Disney Cultural Exchange Program
Hello Again,
I have some exciting news. I WORK FOR DISNEY WORLD!
If you watch my YouTube channel you will know that I love Disney. we this year I decided to apply for the cultural exchange program for the 2018 intake and I got it! If you would like to see the day I got my letter visit my Vlogging Channel.
So for anyone looking at doing the program in the future or is just interested in hearing about what it is like to apply I hope this blog post helps. This post will be about everything about the application process. As I am still currently waiting to start, this blog post will end after the 'What do is the interview like' section. I will talk a little bit about what will need to be done after accepting the position, but as I am still working through all the paperwork in that section, I won't be able to give you all the information. That is for another post.
So for anyone looking at doing the program in the future or is just interested in hearing about what it is like to apply I hope this blog post helps. This post will be about everything about the application process. As I am still currently waiting to start, this blog post will end after the 'What do is the interview like' section. I will talk a little bit about what will need to be done after accepting the position, but as I am still working through all the paperwork in that section, I won't be able to give you all the information. That is for another post.
WHAT IS THE CULTURAL EXCHANGE PROGRAM?
The Cultural Exchange Program is an international internship at Walt Disney World in Florida, it is between 5-12 months long. There are 2 intakes per year, January and August. The program sees people from all around the world coming together and working in and around the parks.This can mean working anywhere within the realm of Walt Disney Word from Magic Kingdom, to working in one of their many hotels.
WHAT ARE THE REQUIREMENTS?
The first thing to know is that to be eligible to work for Disney you need to be at least 18 years old and have completed one year of secondary non-compulsory study. This can be either TAFE or university.
Second, if you have finished University of TAFE, you have one year after your graduation to apply.
Thirdly. Love Disney.
HOW DO I APPLY?
Applying is the easiest part of this whole process, just head to THIS website and click on the button that says apply now. For the Australian and New Zealand Exchange Program, there should be a link which indicated either the January or August intake of whatever year you are applying for.
Please note that I applied In May of 2017 for a January of 2018 program start.
The application is very easy, you make a profile of Disney Careers and then simply upload your resume and cover letter and then answer some questions about your work and schooling history,
There were different sections, Working, Education, Address.
Working, was simply putting in previous jobs you have had in the past and what skills you obtained from them.
Education, Disney wants to make sure you have finished at least your first year of second-degree education (University or TAFE)
Address, They want to know if you are from Australia or New Zealand for Interview reasons.
You will also need to put down your top preferences for what roles you want to do at Disney, I have put a list below of what roles there are.
After you have applied, its time to wait. I waited two months before I head anything back from Disney regarding my application.
WHAT ROLES ARE THERE?
Here is just the list of there roles are available
Quick Service Food and Beverages
Ride Attendant
Character Attendant
Custodial
Life Guard
Vacation Planner
Character Performer
Merchandise
Full-service Food and Beverage
Costuming
House Keeping
Recreation
Bell-Service
Operations
For more information please visit THIS blog by Darling Disney Duo, they go into details about what each job en-tales, pros and cons of each job and then what type of person best suits each role. I highly recommend them as they were a great resource for me when I was applying.
NOW WHAT?
If you are successful in getting an interview, you will need to create a profile on DOC, which stands for Disney Onboarding Central. This is where you will need to upload a few things in preparation for the interview.
1) Address Information
2) Emergency Contact Information
3) Passport Information
4) Proof Of Student Status form
5) Visa Appointment Location
Number 4 - You will get a blank form that you will need to print out and get an Admin from your University or TAFE to sign off that you are a student who has completed their first year. There are different sections depending on if you are a second-year student or are graduating (Like I am) It is a simple and easy form to fill out, just make sure you double check everything as some people's forms don't get approved by Disney Straight away, don't panic, just read the form again and correct any mistakes.
Number 5 - This one is simple, just find which city closest to you has a US embassy where you can do a VISA appointment. For Australian's there is on in Melbourne and Perth.
You don't have to do anything else until you get an email saying you have gotten an interview.
THE INTERVIEW?
You should receive an email congratulating you on getting an interview, it will then direct you to another page where it will give you around 5 options for times of your interview. Interviews in Australia are held in either Sydney, Melbourne or Perth. For mine, I was only given Sydney as the city of choice and was given a choice of 5-time slots. Each time slot is around an hour, mine was between 1 and 2 pm.
So now that you have your time and place for your interview, how do you prepare, what do you bring and what do you wear?
Stucture of the day goes like this:
Registration, make sure you bring some form of ID so that the person signing you in can confirm you are who you say you are. There is also a video played in the background, pay close attention to it, it will have facts about Disney on it.
Next is a presentation, at the start of this, the interviewer (Her name was Jill) asked us questions about the park, all of the answers were on the video being played beforehand. I won a pen for answering a question correctly. During the presentation, the interviewer will go through what working at Disney is like, how much you will earn, where you will stay, they will talk about living expenses and any fees you will need to pay. I would recommend bringing a notebook and pen to take notes during this part. This part goes for about an hour and parents are allowed to sit in if they wish to as well.
