Career Choice

[smartguy]

Hey!
I am a current high school senior. I am fascinated with Disney and hope to work at a park one day, or anywhere affiliated with WDW. As of now, I will be pursuing a major in engineering in college. I am concerned, however, that this will not land me in Disney. I am open minded right now towards my options. I want to be at a high-energy work place and just have fun with my job. What are my chances of getting in WDW with an engineering degree (and which engineering would be best suited for WDW)?

Also, what are some of my other choices of major I could pursue??

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

[Bug715]

Well since Disney is known for Imagineering I think that major sounds good. Head over to disneycollegeprogram.com and look around there. The College Program is only entry level jobs but it is a great chance to get your foot in the door/network & most of the Major specific Professional Internships require you complete the program. The Professional Internship information is at disneyinterns.com if you want to look at that too.

 

[smartguy]

Thanks for the reply! I went and checked out the program. I am very interested. But there is one problem I am concerned about. I have this scholarships that pays my tuition (promise scholarship) and I am afraid if I leave during college, I will lose that scholarship. I emailed them to check it out. Hopefully it will not be affected.

I am still curious on what kind of engineers they need... but I have a whole year to decide on that.

 

[Bug715]

What school will you be going to. What you should to to find out about the scholorship is contact the career services at your school and they will either be able to tell you or tell you someone who will know. That is if someone from that school has done the program before. When I went I was the first in a long time so I had to figure out everything but it wasn't too hard, just a lot of running around on campus. Feel free to PM me with any questions. I'm a Campus Representative for my school here in KY.

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Here is what I have learned because I am also looking to pursue my career with Disney. However, my college career ends in 3 months unfortunately. Without getting in to how I was lucky enough to get my foot in the door, I can say that it is very difficult. You need to have some sort of established contact and see if they can help you. However, be prepared to learn that you are almost definitely going to have to start your career elsewhere and then try to get to Disney later.

 

[smartguy]

thanks for the reply insider. Yea, i figured it would be pretty difficult to get into the disney corporation. but i will stay hopeful! How would you say that I go about getting connections with disney?

As of now, my choices after college im considering are NASA and Disney. I would much rather go with Disney

 

[SirGoofy]

As an engineer who has applied multiple times for Disney internships I will tell you that it is very, very difficult to get an engineering job with Disney. I'm not saying it is impossible, but do not set your expectations too high.

 

[SeaBreeze]

To be honest, I think it also depends on your school. At my school, the WDW engineers actually come to our career fair and interview engineers in person so it's easier for us to make a good impression and do well in an interview (vs relying only on a computer and phone interviews) I'm a mechanical engineer and was offered a professional internship the first time I interviewed with them.

However, to be realistic: you need a good resume to land an interview and very good people/interview skills to be considered. I did multiple internships with GE, worked in a lab and was involved in a bunch of things on campus...all with the intent of having it on a resume for WDW haha. My other friends that got PIs had worked for Ford and Boeing. It's definitely possible to do so don't give up on it!

Final note: whatever you do, make sure you study something with many job opportunities that interest you, other than Disney, just in case it doesn't work out. Industrial engineering is HUGE at Disney, but that's more business than tech, so it might not be what you want. They also hire MechEs, Electrical, Civil and (very few) Materials Science Engineers.

Hope that helps some :wave:

 

[Pioneer Hall]

thanks for the reply insider. Yea, i figured it would be pretty difficult to get into the disney corporation. but i will stay hopeful! How would you say that I go about getting connections with disney?

As of now, my choices after college im considering are NASA and Disney. I would much rather go with Disney

I don't really know any ways to make connections within Disney. Mine was through someone at my school, but that of course won't work for everyone. I won't lie when I say that I got very lucky.

One other thing...but I don't want you to take it the wrong way (so please don't). You have two places you want to work that are amongst the most competitive in the world. I know it sounds very simple when you are in High School, but it isn't so when you are actually there looking for jobs. I had the same idea when I was in high school, but the reality of college then set it. Sometimes you have to start somewhere else to get where you want to go. At this point, I am going to be working with a different firm for probably a year. At that point, I will probably be able to go work for Disney based on what my recruiter and I have spoken about. Of course things can change, but with the state of the world right now there just aren't any jobs for me to have...even if they want to give them to me.

 

[smartguy]

Oh, I understand completely. It is going to be VERY hard. But I still have to keep an open mind in case I need a plan B. I will keep my dream, and strive to achieve it.

Thanks to everyone for the awesome replies!!

 

[SeaBreeze]

I entered college with the same mindset as you and my dream came true so I firmly believe it's possible for yours to as well :wave: Just work hard, keep the grades up, do technical internships and keep believing in yourself

 

[Pioneer Hall]

Oh, I understand completely. It is going to be VERY hard. But I still have to keep an open mind in case I need a plan B. I will keep my dream, and strive to achieve it.

Thanks to everyone for the awesome replies!!

Of course keep going for your dream. I am still going for my dream career with Disney too. I just now have to tell myself that I might have to start somewhere else for a year or so before going to where I want to be. Reach for your dreams, but be realistic in your quest for them as well. It will save you a lot of disappointment later on if you know that it might take some more time than you want it to.