recruits provisionally in multiple roles across the company, exposing them to a 360-degree view of operations and allowing them to find their niche.
Impact of General Motors’ Rotational Program:
General Motors’ TRACK program exposes individuals to the company’s various operations and helps identify future leaders.
What Google Does:
Google is one of the largest technology companies in the world. It is known for developing search engines and AI platforms, among other software products.
Google’s Rotational Program:
Google’s associate product manager program (APM) was launched in 2002 and is open to new or recent graduates with a background in computer science or related areas. The program places between 40 and 50 participants in a year-and-a-half-long placement, where they work alongside a full-time product manager.
Impact of Google’s Rotational Program:
Google’s associate product manager program was designed by the company’s first-ever product manager, Marissa Mayer, and aims to train individuals with interests in engineering to transition into product management.
What Allstate Does:
Allstate is one of the largest insurance companies in the United States, providing personal property and casualty coverage for vehicles, homes and rentals, as well as life insurance.
Allstate’s Rotational Program:
Allstate offers rotational development programs that last one to two years, allowing participants to spend time learning about and gaining practical experience in different areas of their desired career track.
Impact of Allstate’s Rotational Program:
Allstate’s Rotational Program is focused on preparing young professionals for careers in technology, finance and data and analytics. They act as a bridge between academic learning to real world experience.
What Caterpillar Does:
Caterpillar manufactures construction and mining machinery, including autonomous mining trucks.
Caterpillar’s Rotational Program:
Caterpillar’s professional development programs have three tracks: product development, metallurgical engineering and welding engineering. Rotational assignments vary in length, with some participants spending 18 months in product engineering and then another 18 months in process engineering, while others go through three one-year assignments. Caterpillar is looking for applicants who have at least a bachelor’s or master’s degree in a relevant engineering field, along with a minimum 3.0 GPA.
Impact of Caterpillar’s Rotational Program:
Caterpillar’s professional development programs are designed to provide recent college graduates with broad exposure to different roles, enabling individuals to pick up new skills and network mentors and industry leaders.
What Lockheed Martin Does:
Lockheed Martin focuses on research, design and manufacturing in the aerospace, defense, cybersecurity and space industries. It often works with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and other agencies like NASA.
Lockheed Martin’s Rotational Program:
Lockheed Martin’s leadership development programs are for staff in communications, engineering, finance, human resources, operations and security. The programs involve online and classroom learning, and provide tuition assistance to support participants’ education.
Impact of Lockheed Martin’s Rotational Program:
Lockheed Martin’s rotational program allows participants to gain experience and skills to advance their career through assignments that involve exposure to various technical and leadership roles.
What H-E-B Does:
H-E-B operates hundreds of grocery stores across Texas.
H-E-B’s Rotational Program:
H-E-B has multiple career opportunities for recent university graduates, including the School of Retail Leadership.
Impact of H-E-B’s Rotational Program:
H-E-B’s School of Retail Leadership program helps prepare participants for the role of assistant store director.
What Meta Does:
Meta is the technology company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatApp. The company also ventured into AI development through its Meta Superintelligence Labs.
Meta’s Rotational Program:
Meta provides rotational programs for candidates interested in product management and network engineering. Its programs are designed for recent graduates with less than a year of experience in product management or network engineering, and place them within different Meta teams for 18 weeks.
Impact of Meta’s Rotational Program:
Meta’s rotational programs place candidates with three different teams within the company, where they contribute to active projects. The programs aim to help recent graduates advance their careers by providing hands-on experience.
What Grainger Does:
Grainger distributes products for industrial maintenance, repair and operations to over 4.5 million customers around the world.
Grainger Rotational Program:
Grainger’s rotational programs and entry-level jobs for recent grads run the gamut from finance and sales to supply chain and technology.
Impact of Grainger’s Rotational Program:
This program allows early career team members to find their special talents and experience the day-to-day operations of a given department before making a career commitment.
What Lowe’s Does:
Lowe’s is one of the largest home-improvement retailers in the world. In addition to its thousands of brick-and-mortar stores, it has a broad digital footprint, with a range of associate roles in areas including AI engineering, back-end development and front-end design.
Lowe’s’ Rotational Program:
Lowe’s’ Tech Launchpad is a program with two rotations over 12 months. It helps college students and recent graduates of college or technical training programs gain hands-on experience and pursue professional development.
Impact of Lowe’s’ Rotational Program:
When participants complete the Tech Launchpad program, they are matched with a tech team at Lowe’s that best suits their interests and business needs.
What Cigna Does:
Cigna provides health insurance plans for individuals and employers.
Cigna’s Rotational Program:
Cigna offers rotational programs for outgoing undergraduate students as well as graduate and MBA students. These programs cover a variety of areas, including marketing, operations, provider engagement, managed care and finance.
Impact of Cigna’s Rotational Program:
Participants get to work on projects like evaluating the effectiveness of clinical programs and optimizing business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) marketing strategies, and can help employees advance their careers within the company.
What Amazon Does:
Amazon operates the largest e-commerce platform in the world, and provides internet infrastructure through its AWS division.
Amazon’s Rotational Program:
The Amazon Pathways program is a three-year career accelerator and leadership program designed for candidates pursuing MBA degrees. The program is split into three phases, with candidates first gaining experience by completing complex projects before moving into a management role and eventually into senior management.
Impact of Amazon’s Rotational Program:
Amazon Pathways provides candidates with hands-on experiences in different roles and business sectors to prepare them for management roles.
What Mastercard Does:
Mastercard provides financial services and technology solutions to businesses and individuals like payment processing and fraud prevention.
Mastercard’s Rotational Program:
Mastercard’s Management Associate Program lasts 18 months, with participants rotating through six-month assignments in three different business units.
Impact of Mastercard’s Rotational Program:
Mastercard’s Management Associate Program is designed to help people with an MBA degree cultivate their management skills while tackling business challenges.
What United Airlines Does:
United Airlines is an American airline operating over 4,600 flights a day globally.
United Airlines’ Rotational Program:
United Airlines’ two-year Innovate program helps individuals advance their careers within the company or transition into tech roles.
Impact of United Airlines’ Rotational Program:
The Innovate program helps individuals transition to tech careers by exposing candidates to different business areas, providing hands-on experience and earning required certifications for their target role.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a rotational program?
A rotational program allows early-career professionals to work in multiple roles or departments within a company over a set period of time, helping them gain a broad understanding of business functions and develop new skills.
What is the benefit of participating in a rotational program?
Participants can gain hands-on experience in multiple departments, develop new skills, build professional networks and gain a deeper understanding of how a company operates.
Do rotational programs help with career advancement?
Yes. Many programs are designed to prepare participants for leadership or management roles by exposing them to different teams, business challenges and operational functions.
