My 2019 Summer Alumni Phone Interview and Application (Two Time Alumni)

ALRIGHT ALRIGHT ALRIGHT I had my phone interview today!! So wild to say that. A week ago I applied on a whim, and not even realizing the applications were only open for a day, I just stumbled across the listing and went for it. This year the summer alumni program was open to those of us who are not currently in school or have not graduated recently so yay! Anyway I already wrote about that so let's just jump right into it.

First off, on the application you had the option to put interest (low, moderate, or high) in the following roles:

• Attractions
• Seater
• Watercraft
• Merchandise
• Bell Services
• Lifeguard
• Custodial
• Quick-Service Food & Beverage 

And here's what I put interest in:

High Interest:

• Attractions
• Watercraft

Moderate Interest:

• Bell Services Dispatch/Greeter
• Seater

Low Interest:

• Lifeguard
• Merchandise

No Interest:

• Quick-Service Food & Beverage
• Custodial

Okay I'm going to randomly insert photos of my trips back to Orlando this year just to break up the text hahaha.

The fam outside of Nemo on my first visit back after my program

Okay back to the phone interview. I applied, completed the WBI, and scheduled my phone interview all on February 11, 2019, apparently the day the application came out. I scheduled my phone interview for a week later, February 18, 2019, at 4:45pm and my recruiter called at 4:42pm. Her name was Nina and she started it off the way every other interview starts "hi, how are you? Is now a good time? Are you familiar with the Disney look?" etc. The usual. She then said that this interview would only be about 10 minutes. She talked really fast and really seemed to be rushing to hit that 10 minute mark, so I don't know if she was almost off work and if they HAVE to hit those 10 minute intervals, but she talked REALLY fast haha. She was super nice though and still very engaging, so that's good! 

My one and only Galactic Hero moment

The first question she asked after the basics I mentioned earlier was if I was fully available for the dates of the program which were May 20 - August 9. I answered yes, then she asked if I had a driver's license which I also answered yes to. She then asked me to describe a time I had a roommate conflict and how I dealt with that. So I told her (very honestly) that I had the BEST roommates and on the most recent program seriously had ZERO issues. But on my first program we had a couple little issues with trash and dishes so we sat down, talked it out, and made a chore chart which worked great for us. Then she noticed I had a lot of job experience listed and asked me to tell her about my favorite job I worked. So I replied not to like suck up or anything (but I said it nicer than that haha) but my second program in Attractions was my favorite because I am efficiency driven and loved that aspect of the job, and enjoyed working in a team, the organization behind it, and finally adored my cast.

Fam in front of the castle feat. me with food like always

She followed that question with asking what my least favorite job was. I told her it was tough because I've learned so much in all my jobs, but probably my least favorite (which I didn't even include on my application) was working for a Starbucks in a grocery store because it was a lot of working by myself with little guest interaction because we were never that busy. And she was like "oh yeah, I totally get that", very encouraging about it so I guess that was an ok answer? Haha it was so hard to tell with her because while she was SO nice she also really kept things moving! 

WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE WE'RE NOT GONNA MAKE IT

So after that she asked me to describe a time I dealt with a difficult guest situation so I told her about the time the fire alarm went off at Seven Dwarfs Mine Train (where I worked) and we had to dump a queue of hundreds of people while keeping everyone calm, and we ended up dumping that whole building in less than ten minutes. So we all did what we were assigned and worked as a team and got lots of compliments which was nice! And with the angry guests you just have to listen and be understanding. And she was like "yeah some people get so pushy with FastPasses and stuff, but glad it ended well!" or something along those lines. 

I love them so much

So following that she asked what my career goal was and how these roles could help me accomplish that. So I told her I recently had a switch in desired career and the dream is to work for Disney with their zoology/marine biology departments. I said that I noticed there was a bunch of crossover between departments in attractions and would use that for networking to help me with my career if I was accepted. And I feel like for all my answers she was like "oh yeah, oh for sure" stuff like that haha.

Don't mind us, we'll be napping

So anyway after that she told me that we would be accepted on a rolling basis and to keep track of my dashboard. She also emphasized that I would be considered for ALL roles I put interest in. Then she asked if I had any questions for her, which I did. Firstly I asked her for advice on HELPFUL networking (aside from the basic "hi, nice to meet you" stuff) and she told me that my leaders would be the best resource and to get to know them because everyone knows someone and they could hook you up with connections. Then I asked out of curiosity the same question I asked on my last interview which was how do they decide location for people? And she totally knew I was angling for an opportunity to request a location hahaha, I am NOT subtle I guess!! But she said it's mostly random, some based on availability and some on skills. Then she said I could put in a request, so I requested Animal Kingdom or Epcot in the Seas for the sake of networking with people that could help me out in my future career! So she said she noted that down. And that was it! She told me it was so fun chatting with me and wished me luck and we said our goodbyes :)

You KNOW I gotta end with my two favs, Michaelene and Dumbo

That's it! I feel pretty good about my interview but who knows. I'll hear back by April 5th. I also applied for two other Disney jobs, one in corporate, and one as a ranch hand at Fort Wilderness! So we'll see where life takes me :) I kind of feel like the whole applying on a whim that just happened to be the day apps dropped was a sign that I'm meant to go back but we'll see....STAY TUNED FOR WHAT HAPPENS NEXT ;)

UPDATE: Acceptances started going out today (Thursday, March 7, 2019) at 2pm ET, but it was a mini wave and I was not in it. There were also quite a few NLIC's for those who were stuck in the "applied" stage without WBI's. So I guess this year summer acceptances aren't coming out all together!

