With Hawai'i's visitor industry continuing to grow, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawai'i has expanded its management trainee program to most of its hotels.

The program, which recruits soon-to-be college graduates for six months of paid management training, was offered primarily at hotels in Waikiki but has been expanded this year in part to fill demands on the Neighbor Islands, said Tammy Maeda, regional communications manager for Starwood in Hawai'i.

"The push is to fill our pipeline with good talent that's going to continue on with us to higher levels and also to support our local universities," Maeda said, adding that Starwood is also recruiting candidates at select Mainland universities.

One of the focuses of the program is to promote Hawai'i-based students while bringing back students who have moved to the Mainland, said Keith Vieira, senior vice president and director of operations for Starwood Hotels & Resorts Hawai'i and French Polynesia. Starwood also said the program has found success with candidates who are not originally from Hawai'i.

Starwood is picking undergraduate students in their last semester of college to undergo training in hotel operations upon graduation at 10 of its 13 Hawai'i properties. The program, which leads to a permanent, entry-level management position, involves training in different departments of the hotel followed by focusing on an area the trainee is interested in.

Others in the hotel industry, such as the Hilton Hawaiian Village and Marriott International, been have also offering college graduates management trainee positions, said Kawehi Sellers, internship and career placement coordinator for the University of Hawai'i School of Travel Industry Management.

"I can't even begin to tell you how excited I get when a student is offered a management trainee position," Sellers said. "It is the foot in the door that leads them to so many opportunities."

While management trainee programs aren't necessarily new, they can be particularly valuable to hotels now with the booming tourism industry and low unemployment.

"I think with the unemployment rate, and the state of our economy, they need to get creative because they may not find someone with two, three years' experience," Sellers said. "So they're getting creative in formulating their jobs, like the management trainee program, where the qualifications are less but the energy, the enthusiasm is there. And the successful candidate can grow in a six-month program."

Reach Lynda Arakawa at larakawa@honoluluadvertiser.com.