For those of you who may be applying in the future (oooh, the future! Hello out there! Greetings, Earthlings, from 2012! okay I'll stop), I wanted to make a purely informational post about the application process and what to expect. Because I was looking for one myself.
As far as I have read/heard from alumni, the application process has changed recently, and changed even more so this semester. So it might change before Spring 2013 apps even go live, which would make this entire post completely irrelevant, but so be it.
INITIAL APPLICATION:
Fall 2012 applications went up at midnight ET on Monday, January 23. All applications are done online, because, after all, this is the 21st century. The website was crashing and bugging out that entire first day, but that is to be expected when 8,000 Disney nuts are all scrambling to apply at once. You don't have to apply the first day applications drop, but most people like to, just to be ahead of the game.
I started my application at around 12:05, and finished at around 1:05... it shouldn't take you that long, but I went over everything with a fine toothed comb to check for mistakes. And it's easy to make mistakes. A lot of people do, and some people are immediately rejected because of it. Disney has no mercy.
The first phase of the online app is entering all of your demographic information: name, birthdate, SSN, address, whether you're enrolled at an accredited institution* (THIS IS A BIGGIE!), whether you are over the age of 18* (ANOTHER BIG ONE!), what you're studying, etc. It's all pretty self explanatory. It then moves into your work history and tells you to put everything including paid jobs, internships, and volunteer work. I took this to mean extracurricular activities as well, so I listed the relevent stuff. It only gives you space for six jobs, so choose wisely. You'll need to know start dates and end dates, employer names, employer locations, and job titles. There is no job description. If you forget anything or want to put more in but can't fit it, there is a place to upload your resume, but I'll get to that later.
After this, you're taken to more yes or no questions, mostly about whether you're receptive to the pay and whether or not you would submit to a background check if hired. These are also BIG DEALS. For all of these important questions, there are drop-down menus. It is easy to accidental scroll within these drop down boxes if they're still highlighted and you're moving on down the page. It is really, really easy not to notice. a simple twitch of the finger can change the tone of your application from, "I'm a happy-go-lucky college student who has big dreams of working for The Mouse" to "I'm an evil, vicious sex offender with something to hide." So CHECK YOURSELF (before you wreck yourself).
If you answer something wrong (either by accident or... well, not) and you don't meet the qualifications, they'll send you an e-mail essentially saying, "You're not Disney material. Have a nice day." If you do meet the qualifications, they'll send you a confirmation e-mail to ensure that the application is submitted. In the beginning, these were coming within 20 minutes of submitting your app. Now, I'm hearing they're coming almost instantaneously. I guess it depends on the servers and when you apply. At this point, they'll invite you to log into your dashboard. NOTE: The WBI is not offered immediately after the initial application anymore.
DASHBOARD:
Disneycollegeprogram.com. Upper left hand corner. There's a little silver speedometer icon. Click it. Log in with the username and password you've registered your application with, and you'll have access to your dashboard. Disney will use this page to communicate with you. It'll list all the e-mail notifications you have received, and all of the invitations you have (for your WBI and your phone interview, eventually). Once you schedule your phone interview, the appointment will show up in your Registered/Upcoming events module. It's pretty easy to figure out.
There is a place to upload your resume if you feel you haven't given enough information. I don't know if recruiters actually look at anything that is uploaded, but it's worth a shot. In the top left hand corner of your dashboard there will be a link that reads: Resume (1). Click it. It will give you the opportunity to upload a .doc or .pdf file and title it. The document that is already there is just stuff taken from your application. Once it is uploaded, the link on your dashboard should read: Resume (2).
The dashboard will also give you your application status. The general course that I have seen thus far for application statuses is Applied --> Pending Review --> In Progress. If someone at recruiting needs to make a change on your account, your status will be Action Needed.
*DO NOT look at your dashboard in Firefox if you're expecting to check your application status. I checked in Firefox at work the morning after I submitted my application and I had no status at all, where everyone else had Pending Review. I panicked and thought Disney was shunning me. By the time I was able to check my dash on Internet Explorer, I was already In Progress.
