Stage 3: Final Interviews

HOOOOOOLY POOOOOBALLLLS – the feeling when you wake up on final interview day. Before I got to the interview, I went to the wrong Disney HQ door, make sure you go to the right one (side of the bus station rather than through the shopping centre) because arriving sweaty is never alright.

Once you’ve finally stopped fangirling over the big sparkly Mickey statue and the name badge you don’t get to keep, you go into another presentation. It’s like the Yummy Jobs one but more in depth and hosted by Americans so it’s ridiculously preppy and exciting. Again there are more questions but at this point I was so nervy I couldn’t have even tried to think straight and therefore did not win a Disney luggage tag; it’s ok, only nerds win anyway.

Following the presentation you either have to leave the building and return when it’s your interview slot time, or if, like me, you’re first up then you hang around outside the presentation room.

At this point you meet more people and again I was word vomming everywhere. Jennie the journo came out to play and I ended up knowing where everyone was from, what uni they go to, what they study and probably some other classic babble that no one really cares about. Members of the group were leaving one by one to have their interviews and I don’t think I’d ever been so nervous. Finally, when it was my turn I had to go up a floor into another room – great nosiness opportunity, Disney HQ looks like such a sick place to work!

After a few more minutes wait I was called in. My interview was in the same room as another interview and it was really casual. I think this stage is more to understand your personality, to see if you’d fit in and suit working at Disney.

The questions at this stage are things like:

• Why do you want to do the program?
• What do you want to gain from doing it?
• What work experience do you have?
• Why have you chosen your top two roles?
• Any further questions?

Literally five minutes later and I was done.

Because I’d chosen one of the first interviewing days out of about 10, I had to wait for what felt like forever to find out if I was successful. They’d told us we could be waiting until the middle of January which would’ve been absolute torture. Luckily, I found out two days before Christmas and what better present could I have asked for!?

 

Stage 2: Pre-Screen Interviews

Tuesday 6th October 2pm. You don’t get to choose your date and time at this stage so I skipped a lecture – oops don’t tell uni lol.

Other years interviews had been held in different cities like Edinburgh, Newcastle, Manchester etc. but we all had our interview at the Yummy Jobs HQ in Epping, Essex this year. It was a trek for me (Middlesbrough/Manchester based) and it cost me a fortune staying over in a Travelodge, train tickets, lunch out blah blah blah and the whole time I was just wishing for it to be worth it haha!

I joined a Facebook group during the online application stage and we’d organised to meet in Starbucks before our interview so we weren’t so nervous and alone (highly recommended). The Starbucks is literally opposite the YJ office too so no chance of getting lost/being late.

GROUP INTERVIEWS cryyyyyyyyyy

If you like group interviews, well 1.) you’re a weirdo and 2.) you’ll be fine here. You register as you walk in, get handed a sticker with a group name and time on and then you make yourself as comfy as you can be on a plastic chair in a room full of strangers who you’re competing against 🙂 There was then a presentation that got you pure buzzed for a job you might not even get.

At this stage listen – write notes on key points mention and especially on the number of jobs in each role, give yourself the best chance possible and don’t limit yourself to one of the very exclusive roles like Character Attendant (only three people this year got that job). BE FLEXIBLE.

There were then a few questions thrown to us applicants with every right answer winning a chocolate star wars lolly. I GOT ONE, BOW DOWN. Basic Disney knowledge required: when did DisneyWorld open? The four parks? One of the recently announced park extensions? The names of the Disney Cruise ships?

Then it was time to split. If you had the first interview slot (I did) then you stayed, if you didn’t you had to scarper until it was your time slot. Every group gets a Yummy Jobs rep to impress, we had Nicola (the boss, yikes) and two lovely Dutch interns.

Quezzies (this is what y’all are here for right?):
ICE BREAKER: Ok so we all had to choose a Starburst, yep I know, and once we all had one we found out each colour represented a different question. Interesting fact, fave destination or fave food were the questions. I got interesting fact so I said I have performed on two west end stages (I think she liked it, we talked for a while and I was pretty much word vomming throughout). Then the rest of the questions:

• What’s your name? – …you better know the answer
• What will you bring to the program and what will you gain? – REMEMBER CULTURE
• Top 2 roles and why? – choose at least one with large hiring numbers to up your chances (Lifeguard and Quick Service Food & Bevvies are usually good)
• Fave Disney film and why? – I said Pocahontas cos she’s a badass (in Disney appropriate wording)

• SCENARIO QUESTIONS ARGH – this is where you nip up and it gets all scary as they ask someone who is interested in the role first and then everyone else gets to chip in.
  1. What do you do when a guest is looking everywhere for a certain piece of merch and they can’t find it? Be nice, if it exists go find it, if it doesn’t offer them an alternative blah blah.
  2. You’re on duty as lifeguard and a guest starts shouting at you because he’s asked you where he can find a specific food item three times and you have ignored him, what do you do? Politely tell them you are a lifeguard on duty and you can’t take your eyes off your patch to help him right now. Your job is to look out for people in danger. If they start to kick off remind them of that, you’re looking out for their children’s safety at the end of the day!
  3. What do you do when someone has queued FOREVER and the ride breaks down? MAAAAGIC MOMENT TIME – if they’re super duper upset, give them a cheeky fast pass for another ride, duh.

• EXPERIENCE QUESTIONS – they want to know you have faced these problems before and can overcome them, have examples ready.
  1. You have a stupidly messy roommate, what do you do?
  2. When have you shown time management skills?

• Finally, any tattoos or piercings that aren’t the Disney look? – DO NOT LIE. They won’t discount you because you’ve got a tat they will just place you in a role that has a costume to cover it.

At this point we were asked if we had any final comments or questions. Make sure you say everything you went in expecting to say, you don’t want to go home with a whole load of “I-wish-I’d-said-that”s. I brought up the fact I’m a freakin proud Smoggie and that I want to show the people of the world that England goes further than afternoon tea and Prince Harry. And with that comment about the glorious Boro, I was outta there an hour after when we started. Don’t worry, it’s the quickest hour of your life.

Results EEEEEP

I found out I’d gotten through like a million (15) days later and I was buzzzzzzing. I’d heard rumours that this was the major culling stage and if you make it through to the second interview stage then you’re pretty much safely on the program. A girl I had spoken to in Starbucks got rejected, it was her second application, so don’t think just because it’s your first time you don’t stand a chance. The next interview would be held at Disney HQ in Hammersmith (yo that’s cool) and I had a choice of dates. Opted for an early one to get it out of the way and then spent my days counting the hours and choosing my outfit!