DCP Phone Interview Tips for Success!

Now that I've applied and gotten in twice, I feel like I have enough pieces of good advice to make a blog post on it. I'm just going make a big list on what worked and didn't work for me, so note it's all based on MY OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE.

1. Pick a good time for you. I recommend the morning/early afternoon before they've had too many interviews and are still fresh, but not so early that you sound groggy and sleepy when you answer the phone. My interview was 2:15pm Eastern Time and 12:15pm Mountain Time (Colorado time) for my second interview and 9am Mountain Time, 7am Eastern Time for my first interview which was probably a little too early.
2. I would practice a little bit. Not rehearse, but practice a few questions and answers. Some people have friends/family call them and do a mock interview but I honestly talked to myself when I was driving to/from school so I could hear my answers out loud. This was super awkward but actually helped a ton. Plus if someone gave me weird looks I could pretend I was singing along to the radio ;) 
3. Write down your interviewers name as soon as he/she introduces themselves and make sure to bring it up in the interview. For example, my recruiter said "hello I'm Jenny, how are you?" or something to that effect and I replied "hi Jenny!! I'm good blah blah blah" and also used it in the very end of the interview. 
4. Think through potential questions and answers but don't write yourself a script. I promise having notes in front of you will just make you sound rehearsed and mess you up. A few bullet points is fine, but I used no notes on my second interview and it went MUCH smoother than my first interview with notes.
5. Relate as much as possible back to your work experience and real life examples. So if your recruiter asks how you would handle and emergency situation, use an example from previous volunteer/work experience and build on that.
6. Be sure to emphasize professional opportunities and experiences. Relate WHY you want to do the program back to how it will help your future career. It would also be a good idea at this point to talk about not just the work experience, but the networking and the Disney classes and how those will help you professionally.
7. Think about your top roles and answer your questions with that in mind. My top roles were convention guide, vacation planning, and attractions, so I made sure I talked a lot about guest service and safety. Even if the question didn't directly relate to that role, I made sure I stressed the parts of my answer that will translate best into that role. I hope that made sense, basically try tailor answers to your top roles rather than general answers.
8. Your recruiter will probably ask what roles you're most qualified for rather than for your top roles. I would make sure your top roles are roles you're most qualified for a think about why. I mentioned the above roles and gave a reason for each as to why I'm qualified. I also threw in how each would help me professionally.
9. Be honest! Stay true to yourself and your personality will have an easier time showing through :) It's ok to let them know you're nervous, they are all so kind and welcoming they'll put you at ease right away. Don't tell them what you think they want to hear because I promise it won't come across as genuine.
10. It's okay to smile and joke a bit with your recruiter but be sure to keep in mind this is a professional opportunity and act accordingly!
11. I would write down your questions for the end of the interview as your main notes. Put a lot of thought into these so it shows your recruiter how much you care. Don't just pick and choose questions off of blogs, pick questions you ACTUALLY want to know about and questions that will help you stand out. I asked a questions my recruiter had never gotten before and she was super impressed!! I would also include at least one question about advice on how to take advantage of the professional opportunities or something like that that will relate back to how the program will help you professionally.
12. If there is somewhere you would really like to work, definitely bring that up as well. You can request attractions/stores/parks, so if you want to increase your chances of getting a certain area be sure to mention that! They can't guarantee anything but will do their best to honor your request. I requested Journey of the Little Mermaid for my attraction, so we'll see what I get! *UPDATE, I didn't get Mermaid, but I WAS placed in Magic Kingdom Fantasyland East which is the same complex that Merm is a part of* I also mentioned that I would prefer working an attraction to working parking/main entrance.
13. Finally I would thank your recruiter for their time, be sure to convey your gratitude. Since most people don't send emails/thank you's (the recruiters probably get way too much mail for that to be a good idea anyway) this is your opportunity to thank them and end on a good note.
14. Also I would try stay away from the Facebook page until you're accepted because it gets really depressing watching other people get accepted while you're still waiting. But you do you. 

