It’s been a long day so I figured I would blog about Disney to make me feel better. This is a post all about how to apply for Disney College Program and the application process.This was my second time applying for DCP so I feel like I know how it works pretty well. Last year I didn’t get in but thankfully this year I did!
http://cp.disneycareers.com/en/default/
That is the website that has a ton of good information and where you can find the application. The application is fairly simple and it asks things that any normal job application would. Last year I applied on the first day, this year I applied about a month after applications opened. I personally would recommend waiting to apply simply so that you don’t have to wait as long to get a response (I’ll talk about this more in a second).
Another thing I would suggest doing once you apply is joining the DCP facebook group for whatever season you are applying for. So I am currently a part of “Disney College Program Spring/Spring Advantage 2017.″
For anyone who is totally new at this: Spring is for the second semester of the school year and Spring Advantage is for the second semester PLUS summer.
Once you have applied you should be able to log into your dashboard and see your status and read any communications that Disney has made with you. The communications will also be made through email so you can see them in two places.
Step 2: Web Based Interview (WBI)
The next step in the process is the WBI. This is a super long questionnaire that is split into a ton of different parts. Its basically a bunch of personality questions where you answer stuff on a scale from “most like me” to “nothing like me.” It’s nothing to stress about.
You will know if you have been moved on to the WBI through an email. Both times I applied I received mine about a half hour after I sent in the application, but I have heard that this is not always the case. You can do your WBI immediately after you receive the email asking you to complete it. I HIGHLY recommend that you find a quiet place with really good wifi. If I remember correctly, there are some timed parts that I wouldn’t want bad wifi to interfere with. Answer the questions in the WBI as honestly as possible, they will know if you are lying because Disney knows everything.
Step 3: Phone Interview (PI)
After completing your WBI, the next step is to be asked for a phone interview. This is the most important part of the entire application process because you will not have any further communications with the recruiters until you hear about the final decision. This is your chance to make an awesome impression!
I got the email for a phone interview about a half hour after my WBI both times, but again, this is not always the case. This usually the point where people can get put into “Submission” after the WBI. If you are part of the facebook groups you will hear that term a lot. So I will take a minor detour and explain:
After you submit your application on your dashboard you will be able to see your status. There are 3 possible things you will see there
3. No Longer In Consideration (NLIC)
In progress is good! This is where you want to be. It means that the recruiters are looking through your application and interviews and highly considering you!
In submission is not as good, but it doesn’t mean you should loose hope! This just means that the recruiters aren’t looking at your application right now. What happens with a lot of people is that they will be put into submission for a while and once they have sorted through the people in progress, they will pull people out of submission and start looking into them. You can get put into submission at any point after you submit your application. If you get put into submission after you apply you wont be asked to do the WBI unless they pull you out of submission. If you get put into submission after the WBI you wont be asked to do the phone interview until you get taken out of submission. Getting put into submission after the phone interview means that they are looking at other people right now but they will come back to you. This doesn’t guarantee that you will be taken out of submission though. Some people go straight from submission to NLIC. DON”Y LOSE HOPE UNTIL YOU SEE NLIC.
NLIC means that (very sadly) you are no longer in consideration for this season but you can (and should) most definitely apply for next season. It just wasn’t your time this time.
Okay back to the phone interview: I plan to do an entire post about this at some point because it is such an important part but I will give a little intro to it now. Once you get the email asking you to do the phone interview you have to sign up for a time. The phone interviews don’t normally start until a month or so after applications open, so you may have to wait a while. I HIGHLY recommend you pick a time where you have about an hour before and an hour after free just to be safe.
When your time comes you will receive a phone call from an unknown number. Your interview will ask you a lot of questions about yourself, about the parks, about why you want to work for disney and ALL kinds of things. They may also ask what your top roles (aka job positions. Check out the link at the very beginning of the article to read all about them) are so make sure your do your research before the call!
This is BY FAR the worst part of the entire process. USUALLY there will be what people call “waves” of acceptances. The first wave doesn’t usually happen util about a month after phone interviews started. So that would be two months after the applications opened. Disney will give you a final date that you will definitely hear back by but it’s a long and painful time period. The first time I applied, I sent in my app the day the opened. I had my phone interview on the very first day of phone interviews. I did not hear back from Disney until 5:00 on the LAST DAY. That was probably the longest 4 months of my life. And to top it off I was NLIC. So trust me, I feel your pain. This year I applied after the first acceptances had already started going out and I heard back about 3 weeks after I applied that I was accepted. MUCH different than last year. There really is no predicting how it will go. Everyone in the facebook group is going through the waiting game with you and it really really sucks when you start to see people post their acceptance emails and you’re STILL WAITING. But Disney is worth it. And I can also promise you that acceptance or no acceptance, your life will go on and the world will not end. PLUS if you do happen to get accepted, ITS THE BEST THING EVER. So just hang in there. We are all rooting for you.
Okay so that’s my post about the application process! I hope it was somewhat informative. I know that when I was looking for this info I could never find it in one place so my goal was to put it in one place! If you have any specific questions or an idea of what to make another post about, FEEL FREE to message me!
