8 Companies With Rotational Programs

Rotational programs let early career professionals and recent graduates experience multiple job assignments and business departments.

Written by Rose Velazquez
A rotational program participant and colleague sit next to each other going through a notepad.
Photo: Shutterstock
UPDATED BY
Rose Velazquez | Aug 12, 2024

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

  • H-E-B
  • Allstate
  • Caterpillar
  • Cigna
  • Mastercard
  • Lockheed Martin

 

Companies With Rotational Programs

Caterpillar manufactures construction equipment. The company’s engineering rotational development program has 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.

 

H-E-B is a chain of hundreds of grocery stores serving communities across Texas. The company has multiple career opportunities for recent university graduates, including the School of Retail Leadership, a rotational program that prepares participants for the role of assistant store director.

 

Cigna provides health insurance plans for individuals and employers. It 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. Participants get to work on projects like evaluating the effectiveness of clinical programs and optimizing business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing strategies.

 

General Motors designs, develops, manufactures and markets vehicles and automotive parts, and offers vehicle financing through its own financial subsidiary company. 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.  

 

Lockheed Martin focuses on research, design and manufacturing in the aerospace, defense, cybersecurity and space realms. Its leadership development programs for communications, engineering, finance, human resources, operations and security allows participants to advance their career through rotational assignments. The programs involve online and classroom learning and provide tuition assistance to support participants’ education.

 

Mastercard provides financial services and technology solutions to businesses and individuals. Mastercard’s Management Associate Program lasts 18 months, with participants rotating through six-month assignments in three different business units. It’s designed to help people with an MBA degree cultivate their management skills while tackling business challenges.

 

Grainger distributes products for industrial maintenance, repair and operations to over 4.5 million customers around the world. Its rotational programs and entry-level jobs for recent grads run the gamut from finance and sales to supply chain and technology. 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. 

 

Insurance provider Allstate offers rotational development programs focused on preparing young professionals for careers in technology, finance and data and analytics. Each program lasts one to two years and lets participants spend time learning about and gaining practical experience in different areas of their desired career track. For example, the data analyst rotational program includes opportunities to serve as a data scientist, data analytic engineer and business analytic consultant.

 

Margo Steines contributed reporting to this story.

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