That sums it up! Hopefully these notes were helpful to you. This is pretty much what I followed for my second interview and I got attractions, one of my top roles!! For my first program I was much more scatter brained, trying to follow notes and stuff, and I got QSFB. This role was great for my first program, but it was a moderate interest role and I had no food experience prior. They probably just plopped me where they had space haha.

Keep in mind this is just my experience and advice, do whatever works best for you!! If that includes following this list or none of them, whatever works for you is what matters :) GOOD LUCK! Plenty of pixie dust and good wishes coming your way :)

My Housing & Roommate Preferences

UPDATE: WE MADE A ROOMMATE VIDEO! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JK18KRR5n4M

Now that I've been accepted for Spring 2017, naturally I've been thinking about housing and roommates. Last time, I chose my roommates through Facebook and we were in a 2 bedroom, 6 person apartment in Chatham Square (back when rent was $78, now I think it's $93 for the same apartment). This time around I think I might just choose my room roommate and go random with the others. I know last spring when people were choosing roommates for fall they were only able to link up with two other people, so you kind of have to go random. If you can link with up to 7 people then I'll probably try find roommates, but will go random if I can't find some! If I go random I might go wellness just in case the non-wellness humans are low-key alcoholics hahaha I'm definitely that weird 21-year old into clean fun and wine with dinner, not getting drunk and going to bars ;) But I have no problem not having alcohol in the apartment, I probably wouldn't have much in there anyway.

If my roommate from my last program, Lindsey, gets in and decides to do the program then I'll definitely room with her and probably go random on the others, but who knows!! If she decides not to do the DCP then I'll try pick my room roommate on Facebook and go from there.

As far as housing goes, I would love the Commons but am not super picky. According to https://collinsrace1.wordpress.com/2015/11/29/2016-disney-dcp-housing-rates/ the housing rates for Spring 2016 were as follows (so Spring 2017 should be relatively close):

Commons 1-bedroom 2 person $124.00
Commons 1 bedroom 3 person $109.00
Commons 2-bedroom 4 person $122.00
Commons 2-bedroom 5 person $102.00
Commons 3-bedroom 6 person $110.00
Commons 4-bedroom 8 person $109.00

Patterson 1-bedroom 2 person $120.00
Patterson 1-bedroom 3 person $105.00
Patterson 2-bedroom 5 person $100.00
Patterson 3-bedroom 6 person $107.00

Chatham 1-bedroom 2 person $120.00
Chatham 1-bedroom 3 person $105.00
Chatham 2-bedroom 6 person $93.00
Chatham 3-bedroom 6 person $107.00
Chatham 4-bedroom 8 person $106.00

Vista Way 2-bedroom 4 person $110.00
Vista Way 3-bedroom 6 person $101.00

So on DORMS when you register for housing you rank your housing preferences. I don't remember if you have to rank all 6 person apartments if you have 6 people, or you can pick and choose, but my ranking would look like so: Commons 4 bedroom, Chatham 4 bedroom, Commons 3 bedroom, Chatham 3 bedroom, and Patterson 3 bedroom if I can pick and choose. If I need to include ALL 6-8 person apartments I would include Vista Way 3 bedroom and finish with Chatham 2 bedroom/6 person. As long as I don't have bunk beds again, I'll survive haha :)

Housing registration won't come out until late December/early January for me, but I'm already so excited! Senioritis is SO real people, but so much worse because I have the DCP to look forward to <3 At this point I just want to get through the semester and not fail anything...is that terrible? Hopefully the time will fly and I'll be at Disney before I know it!!

I'M GOING HOME!!!!! ACCEPTED FOR SPRING 2017!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I found out today that I was accepted for the spring program, 2017, and I am SO happy. I received my email around noon Colorado time (Mountain Time), and I've been offered the role of ATTRACTIONS!! One of my top roles <3 I cannot even put into words how happy and excited I am. I'm going home. We'll see if I get my requested attraction (Journey of the Little Mermaid).

