Marriott, Anaheim Team Up to Offer Training Program : Employment: The six-week class will lead to jobs for 15 city residents at one of the company’s 18 hotels in county.

The city and the Marriott Corp. are teaming up to offer a training program that will eventually lead to jobs for 15 Anaheim residents at one of the company’s 18 Orange County hotels.

Training will be provided for a variety of positions, including desk and housekeeping supervisors, accountants, desk clerks, computer input operators and maintenance workers, said Roberto Rodriquez, an administrator with Anaheim’s Job Training Program.

Screening will begin in mid-December, and the six-week training class is scheduled to begin in January, Rodriquez said.

To qualify, an applicant must be an Anaheim resident and be unemployed or earning less than the federal poverty level. A single adult with no dependents would have to earn less than $6,620 a year to qualify.

Iris Murray, Marriott’s regional manager for community employment and training, said the company has no shortage of applicants, but its philosophy has always been to hire some disadvantaged workers.

“And a lot of these people rise up through our ranks,” she said. “Myself, I started here seven years ago as a part-time receptionist.”

She said the first two weeks of training are spent reviewing basic job skills.

“You would be surprised how many people don’t understand that they have to be to work on time every day, and if they are sick that they have to call their supervisor,” she said.

Applications can be filed at the city’s job training office, 300 S. Harbor Blvd., Suite 612.

“We are hoping to receive as many applications as possible so that Marriott will have many qualified people to choose from,” Rodriquez said.

According to state officials, 4.9% of Orange County’s residents were unemployed in September, the latest month for which figures are available, and some local firms have received hundreds of applications for even the lowest-paying openings.

Rodriquez said that applicants not selected by Marriott will not be forgotten.

“They will be eligible for our on-the-job training program where we work with local employers who hire and train someone with the understanding this will lead to a permanent job,” Rodriquez said. He said employers are reimbursed by the city through a federal grant for their training costs.

He said about 120 people are in that program now.

For more information about the training programs, call (714) 520-5872.