Application Process

How I found out about the Disney College Program
I've been asked a million times, "How did you hear about this opportunity?" Well, most people say they say signs at their campus and whatnot, but that's not what happened in my case. I knew someone who went to work for disney in the Spring 2010. I had no clue as to how she got the job there, I figured her brother got her a job since he works there. On one of her facebook status updates, she mentioned something about the Disney CP. I had no clue what a CP was, so I googled it like I do for everything I don't know, or that I'm not sure of. The wdwcollegeprogram.com website popped up, so I looked at it. My mind was blown. This was the coolest thing ever. The website asked if I wanted to be put on the e-mailing list since applications for the Spring/Spring Advantage weren't up yet. I added my email adress to it, and got a "thank you for your interest in the WDW CP." This was sometime in July, I never recieved an email when applications were available. Luckily, the girl I knew made another Disney-related status update on September 1st. This reminded me to check to see if the applications were available, and they were!

Filling out the Application/web interview.
After looking up all the info I could find on the DCP, I decided to apply. I thought "What the heck, the worst they can do is say no." On September 1st at around 6 p.m. I applied. There were questions about my previous work experience, my skills, and what roles I would like to work in. After that entire process, I did the web-based interview. It's basically asks you questions and you choose: strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, strongly disagree. This interview is timed though. I cant remember how long you have since it was over 2 months ago since I did the interview. After the web-based interview was over, they told me I was a strong candidate. It's a pass or fail thing, either you're a strong candidate, or you fail, I'm pretty sure there is no in between.  They gave me a number and told me to call and schedule a phone interview. It was too late that night, so I waited until the next morning around 10 a.m. EST to call. The morning of Sept. 2nd I called the number given to me the night before. A young man answered the phone and I told him I was calling to schedule my phone interview.  He was very nice. We went over all of my information to make sure it was correct, then he gave me a time for the interview, and asked if that time was ok for me. It was, so he set me up for that day/time and told me to have a magical day. My phone interview was scheduled for September 3rd at 11 a.m. EST.

Phone interview.
So, my phone interview was scheduled for 11 a.m. I got the phonecall at 11:05. Those were the longest 5 minutes of my life. My interviewer called, her name was Peggy. She was nice, but not very talkative. I've heard that some of the interviewers were overly nice and super talkative. We started my interview, it took 34 minutes.  We went over all my information and made sure everything was correct, then started the interview. I was very very very very.....very nervous. Most of my questions were about merchandise and  QSF&B. My top 3 roles were attractions, merchandise, and character attendant. She asked me how I would handle a situation where I was very busy with customers and another worker asked me for help, how well I could handle money, when had I ever made a guest feel special, how I would handle being a hostess and a few more situational questions. She also asked how I would feel about living with up to 7 other girls from all over the world, how I would handle a situation where my roommate was messy and a couple other living questions. Seeing as how this was over 2 months ago, I honestly can't remember all the questions I was asked. I believe the biggest question of them all was "Why do you want to work at Walt Disney World?" I do believe I nailed this question. I honestly thought I screwed up the interview and didn't do well at all. So I wasn't expecting to hear back from Disney.

Interview Tips.
Smile. They can hear it in your voice.
They know you're nervous. Its ok.
Write down things you want to mention.
Write down answers to potential questions you think they might ask. It helps you to be more prepared.
Try to keep away from saying "ummmm" a lot.
Don't automatically answer questions, take some time to think about them. Don't blurt out the first thing that pops into your head.
If you don't want a role, don't check it on the role checklist. I've known many people to check a lot of things on their role checklist and end up getting a role they didn't want. You can't change your role once you're accepted for it.