Top grads of College2Career course to be offered jobs

BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Walmart said it is introducing a career program giving young professionals “the opportunity to jump-start their careers by helping run a multi-million-dollar business: one of our Walmart stores.”

The College2Career program will be introduced as a pilot this summer for college students and recent graduates, the retailer said on its website. Walmart associates are also eligible to participate.

The program puts participants through a mix of classroom training, hands-on experience, and one-on-one mentoring with company leaders. The curriculum is intended to steep students in the Walmart way of doing business as they train to be a salaried member of management at a local store, according to the website.

At the end of the program, top performers are offered a job as emerging coach, a newly created management position within the company that carries a starting annual salary of $65,000.

College students will be able to step into the role after they graduate.

“That’s just the beginning,” the company said. “We see the emerging coach role as an additional pipeline to develop high-potential talent into future store managers, the latter role with an average wage of approximately $210,000 in 2021. With College2Career, we are aiming to move emerging coaches to store managers within two years.”