*ALL VIEWS ARE MY OWN AND NOT OF THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY, CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY OR YUMMY JOBS*
Hey there, pals!
As dramatic as the blog post title sounds, November 14th, 2018 (the day of my final interview for the Disney Academic Exchange Program [DAEP]) literally changed everything! I have been struggling a lot with my second year of university and this interview really gave me something to strive for. Not only did this interview give me a break from studying, but the interview was a fantastic opportunity to talk with industry recruiters.
Before my final interview, Yummy Jobs sent out an email with URL links to a couple of online application forms that I needed to fill out in advance. One was from Disney and the other was Central Michigan University (CMU), who created the academic course for the DAEP. These application forms were not anything too concerning because a. I was already accepted for a final interview and b. I was only transferring important personal information for the benefit of the Disney and CMU representatives ahead of the final interview. I also received a weblink from Disney to sign up to Disney's Onboarding Central (DOC) system. Here, I had to upload a valid passport and fill out personal details and emergency contacts should anything happen while I was on the program, if successful. Then, Disney sent out a job role preference form for me to fill in, in which I could only select 'interest' levels for the roles that were available on my DAEP. For example, I was not able to select high interest for Guest Relations, as that role was not available for my program.
My advice: it is better to express some interest in both the rotational roles and non-rotational roles to show you are open to any experience. My motto for my internship year is "no experience is a bad experience!"
Now let's talk dress code and final preparations...
The final interview is formal business attire, which is the usual standard for any other job interview. As a young, female blogger, I have absolutely no knowledge of men's clothing. However, a smart shirt, suit jacket, trousers and shoes are the best way to go! Ladies, we have a lot of different options! At my final interview, I wore a blazer jacket, smart white shirt, black pencil skirt and my lace-up school shoes.
Furthermore, I matched the Disney look guidelines with makeup and hairstyling to give a good first impression to the recruiters who were going to be interviewing me! Yummy Jobs stated to bring my passport and one other form of identification (usually a driver's licence or current bank statement) and photocopies of these just as proof that I am who I say I am.
So, the day of my final interview came and I boarded my train to London in good timing, thinking that I was going to have plenty of time to get to where I need to be. Well, this was not the case! Before arriving into London Waterloo, my train was delayed, meaning that I was running a few minutes behind what I had anticipated. I arrived during the peak of London Underground's rush hour and being shorter in height meant that it was a total nightmare navigating through the crowds to get to Hammersmith! Eventually, I arrived at Disney Headquarters (see video below from Adam Does Disney for how to get there [6:07 to 7:19]) a few minutes late, which could have been a lot worse. After checking in, picking up my lanyard and escorted upstairs, I met with Natalie from Yummy Jobs who did my pre-screen interview, so that relaxed me A LOT. If you take away nothing else from this post, let this piece of advice be a lesson to you! DON'T GET A LATER TRAIN AND PLAN YOUR TIMINGS DOWN TO THE WIRE - get an earlier train or leave earlier if you're driving to allow time for delays or stay overnight in a nearby hotel, if necessary.
Natalie led me to a beautifully Disney-decorated theatre where a presentation was delivered by the Disney International recruiters and CMU representative - very similar to the one that the Yummy Jobs team delivered at the pre-screen interview. This time around, there was some interaction with quizzes to see how much we knew about the Walt Disney World Resort and you could win some cool prizes too - I won a Disney luggage tag and other candidates won Disney pens!
Next came the actual interview, which was split into two parts - an interview with a recruiter from Disney and another with CMU. I was one of the first candidates to be called in with the Disney recruiter and that was slightly nerve-wracking, I'm not going to lie! However, the recruiter (I cannot remember the name of the lady who interviewed me!) was super lovely. She shook my hand and guided me into one of the interview rooms, which had a setup of two stations so they could interview two candidates at a time. Although I was nervous, this part of the final interview was like any other job interview... I was asked questions about my previous work experience, why I wanted to participate on the program etc. I was also asked questions about the environment I would be working in e.g. humidity and standing ability and body modifications e.g. piercings and tattoos. And that was it; it only lasted about 20-30mins!
While I was waiting for the second part of my interview, I was chatting with the other candidates and Natalie to ease my nerves, which most definitely helped! Additionally, I handed over my passport, driver's licence and their respective photocopies that I mentioned earlier in the post to the Yummy Jobs representative.
A point to note: if your passport is due to expire at any point during your program dates, apply for a new passport while you're doing your applications in preparation for the final interview. This prevents possible rejections after uploading a digital scan of your passport at a later stage of the acceptance process if successful at the final interview - more to follow in the upcoming blog posts.
Next, I was called by the CMU representative (again, completely forgotten his name!) who was really nice and shook my hand too. I was taken to a separate part of the same corridor where the rest of the candidates and I were waiting, so I was apprehensive about the other candidates overhearing my interview with the CMU representative. To my surprise, I was asked very similar questions to the Disney recruiters, with a couple of these specifically tailored to the academic aspect of the program, as well as several interpersonal-related questions. I definitely wasn't expecting these and I would be lying if I said that I was not stumped by these questions! All in all, my two interviews were very much informal conversations where the interviewer was getting to know me and my personality. After my interview, I was allowed to keep my visitor's lanyard from my visit to the Disney Headquarters, which I felt super privileged about - one of the many souvenirs and memories that I can treasure from my program!
My advice: smile and be yourself!
About a week after my final interview, I received an email from Disney congratulating me on securing a place on a Disney International College Program! I was in complete shock! My success gave me something to look forward to and a new lease of life through university. My experience of finding out the outcome of my final interview was much more speedy than I was expecting. Most people do not find out until around mid-December, so don't get too discouraged if you don't discover your outcome straight away!
I hope you enjoyed reading about my crazy final interview story. I'm so sorry this post has been published a few days later than anticipated! I've recently moved out of Sheffield and having a well-deserved rest before moving to the Walt Disney World Resort, Florida. All I can say now is the countdown is well and truly on!
If you're applying for a Disney program, I hope this blog post helped you in some way, even if it's avoiding the scenario I encountered on the day of my final interview. I wish you the best of luck!
Have a magical day!
-Hannah
DISCLAIMER: this blog is my personal experience on the Disney Academic Exchange Program and in no way reflects everyone's experience! Other programs and future participants on the DAEP may have slight adjustments which may not be reflected in my posts. That being said, if you do leave any questions, I will try to answer them as best I can or cover topics in blogposts :)
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