Here's a nice little timeline for those of you who love the timelines:

• Applications drop on Sunday, August 15, 2016 around 6pm West Coast (best coast) time
• First phone interviews start on August 21st
• I applied on August 24th around 12:30pm MT
• WBI email received around 2:30pm MT on August 24th (I took it and passed it almost right when I got it)
• Phone interview on Thursday, September 8th at 12:15pm MT
• First acceptances go out on Friday, September 9th
• First BIG wave (bigger than like 10 people) goes out Friday, September 16th
• I get accepted Friday, September 16th, around noon MT

And that's the news!! The date options for Spring 2017 are (arrival in front and departure in back) January 10th/May 18th, January 17th/May 18th, January 23rd/May 18th, January 23rd/May 25th, or January 30th/May 25th. I chose arrive January 23rd, and depart May 18th (but I plan on extending). Apparently other people had February 6th as an arrival date option, but I didn't. 

So now I'll just wait to find roommates and sign up for a seminar and housing and all that good stuff :) The program fee for Walt Disney World was $354.50 and Disneyland was $900+. I believe I had one week to accept my offer (but obvs did it the day of ;)).

UPDATE!! Lindsey got in too, attractions, so we're going to be roommates again and I couldn't be happier or more excited. I was joking with her that we'll work right around the corner from each other again ;) Last time we were both QSFB at Hollywood Studios at restaurants that were pretty close together!! So here's to hoping I get Journey of the Little Mermaid and she gets Mine Train or something haha :)

DCP SPRING 2017 - PHONE INTERVIEW (ALUMNI)

OHMYGOSH JUST HAD MY PHONE INTERVIEW AND IT WENT SO WELL. I hope. I think. Ah!

First of all, here's something kind of funny: my phone interview lasted the EXACT same amount of time as my phone interview for Fall 2014. 30 minutes long (it was supposed to be 20, whoops). So I'm just going to lay it all out for you.

My recruiter, Jenny, called at 12:20pm on Thursday, September 8 (my interview was scheduled for 12:15pm).

First she asked how I was and verified all the info about my preferences (Walt Disney World location, and Spring over Spring Advantage). She also verified my year/major/school and graduation date.
She asked about the Disney look and I told her I had a tattoo on the outside of my left ankle that can be covered by socks or makeup. She asked my dimensions and I said 1 inch wide and 1/2 inch high.

She said she knew I lived with roommates from my last program but asked how we dealt with any issues in the house and I told her about our system for doing dishes and taking out trash.

She also asked if I'd be okay living with international students so I told her how when I studied abroad I actually lived with people from Germany, Norway, China, and Japan in our apartment.

Then she asked me how doing another DCP will help me professionally, and how it would be different from my first program. I told her I wanted to work for Disney as a career, and didn't take advantage of the resources on my first program and would definitely do that this time (and some other stuff but I'm not going to repeat myself word for word). She really liked my answer :)

She looked at my job experience ("wow you have a big variety") and asked about my experience working at Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estate, what I did there.

She asked how I dealt with a tough customer and I told her about my encounters with drunk customers and told her the key is to be respectful, cool, and collected.

She asked how I deal with emergencies and I told her about the time I was guiding a trail ride and my horse sat down and rolled over and wouldn't get up and how I handled the guests behind me, then told her how to handle emergencies in general. She loved that story and was so nervous that the horse as going to die hahaha.

She asked if I prefer working in a team or individually and I said I'm open to both but prefer working in a team.

Then she asked a little bit about my previous DCP, verifying I did indeed do one and she asked where I worked (R.I.P. Studio Catering Co).

She asked about lifeguarding and how comfortable I was swimming and I said I had always lived by the water and took swim lessons when I was little.

She also asked if I'd be comfortable with the swim test and I said yeah, sounds like a great workout.

She asked what I thought the main duties of a lifeguard are and I said safety for sure.

She asked why I put high interest in vacation planning and I told her that I thought it was easily translate into the professional world, especially the marketing industry. I also said I tried to pick high interest roles that translate best into the professional industry.