After the presentation it is time for interviews, you only need to stay around until your interview is done and then you can leave afterwards. I recommend spending this time thinking of any questions you want to ask at the end of your interview and also meeting the other people who are also getting interviewed. Sometimes the wait between the presentation and your interview could be 5 hours so getting to know who you might be working with is a good idea to pass the time. The people I met, I now have on Facebook and we have a Disney group chat where we ask each other questions and just go crazy about how much we love Disney.
Finally, the interview. This part is extremely easy, in total mine went for around 10 minutes and all we talked about was what roles I put down if I am okay with working outside in the heat for long periods of time and how I will cope with being so far away from my family. I know of another person where they spent half of the time talking about how pretty her shoes were. It is very quick and easy and nothing to be scared about. It is a one on one interview.
For this day, you will need to be dressed in the 'Disney Look'.
You should receive an email congratulating you on getting an interview, it will then direct you to another page where it will give you around 5 options for times of your interview. Interviews in Australia are held in either Sydney, Melbourne or Perth. For mine, I was only given Sydney as the city of choice and was given a choice of 5-time slots. Each time slot is around an hour, mine was between 1 and 2 pm.
So now that you have your time and place for your interview, how do you prepare, what do you bring and what do you wear?
Stucture of the day goes like this:
Registration, make sure you bring some form of ID so that the person signing you in can confirm you are who you say you are. There is also a video played in the background, pay close attention to it, it will have facts about Disney on it.
Next is a presentation, at the start of this, the interviewer (Her name was Jill) asked us questions about the park, all of the answers were on the video being played beforehand. I won a pen for answering a question correctly. During the presentation, the interviewer will go through what working at Disney is like, how much you will earn, where you will stay, they will talk about living expenses and any fees you will need to pay. I would recommend bringing a notebook and pen to take notes during this part. This part goes for about an hour and parents are allowed to sit in if they wish to as well.
After the presentation it is time for interviews, you only need to stay around until your interview is done and then you can leave afterwards. I recommend spending this time thinking of any questions you want to ask at the end of your interview and also meeting the other people who are also getting interviewed. Sometimes the wait between the presentation and your interview could be 5 hours so getting to know who you might be working with is a good idea to pass the time. The people I met, I now have on Facebook and we have a Disney group chat where we ask each other questions and just go crazy about how much we love Disney.
Finally, the interview. This part is extremely easy, in total mine went for around 10 minutes and all we talked about was what roles I put down if I am okay with working outside in the heat for long periods of time and how I will cope with being so far away from my family. I know of another person where they spent half of the time talking about how pretty her shoes were. It is very quick and easy and nothing to be scared about. It is a one on one interview.
For this day, you will need to be dressed in the 'Disney Look'.
WHAT IS THE DISNEY LOOK?
The Disney Look is what you will wear when you are doing anything with Disney that is not working in the park (as costumes for work are provided by Disney). For example, you will need to wear the Disney Look for the Interview, Tradition and the tour of the park you are working in.
The Disney Look is essentially business attire. Something comfortable, stylish, something you could wear in an office. This is what I wore to my Interview:
WHEN DO I FIND OUT?!
Interviews for the January intake start September 1st, this was the day I had mine and I found out on September 24th that I got the job. After asking people from New Zealand and other programs, you typically find out on a Thursday the week after Interviews are done.
You will receive an email congratulating you on getting the job, It will say what job you will be working and how much money an hour you will get. It will then link you to another page where you will either accept or deny the offer and then pay any fees you need. You will have 14 days from receiving the email to accept and pay the initial payment fees otherwise Disney will assume you do not want the job. Sadly you won't find out what park you are working in until you arrive at Disney.
The Disney Look is what you will wear when you are doing anything with Disney that is not working in the park (as costumes for work are provided by Disney). For example, you will need to wear the Disney Look for the Interview, Tradition and the tour of the park you are working in.
The Disney Look is essentially business attire. Something comfortable, stylish, something you could wear in an office. This is what I wore to my Interview:
WHEN DO I FIND OUT?!
Interviews for the January intake start September 1st, this was the day I had mine and I found out on September 24th that I got the job. After asking people from New Zealand and other programs, you typically find out on a Thursday the week after Interviews are done.
You will receive an email congratulating you on getting the job, It will say what job you will be working and how much money an hour you will get. It will then link you to another page where you will either accept or deny the offer and then pay any fees you need. You will have 14 days from receiving the email to accept and pay the initial payment fees otherwise Disney will assume you do not want the job. Sadly you won't find out what park you are working in until you arrive at Disney.
MY EXCHANGE PROGRAM:
I will be working in Quick Service Food and Beverages. My start date is January 16th.
If you have any questions about this process please comment and I will be happy to help!
HELPFUL LINKS:
Disney Careers: https://jobs.disneycareers.com/international-programs
Disney Duo Blog: http://darlingdisneyduo.com/cultural-exchange-icp-roles-the-good-better-and-best/
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