E-MAIL WAITING GAME:
So after you've submitted your initial application and have gotten your confirmation e-mail, you have to sit and wait some more. The e-mail with the invitation for your Web-Based Interview will be in your inbox shortly. If you successfully applied in the first round, you're automatically going to round two. If you've taken the WBI and passed it in the past six months or if you are a current Disney cast member, you do not have to take the WBI... you will move straight onto the phone interview. If you failed the WBI within the past six months, you'll have to wait six months to take it again. But Disney will notify you of your status in an e-mail. Just sit tight and wait for it, because it's coming.
WEB-BASED INTERVIEW:
If your e-mail invites you to take the WBI, WOOHOO! You've made it to round two! I, personally, was absolutely petrified about the WBI... I failed a similar test over the summer, and I like to think I'm a fairly intelligent person with a decent amount of common sense. I realized during the Disney WBI what I did wrong. Now, take heed that these are not official answers. I did not best the WBI in a battle of wits. But there are two things I did that I think helped me tremendously in passing.
1) Be consistant. Everyone was telling me this from the get go, and I didn't realize, truly, what that meant until I entered into the test. There are three parts to the WBI, the first will ask you generic questions about yourself, and then it will gradually move into the second part: asking you work-related questions (do you work better in groups or individually, do you work better as part of a team, etc.). In part three, they'll give you a bunch of statements and ask you to which level you agree with them. They'll ask you the same question in part three in different ways, so it's important that you stay consistant within those, BUT -- and this is something no one told me about ahead of time -- they will ask you questions that refer back to the questions in part one and two. Sometimes, they'll be worded in such a way that you won't even notice. But most of them -- if not all of them -- are throwbacks to the first parts of the interview. MAKE SURE YOU ANSWER CONSISTANTLY! Remember what you put down. The easiest way to do this is to be honest. Answer what you truly feel about yourself. Remember, that Disney is looking for Disney-level employees who have Disney-like qualities. Those are commitment to guest service, working well in teams, adaptable and flexible with their work schedule, calm and collected and cheery, and dependable. If you're not these things, maybe it's not the best decision to apply. If you're gonna apply anyway, make sure you answer in this direction. Which brings me to...
2) Answer strongly! This may very well be a myth, but it makes sense to me. Disney wants people who are sure of themselves in all situations and confident in their attributes. For the agreement survey, you will get five options. (1) Strongly Disagree, (2) Disagree, (3) Neutral, (4) Agree, (5) Strongly Agree. Notice that it doesn't say, "I agree always, all the time, no matter what." STRONGLY is not an absolute answer. So if the question is "I am almost always on time," but you were late to class a few times last semester and whenever you're going to a party you know not to arrive at exactly 10:00 and your friends can wait for you at Starbucks while you finish straightening your hair, but you would NEVER be late to work... especially if you're working for Disney and lateness is grounds for termination... answer (5). Because in a working situation, you are almost always on time. You are not ABSOLUTELY ON TIME DOWN TO THE MILISECOND ON THE ATOMIC CLOCK FOREVER AND EVER, but you strongly agree that you are almost always on time. And that's fine. It's not a lie. It's not sugarcoating it. You can throw in a few neutrals and agrees/disagrees if need be, but stick to the strong answers. It shows that you're confident.
But still -- and I'm repeating myself but it's my blog so I don't care -- make sure your agreement survey answers correspond adequately to your answers on part one and two. If you got the question about dependability on part two, and you answered "I'm about as dependable as most people" instead of "I'm the most dependable person I know," Don't answer the "I'm the most dependable person I know" on the agreement survey with a (5)... because then you would just be lying. You just told them that you weren't. That said, you should always be the most dependable person you know. If you can't depend on yourself, who can?
The agreement survey portion is timed. I think you have about 20 seconds for each question, which is a little quick, but plenty of time once you get used to it. Try not to let the questions time out, but if you do, don't panic. I let one time out and I passed two questions later.
Anyway, all in all, be true to yourself, be honest, and be smart. This relys very heavily on common sense. Don't rush... read carefully. If you did well on the reading comp section of your SATs, you should be golden. If not, take some practice tests.
