After you complete the initial application, you may get an email telling you that you have moved on to the next step of the application: the web-based interview. This is a completely online interview, where you select an answer to a variety of questions from Disney. My advice for this step is to be yourself, and don't over-think the questions. Some of the questions are timed, but I promise you that you will have enough time to finish the question before time runs out. Just take a deep breath, read the question (out loud helps!) and select the answer that you think is the most "Disney-appropriate question." I've been to Disney World over 50 times, so I have a general idea of how the cast members act and what Disney expects of its cast members, so I didn't have too hard of a time putting myself in a cast member's shoes and selecting the answer that I thought fit best. I know that this step can be really nerve-wracking, but just try to stay calm! As soon as you answer the last question on the WBI, you will get a message saying whether you have moved on to the next step. I passed the WBI, so my next step was to schedule a phone interview!
My phone interview was scheduled 10 days after my WBI. I know some people only had a few days in between their interviews, but I liked having more time. I felt like I could prepare more and think about my answers thoroughly. I did A LOT of research online, I googled it and read people's blogs and looked at the Facebook group. I compiled a list of questions that people claimed were commonly asked, and then thought about how I would choose to answer these questions. On the day of the interview, I had a bunch of notes written out saying things like "smile!" "be magical" "relax" and "take a deep breath". They really helped to calm be down. My school offers a private room for phone interviews in our career center, so I did my interview in there. I had Disney music playing while I was waiting, and I was pacing around the room waiting for my interviewer to call! Be prepared for your interviewer to call anytime from 15 minutes before to 15 minutes after your scheduled time. About 8 minutes after my scheduled interview time, I got a call from a blocked caller, and I knew it was "go time!"
My interviewer's name was Carolyn. She was really nice, very to the point, and very thorough in her questions. I can't tell you too much about the questions that I got asked, but I'll just let you know that you should be prepared to answer situational questions and of course the obvious question "Why do you want to work for Disney?" I got asked a lot of questions that I hadn't even prepared for, and I just took a moment to think about it before I gave my best Disney answer! At the end of the interview, I made sure to thank Carolyn by name, and she told me to have a magical day! All in all I believe my interview was about 20 minutes long!
I'm not going to lie, after my interview I was very unsure about how it went. I thought that I answered most of the questions really well, but I'm one of those people who always second-guesses things, so I began to second-guess myself. But, at that point, I knew all there was left to do was to wait!
I got my acceptance email 13 days after my phone interview, while I was eating lunch after class. It was easily the most exciting day of my year. It was so nice to know that all of my hard-work, preparation, and research had paid off!
My advice to all of you is to do your research! Take the time to think about what kinds of questions you will get asked, and have a general idea of how you want to answer them. Don't try to memorize anything, it will only trip you up if you make a mistake during the interview. All in all, be yourself, SMILE, and make sure the interviewer knows why you deserve to work in the most magical place on earth!
