THE INTERVIEW PROCESS | DISNEY ACADEMIC EXCHANGE PROGRAM ADVICE SERIES

*ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN AND NOT OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY OR YUMMY JOBS*

Hey there, pals!

Wow, it’s been exactly two years since I went through the Disney Academic Exchange Program recruitment process. When else is the perfect time to release a post sharing my words of wisdom of going through the interviews?

For me, the recruitment process started back at the beginning of October 2018 when representatives from Yummy Jobs came into my university to deliver a presentation about the Disney Academic Exchange Program. Unfortunately, Yummy Jobs and Central Michigan University are partnered with certain universities - see my General Program Information post to check if you’re eligible for the program. Now, each university is completely different for how to sign up to events relating to careers. At Sheffield Hallam University, we have a specific careers website that displays all the different job-related events and advertised vacancies placement/internship roles. It was here where I saw the Program Information presentation from Yummy Jobs and I registered myself for the event, as well as tailor my CV and cover letter template for the program, instantly. One thing that I didn’t notice was that I needed to prepare for an interview and these would be taking place straight after the presentation. So definitely read all of the information and instructions that’s given to you before the presentation takes place!

When the day of the presentation came, I made sure to arrive early because there was a point where the facilitators stopped admitting late comers. Make sure this is not you! The presentation from Yummy Jobs lasted for about an hour and they covered program information from their website – see my last post for a summary of what the Disney Academic Exchange Program is about. After that, any presentation attendees who were no longer interested could leave the venue (typically this would be on-campus). Then, the Yummy Jobs facilitators split the remaining presentation attendees into two groups for the group (or pre-screen) interviews and were given a time to come back.

Top tip: it sounds daft but make sure you’re still in the local area and keep track of the time, so you don’t miss your call back!

The structure of my pre-screen interview was roughly as follows:

· Icebreaker: the facilitator interviewing us explained the structure of how the interview was going to run and an introduction about yourself, the course you’re doing and why we wanted to participate in the Disney Academic Exchange Program

· Role preference: this part is self-explanatory, you address your role preferences and why they’re the perfect fit for you

· Skills/previous work and living experience: again, this part is self-explanatory and follows a similar format to any other interview

· Closing: next stages that you need to do (instructions would be sent out via email, which you will give to the facilitator) and an opportunity to ask the facilitator any questions

In my very first blog post, I described the pre-screen interview as a networking group interview and that’s exactly what it is! Just be yourself in a conversation about showcasing who you are and you’ll be just fine!

If you’re lucky enough to make it through to the next stage, there is one more step between you and becoming a Disney Academic Exchange Program participant: the final formal interview.

For the final interview, the day began being welcomed by one of the Yummy Jobs facilitators who carried out the presentation before attending a more-detailed presentation about the program and what it entails from the professor from Central Michigan University and a couple of representatives from the Walt Disney Company. Then, the other candidates and I were sat in a waiting area waiting to be called by either a recruiter from the Walt Disney Company or the professor from Central Michigan University for a one-to-one interview. Again, the structure of the final interview with each interviewer was very very similar to pre-screen interview, in terms of the structure and questions asked. Again, my best advice is just to be yourself and make sure you have everything prepared!

Now, let’s talk about the waiting game… this is something that you cannot judge. For the pre-screen interviews, the outcome could be delivered within a couple of weeks. However, the outcome from the final interview could take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months!! My best advice here is just to keep your eye out on your emails, including checking your spam email folder. And hopefully, the magical news of being successful at the final interview will be there within your inbox!

Thank you so much for reading my blog post about the interview process. If you have any questions that I may not have covered in this post, feel free to use the contact page on my blog or comment on any of my social media pages and I’ll be sure to answer your questions!

Have a magical day!

-Hannah

DISCLAIMER: this blog is my personal experience on the Disney Academic Exchange Program (DAEP) 2019-2020 and may not reflect everyone’s experience. Other programs and future participants on the DAEP may have slight adjustments to their programs that may not be featured in any of my blog posts. That being said, if you do leave any questions, I will try to answer them as best as I possibly can 😊