MORE WAITING:
If you pass the WBI, a nice little congratulations screen will pop up, and it will tell you to sit tight while you wait for yet another e-mail that will invite you to schedule your phone interview. They say it'll be within 24 hours, but I never heard of anyone getting one in more than 20 minutes. Once you get that e-mail, it will take you to the portal -- connected to your dashboard -- where you can set up your phone interview.
SCHEDULING YOUR PHONE INTERVIEW:
Yay! You made it this far! One more step to go. Scheduling your phone interview is pretty self-explanatory. You do it online. (I know in the past, you made a call, but now everything is online so... yeah.) You'll be able to choose whatever time you want your interview to be from 8 a.m. to... I think 11 p.m. ET. Enter your primary and secondary phone numbers... and make sure that you'll have access to both phones at the time of the interview, because they'll call either one at random. Click submit and you're done. The interview will show up on your dashboard as an appointment, and you'll get a confirmation e-mail about twenty minutes after you've scheduled.
If you have a problem -- it says the interview spot is full or the website freaks out on you -- just call Disney college recruiting and they'll be able to help.
PHONE INTERVIEW:
First things first. Breathe. Don't panic. It will all be okay. You WILL survive it, I promise. Remember that the interviewers are Disney CMs who are trained to make you feel good and calm and respond positively to any answer you give (unless you have a dud recruiter, and there are a few of them).
They could call fifteen minutes early, they could call a half hour late. Most likely, they'll call late. If it's over 30 minutes and you're still waiting, give DCP recruiting a call and let them know. Again, make sure you have both listed lines available to you, as they could call either one... they won't necessarily stick to your primary number.
Sit in a quiet room, free of distractions. Make yourself a cup of tea or something to calm your nerves, and have a cheat sheet in front of you with your answers to some of the most popular questions. Don't read off the answers unless you're a fabulous actor who is incredible at reading a script... but you can totally use it to get an idea of what you want to say. You probably won't even have to use it, but for me, it was comforting to have.
Smile as you talk... try to crack jokes -- even if the interviewer isn't really in a laughing mood. Be assertive with your answers and ask questions at the end. Interviews can go anywhere from, like, 9 minutes to -- in extreme case -- almost 40. The average is 10-15. If your interview is short, don't worry about it. All recruiters have different personalities.
Normally, your recruiter will ask you the ever-important "Why do you want to work for Disney?" question, ask you about your past work experience and how they pertain to what you want to do during the CP, and then ask you what your top roles are and situational questions based on those roles. There will aslo be generic work-related questions (At what pace to you work? Blahblahblah) and housing-related questions and questions about the Disney look and whether you're receptive to the pay, etc. The amount of situational questions you're asked depends on your recruiter and... probably your work experience. But it's different for everyone.
If you want to be signed up for a character performer audition, let your recruiter know on the phone. They'll put you on a list. If you want to request a working area if you're accepted, let your recruiter know on the phone. (NOTE: A lot of people in the Fall 2012 Facebook group said that recruiters were not doing that this season, but my recruiter was happy to take down my request... so different strokes for different folks, I guess.)
Whatever you do... stay calm and be nice and breathe and you'll be fine.
I'll post a more descriptive explanation of my personal interview sometime soon. Like, after I can feel my fingers again. I've been typing for way too long.
THE WAITING GAME... AGAIN:
This is probably the hardest part. I'm only 12 hours in, and I'm already in need of a Disney rehabilitation program. Your recruiter will tell you a timeframe in which you'll hear back. It will vary based on your top role choices, when in the game you apply, and how your recruiter is feeling on that particular day.
This season, I think the shortest timeframe someone was given for decision responses was three days. The longest was 3-5 weeks. You'll get an e-mail thanking you for interviewing, and depending on the season and when you have your interview, it will give you a more official timeframe in which you can expect a response. Mine said within two weeks. So fingers crossed.
Once you wait and wait and wait and want to die of waiting, you'll get an e-mail with your decision. You'll either be accepted, rejected, or pended. Being pended is essentially being put on the waiting list. If there are spots available for your roles, you'll be put into one at the end of the hiring season. If not, you'll be rejected. The DCP seems like it's getting more and more competitive every semester, and every semester I hear about more rejections, so no one is ever a shoo-in. Just apply to the best of your ability and know that you did everything as well as you possibly could.
Best of luck to all!
