I had my interview a couple of hours ago and I think it went pretty well... i know a lot of us were wondering about questions asked... so i'll just copy and paste what i posted in my live journal here!
OH, AND ANY CP VETS... CAN YOU GIVE ME SOME ADVICE ON MY ANSWERS LIKE IF THEY WERE GOOD, ETC. LOL IM STILL NATUALLY WORRIED AND THINKING 'WHAT IF I SAID THIS INSTEAD...' LOL. Thanks
my interview is over. It lasted roughly 20-25 minutes. Ronda was a VERY VERY VERY nice lady and made me feel totally comfortable!
the interview started with her just confirming some of my application material, like the correct spelling of my name, my address, current place of employment (which she asked some questions about) and my school/major.
Then she asked me what it was that made me want to do the Disney college program as opposed to all of the other internships out there. My answer was somewhere along the lines of : "because traveling to Disney as a kid, I never fully realized that people WORKED there. Everyone seems to just genuinely be happy to be there. With my goals of eventually having a career with Disney, I believe that the college program is a fantastic first step. I love meeting people and am really excited about the opportunity to take classes and network with Disney professionals..." it was something like that. i was so nervous I can't remember exactly lol.
She then asked me to tell her my roles in preference order. So I told her Character Attendant, Attractions, Hospitality, Merchandise and Vacation Planner.
first she asked me since i have food and bev experience if i would be open to doing quick/full service F&B. I responded something like:
"... honestly, I believe my abilities would best suit Disney if i were placed in one of the roles I am applying for, however, if it was the only role available to me I would take it because I am incredibly serious about working my way up through the company" So... she marked on her sheet that i prefer one of the roles on my checklist but would be open to the possibility of food and bev if it was the only thing available... which, since today was the 1st day of interviews... isn't the only thing avaialable. lol
then she went into the roles she went in order of preference:
CA- How would you handle a situation where a guest was being rough with one of the characters? (TOTALLY NOT EXPECTING THIS QUESTION). My answer summarized: I would use the childs name if i knew it (and i used tigger as the character being attacked, lol) and i explained that tigger is so excited that "sally" came to visit him and that sally shouldn't pull on tiggers tail because tigger wants everyone to be safe, because when we are being safe, we get to have a lot of fun... or something like that. I also explained that if it was a teenager or an adult, I would say something along those lines but modified for the appropriate age (ie: not so corny) and with body language send them the signal that it's definetly NOT allowed. then I quickly mentioned that im sure this scenerio happens frequently and I would expect that Disney would fully properly train me on that before sending me out on my own. She said it was a good answer , but i just didn't feel very confident about it.
Attractions- Have you ever had experience speaking infront of a large auidence? My answer: No, but i explained that I had played in a high school band and had experience PERFORMING infront of a large auidence, just not SPEAKING.
Would you be willing to memorize and deliver a lengthy script using a microphone to a large auidence? My answer... absolutley givin' the opportunity and the appropriate amount of time to get it memorized. *Note: she never asked me any 'how would you handle situation X" questions about rides or anything which could mean that A. she know's how i would respond, B. was thinking more of SHOWS than rides... or C. decided not to put me in attractions, lol
Hospitality- With working with Hyatt, why is hospitlaity #3 on your list (laughing)? My answer summarized: (laughing) That's not the 1st time i've been asked this. *insert her laughing some more*, but my theory is that this is such a new experience for me. If given the opportunity to work resorts there's no chance that i would pass it up. I would take it in a heart beat. I'm just more inclined to have a completly different expereience and being allowed the opportunity to do character attendant, or attractions would give me that chance
How would you create a welcoming environment for the guests? I explained that my family owns a DVC membership and that everytime we enter they say "welcome home!" with a big smile. I explained that just hearing that makes me feel welcomed and I would use the guests anme at every opportunity to make it personal and ask them about their experience on the property and jsut remember to smile a lot and genuinely care. I said something about just being approachable and genuine to someone makes them feel welcomed.
Then she basically just asked me if i had any questions about anything whatsoever and i said no and thanked her for her time and that was about that.
After almost everything i said she replied "oh WONDERFUL!" and said how she thought I had such a great personality, so i'm taking that as a good sign
She also asked me somewhere in there to pick my favorite thing from my jobs that i've either currently held, or prievously held... i told her that each job has had the favorite things about them and rattled off a couple of my favorites. She said how she thought i would say something like that because I seem like the person that just has a lot of good things to say about stuff
SWEEEEEEETTTT! she said i should hear something between 2-3 weeks.
that will be the LONGEST 14-21 days of my entire life
(so sorry), I see on the website that now they are accepting Spring 09 - I knew this, but they also mention a Fall program, doing interviews in Spring Semester. This means that they will announce when they are taking apps for the Fall semester?? When is this usually announced? This is another option I can discuss with my son.