UPDATE TWO: There was at least one phone interview NLIC the following day (Friday, March 8, 2019), but there hasn't been any more movement since then and it's currently Tuesday afternoon, March 12th. Crossing my fingers they send out the rest of the acceptances this week!!

UPDATE THREE: For the first time in my DCP history, I got an NLIC email :( An NLIC wave went out today, March 28th, and unfortunately, I was in it. Summer alumni is a very competitive program, so I knew there was a chance I wouldn't get accepted, but it still hurts!! I'm not giving up though, I'll keep applying to part and full-time jobs as they become available :)

Random helpful tip: even if you don't have a Twitter (like me), you can look up @christyrecruit on Twitter and see her tweets which are GREAT hints during the application process!! She's a Disney recruiter and will send out hints on when acceptances will go out and stuff like that, and at least for us she's been super accurate. 

2019 Summer Alumni Phone Interview Question Compilation

Hopefully this list will be helpful for those of you looking for a compilation list of possible phone interview questions! I pulled questions from my own interview as well as from others who have posted theirs on the Facebook page! Note that some questions will only pertain to you if you put interest in certain roles. I'm going to bold the questions that most people have gotten on their interviews so you know what the most common questions have been this season!

• Are you familiar with the Disney look?
• Do you have any tattoos that would show outside of shorts and a t-shirt?
• What are your career goals and how would the roles you've shown interest in help you achieve those goals?
• Describe a difficult roommate situation and explain how you dealt with it.
• What's your least favorite job you've worked?
• What's your favorite job you've worked?
• Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult guest. 
• Why do you want to come back to Disney?
• What qualifies you to be a Seater?
• What is your least favorite aspect of a job and why?
• What did you like about Merchandise?
• Are you okay with heights in Attractions?
• What is your favorite place in WDW?
• What are your post-graduation plans?
• Do you have a driver's license?
• Are you an international student on a visa?
• Tell me one challenge and one asset of being a manager at your current job.
• Are you able to perform the roles for which you put interest in?
• What is the hardest part of a job?
• What do you love most about your past role at Disney?
• How would you deal with having a repetitive job?
• If you had a magical recruiting wand and could put yourself at any location, where would it be?
• What are the top three things you loved about your first program?
• What do you hope to get out of another program?
• How would you feel about the challenges of a new role?
• What did you learn from dealing with a difficult guest and how could you have handled it differently?
• What advice would you give to others wanting to do the DCP?

And as always, you end the interview with the ability to ask questions!

SUMMER ALUMNI 2019?!

LONG TIME NO SEE!!!!!! I'm like that cockroach that just won't die ;) So I've officially been back home in Washington state for over a year, and recently decided I want to move back to Florida. So on a whim I decided to start applying to jobs down there, and while searching Disney jobs I found the 2019 Summer Alumni Program! Turns out this year they are opening it to people no longer in college!! For the normal program you have to either be currently enrolled in at least two classes (I think) or have graduated within the past six months. Since I graduated two years ago I figured summer alumni would be the same but GUESS WHAT, I'M ELIGIBLE!!

And GET THIS, so I applied on a whim, not knowing how long the listing would be up for or anything like that, and turns out I JUST SO HAPPENED to apply within the TWO DAYS THE LISTING WAS UP! If that's not a sign, I don't know what is. ;)

So anyway. I just finished my phone interview, so I'll do a detailed post a bit later on that, but I did the initial application which is VERY similar to the regular college program application (you can find blog posts about the initial app earlier on this blog somewhere) on February 11th, 2019. At 12:14pm I got this email:

"Thank you for taking the time to apply to the Disney College Program.

Due to the high volume of applications and limited number of opportunities available, not all applicants will move forward in the interviewing process. You will receive an update regarding the status of your application no later than April 5, 2019."

And at 12:18pm on the same day I got this email:

"Thank you again for your interest in the Disney College Program. Based on the information you provided in your application, you have been selected to participate in an initial interview.*

The next step in the process is a Web-Based Interview. This initial interview will help us learn more about your experiences.

We ask you to complete this interview within three (3) days from receipt of this email."

The WBI this time around was similar to the last two I did, but it was a slightly different setup and felt like there were more questions. But it's basically the same as every other personality test that interviewers put out there! I answered honestly with lots of confidence (using "strongly agree" and "strongly disagree") and made it through!

Immediately following my WBI I received a "congratulations" notice asking me to schedule a phone interview. I scheduled it for 4:45pm PST the following Monday, February 18th, 2019. I just got done with the phone interview and feel decent! Not quite as confident as I felt after my last interview, but it still felt like it went well, and my interviewer, Nina, was super sweet. 

She told me to check my dashboard as that's more accurate than email, and said we would be accepted on a rolling basis! WISH ME LUCK AND SEND ME PIXIE DUST IF YOU WANT THIS BLOG BACK UP IN FULL SWING ;)