Day 1654: Time to Apply!

Finally! After what might be months or years of anticipation and weeks of planning out your application, your chance to apply for the Disney College Program has finally arrived. Well, that is, if applications are currently open. As I mentioned previously, the best way to stay up to date on the program is to sign up for email notifications for when applications open up again, and then it's onto that initial application. 

Since we've already covered the ranking of roles, this will be a shorter, but no less important post about the journey of the Disney College Program. There's some controversy as to when exactly you should apply for the program once applications do open up, largely because some say that if you apply on the first day you have a lower chance of getting accepted because of the number of applications on that first day. Others say you should apply immediately once applications open up so yours is one of the first ones they go through. 

To be completely honest, I'm not sure there's a rhyme or reason to the way Recruiting goes through the applications, at least not that we could ever know about. I tried to wait until the second day after applications open to apply in fear that mine would get lost in the first-day shuffle, but I just couldn't get anything done knowing that there was something I could do on my journey to the Disney College Program. So I applied the first day, and I'm skeptical about the idea that applying so quickly crushes your chances, because I did and I was obviously accepted. In other words, take what you read with a grain of salt. But don't wait until the last day or week to apply either. 

When you hit apply, you'll be directed to a pretty self-explanatory application that asks for the customary information, such as your name, school information, and work experience. In fact, if you already have a LinkedIn set up with your resume and work experience, there's an option to log into the Disney system using LinkedIn, and it'll automatically input your top work experience into the application for you. I still highly recommend going through the application with a fine toothed comb. 

The biggest thing with this initial application is going to be keywords. Use words that you'd use on your professional resume, and tailor them to the roles that you're ranking highest. For instance, since I knew I was applying for the PhotoPass Photographer role, I made sure to include my photography and videography experience on my application, noting that I'm familiar with DSLR cameras and basic photography skills. I also was sure to include that I have experience with crowd control, specifically in regards to large groups of college students, high school students, and middle school student, and public speaking as well. Regardless of what roles you're interested in, use keywords like "guests," "teamwork," "leadership," "efficient," and "communicate." 

After filling out this initial application with your work experience, you'll pick which program you're applying for, rank your roles, and will eventually hit submit. In all, I think the application took me around 25 minutes with proofreading and some thorough contemplation as to how I wanted to word things and what I wanted to include. 

At this point, one of a few things can happen. You can immediately get a WBI (Web Based Interview) link and you may be able to take that (which I'll discuss in a later blog post). You could be like me and wait a few days before getting the WBI link, but still be "In Progress" on the website. Or you could fall in "submission." You'll be able to view all of this on your dashboard (which is where you can view your progress throughout the entire application process), and I'll tell you that if you fall into submission, that's not to say you won't be accepted for the program. It's more likely you'll never make it to the WBI, but there have been participants who are put into submission immediately and manage to make their way out. So don't give up, but also don't get your hopes up, because honestly, it could go either way (although to be blunt, it's more likely you won't get accepted). 

And then you wait, again. If you're fortunate enough to get send a link to the WBI right away, I suppose you have less waiting to do, but otherwise the best advice I can give is go about your normal life. There's so much waiting involved with the Disney College Program that it's easy to get caught up in obsessively checking your status or your email for any updates. I tried to limit myself to checking the dashboard once a day throughout the process, and I didn't check my email any more than usual, which sort of helped toward the end when I was in the final stages of waiting. Feel as calm as you can knowing that your application, for the moment, is entirely out of your hands, and hope for the best. 

Next week: The Web Based Interview, AKA the most stressful test I've ever taken! 

Have a magical day!

Day 1647: Do Your Research

You probably thought that this week's DCP Wednesday post would be about applications because now that you've decided to apply for the Disney College Program that's the next obvious step, right? Wrong! There's still more to do before you log in and click that fateful "apply" button! There's a lot going on with the Disney College Program, and it's good to know what you're getting into and what might interest you most before you get down to business (to defeat the huns). 

The initial application for the DCP will ask you common, customary questions you'd expect, like your name, school, and where you've worked, but it'll also ask you to rank your top roles, and that's a huge decision and a crucial part of the application process as a whole. What you write down at this point will impact your phone interview, potentially your acceptance into the program, and what you'd be doing if accepted, so it's important that you rank your options carefully. This blog post doesn't give you explicit descriptions of each role (you have to do some of the research yourself, after all), but I can promise you that, in the future, there will definitely be feature posts from various college program roles. 

First and foremost though, there's the decision of which college program you'd like to apply for. Since there are programs running consistently at both Walt Disney World and Disneyland, and there's several seasons throughout the year, you'll have to figure out which one is right for you. Personally, I applied for both the Disneyland and Walt Disney World programs, but put WDW as my priority location. The Disneyland program is drastically smaller than the Walt Disney World one, so your chances of being accepted to WDW are likely a bit higher, but if you don't have a preference, go for either, and if you do, notate that! I loved that I could apply for both programs at once, and I actually had a short conversation about it during my phone interview with my recruiter later on. 

Of course, when you apply makes an impact on the season you're applying for, and the best way to keep track of when applications are open is to sign up for email notifications. That way you won't miss when fall applications open months ahead of time in January. Depending on where you are in your college career and what works for you, it also might work better to do an advantage program rather than a regular seasonal program, meaning that, if you do Fall Advantage, you'll be applying to work from May/June to January rather than August/September to January like the rest of the Fall students. I've included the seasonal chart from the Disney Programs Blog below to give you an idea of what those seasons look like: 

Finally, you'll have to do some research on your roles before you actually apply. Doing your research ahead of time makes you more informed about what roles would be best for you, physically, emotionally, and mentally. For instance, I know that I really would prefer to stay out of Quick Service Food and Beverage roles, as well as anything to do with food because, while I love eating food, I just happen to know that it wouldn't be the right fit for me, especially since I have no prior experience in food service. However, after doing some research, other roles popped out as ones that would suit me well, such as Attractions (because of my experience in public speaking and crowd control), Front Desk (because of my experiences as Music Librarian and running Music Festivals), and, of course, PhotoPass Photography because of my experience with photography and videography. 

The best way to do research on these is to head over to our old pal Google and search for descriptions of each, although the Disney Program Website does feature an in-depth look at each role in the Earning section of the DCP page. I used these descriptions to get a general idea of what might work best, and then initially ranked each role. From there, I went to YouTube and Google and made additional searches to find out what real DCP Participants have said about each of their positions, getting a feel for what they're really like out on the job so I could make my final decisions on how I'd rank each role (you rank one on a scale of High, Moderate, Low, or No Interest). 

It's also important to note that there are different roles at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. For instance, there is only a Park Greeter position available at Disneyland, and Housekeeping is only at Walt Disney World. The available roles for each program are available on the DCP Website as well. 

Of course, there's more research headed your way in the future, specifically involving where you'll live and who you'll room with and how everything works in general, but let's just take it one step at a time. Now, go do some research! 

Have a magical day!