Last week for the fourth consecutive year, 5,000 high school and community college students will experience various hospitality careers at more than 300 Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE:MAR) hotels nationwide as part of Groundhog Job Shadow Day.

The day’s activities will be headlined by J.W. “Bill” Marriott, Jr., Marriott’s chairman and chief executive officer, who will lead the “Daily Basic” Stand-Up Meeting with employees at the Bethesda Marriott Suites hotel in Maryland. These 15-minute training sessions are held every day during each shift throughout the Marriott Hotels, Resorts and Suites brand, reinforcing one of 20 customer service and employee-oriented principles. Four local high school students, who entered and won an “If I Were a Marriott Business Traveler” essay contest, will also participate in the meeting.

Local students will also tour the hotel and participate in workshops to learn about the broad array of career opportunities at Marriott. In the afternoon, they’ll learn about the hospitality business from senior executive “mentors” at Marriott Headquarters.

“Groundhog Job Shadow Day helps students open their minds to career opportunities in the hospitality industry,” says Mr. Marriott. “By shadowing our experienced associates, students are introduced to a range of positions, from chef, director of sales or general manager at a hotel to corporate positions such as hotel finance, development and interior design.”

A study by Kravis Leadership Institute in Southern California shows that students who job shadow are more likely to finish high school and obtain a four-year degree. Marriott’s National Groundhog Job Shadow Day initiative, part of Marriott’s support of America’s Promise—The Alliance For Youth, will introduce 25,000 students to the lodging industry over five years through job shadow, internships and other youth career development programs.

To further support this initiative, Marriott has established partnerships with the National Academy Foundation, Junior Achievement and Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA). These partnerships facilitate Marriott’s involvement in helping develop young people for careers in the hospitality industry.

Marriott has been widely recognized by industry leaders and consistently appears on listings of outstanding places to work, including Fortune’s “100 Best Companies to Work For,” Washingtonian’s “Great Places to Work” and Working Mother’s best companies for working mothers. Marriott is also a recipient of the 2002 Catalyst Award for its demonstrated success in advancing women’s leadership in the workplace.

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