She asked about experience meeting sales goals, and I said working at the winery we didn't have quotas but we did have incentives to make the most/biggest sales (free wine). I told her I got a few free bottles by the end of the summer :)

She said if a family was only in town for a day what would I recommend and I said it totally depends on the family, but for just one park I would recommend Magic Kingdom but a park hopper would also be a great option for Epcot and Animal Kingdom or something.

She asked my why I was qualified for convention guide and why I want it and I talked about my experience at the winery giving tours and how it could translate well professionally.

She asked if someone came up asking about the private event what would I do and I said if it was a short question I'd go ahead and address it otherwise I would point them toward another Cast Member.

She then asked if I like Epcot, because convention guides work there and I said I LOVED Epcot because food is the best thing ever and Food & Wine Festival is the greatest thing ever.

She asked which roles I think I'm most qualified for and I said attractions, lifeguarding but I want a role with more interaction, vacation planning, and convention guide and explained why for each role.

She asked if I had height problems and I said I actually love heights - I've been both skydiving and bungy jumping.

She asked if I was okay working main entrance or parking and I said that is fine with me, but I would really love to work a ride in the parks but will take what I can get and do it to the best of my ability!

She asked if I was able to perform all duties required of a Cast Member (we're talking about any restrictions you might have) and I said yes.

She said the majority of decisions will be made at the end of October but to keep checking your dashboard periodically.

She asked if I had any questions.

I first asked how you decide role and location for people and she said no one had ever asked that before but said role is by previous work experience and interview, where they think you fit best. Location is random, it's just filling in where they need people but you can request a location and they'll do their best to grant that. So I requested Journey of the Little Mermaid hahaha she sounded surprised by that request! But most people go for Haunted Mansion or Jungle Cruise or Tower of Terror or something. She said she'll write it down but there's no guarantee.

I also asked what she recommends as far as networking and stuff like that, getting into the more corporate side of Disney and she basically said I already had a great plan and to follow that (Disney classes, networking, talking to leaders, going to seminars, shooting for a Professional Internship).

Finally I asked what qualities make a great Cast Member and she said going 110% and just doing your job and knowing what's important.

And that was it! I thanked her for taking the time out of her day to talk to me, and she did the same and told me to have a magical day!

My interview was 30 minutes exactly and went really well. Jenny was so sweet and easy to talk to and she mentioned a few times that I had great work experience and a great skill set so I'm feeling pretty confident, but we'll see!! She mostly asked questions about lifeguard, vacation planner, and convention guide with a few attractions questions. I made sure to really emphasize how the program would help my professionally this time, and used a lot more examples when answering questions than I did on my first interview when I got QSFB for Fall 2014. Last time I had Christy, and this time I had Jenny, and Jenny seemed a lot more engaging but they were both great.

That's it!! Now the waiting game shall begin. Hopefully the next blog post is about my acceptance but it all depends on how strong the applicants all are this season! Wishing everyone a magical Thursday and wonderful application season :)

Also side note: this is my 100th blog post! Woah!!

The DCP Facebook Groups Summed Up

Okay people. If you're researching the Disney College Program, or are in the midst of applying, or have already been accepted, odds are you join the DCP Facebook groups. These are generally titled "Disney College Program Spring/Spring Advantage 2017" or something similar. Let me just lay out exactly what these pages look like because they are incredibly predictable. Also keep in mind that these pages are both a great resource and a buzzkill, there's always some drama but it's a good way to find friends and roommates. So here goes:

• We're going to use the page I'm currently in: DCP Spring 2017, but I have been in two other DCP Facebook groups from previous years (fall and spring).
• First off, people will start joining the page pretty early, but really pick up steam in members about two months before applications come out
• There's always THOSE people (we used to call them DCP Celebs because they were all over the Facebook page and we all knew their names and pictures) who comment and post on every possible thing. This can be either irritating and/or entertaining.
• Get used to reading this: "when will applications drop?" "has anyone got accepted yet?" "when will they start accepting people?" and basically every other question you can think of that everybody wants to know but nobody has the answer to
• A few alumni throw in their two cents for every post (generally also those DCP celebs I talked about) because they're obviously the experienced experts here. Note that many alumni can be very helpful but there's always the few that comment on everyone's posts correcting other people who had different experiences or that they don't agree with. It can be pretty overwhelming.
• Starting BEFORE applications come out, there will already be people posting roommate surveys and finding their roommates (they will be sorely disappointed when a few chosen roommates don't get in and they have to find new ones)
• Don't even get me started on the social media trains that someone posts once a week. Example: "Let's get an instagram train going! My username is @marin_jacobson, let's all follow each other, comment your username down below!". Translation: I want more followers so you should follow me and I'll maybe follow you back but then unfollow 30 seconds later.
• This question: "I want to be a character performer but I only want to be friends with Cinderella, no fur characters. Is that possible?" Answer - no.
• "Let's start a selfie train"
• "Who wants to find their prince/princess in their program?? I'm single and ready to mingle ;)". This is quite possibly the most irritating part. The DCP is not a dating site, it's a professional program and opportunity. Please save your thirst for Tinder. Sincerely, everybody.
• These two posts: "how old will everyone be on the program?" and "who here's from Ohio/New York/Texas/etc.?"
• "Can anyone read my applications before I turn it in?"
• "Who will go to Universal Studios with me if we both get in?"
• First wave of acceptances hit and those who don't get in quite yet are all convinced they're going to be rejected
• Acceptances go out and this happens: "Has anyone with an E last name got accepted yet? I think it's alphabetical!" "Now they're at the Z's! They skipped the whole middle part of he alphabet!" "Guys it's not alphabetical chill out". This literally happens every season whether or not it's true, I guess we may never know!
• 10+ side groups will emerge including "Disneyland DCP", "Christian DCP", "Non-traditional Age DCP", "Single DCP", etc.
• The blasted anonymous sites will show up where people can share who they think is hot in the group and everyone acts like they're 15. 
• My personal (least) favorite: "hey I can't afford the $300 fee, will you consider donating to the GoFundMe I made?" - okay people. We're all poor college students, if you work hard and put in an extra hour here and there at your job you can easily save up $300 (plus you have quite some time to prepare for this...). 
• Everyone posts about how they're sick of seeing the Cast Member photo on the applications page (so true though)
• "Okay who else is in Greek Life?? I'm a ____!"
• Hundreds of question threads including "favorite princess", "if you could pick your role/location...", "favorite attraction", etc.
• Once everyone is accepted/rejected and in the program the page turns into this: "anyone want to go to Hollywood Studios?", "what time is grocery bingo?" and "how do I use my guest passes for my family?"
• This will also happen a lot: "does anyone have an extra guest pass they're not going to use? My entire extended Greek family is coming and I need 30" (okay maybe not that extreme but you get the point)
• Also LOTS and LOTS of bus complaints
• Insert posts cursing Florida wildlife. This includes but is not limited to: turkeys, alligators, and armadillos.

I feel like this sums up the most common posts pretty well. Contrary to how I kind of made it sound, I don't hate the DCP Facebook pages. I think a lot of people go overboard and are ridiculous but I found my five FANTASTIC roommates using it last program and know there are tons of great people on it. I will add, however, that it can be a very stressful group to be a part of. There is some bullying that happens, and if you're waiting on your acceptance while a ton of others are posting about theirs it's easy to lose hope. Bottom line here, you want my advice? Join the page but hold back from posting a lot with the exception of a post/comment/question here and there until you're ready to find your roommates. Disney recruiters are always part of the pages, these people CAN and WILL see your posts and comments. Keep it professional and clean or you risk hurting your chances of either getting into the program, or your chances of keeping your role once down there. I had a coworker who was a very involved admin for the Facebook page and Disney actually found him and told him he had to leave the group or try get it under control (it was getting nasty) or risk termination. 

So with all that being said, please just be nice and think about what you're posting before you do so :) Enjoy being a part of the group, for it's highly entertaining and a great resource, but don't lost your head!