Employment??

RobVanDam

RobVanDam

Member
Original Poster
So here I am going into my SR year of high school, so it's time to start thinking about colleges. Right now I am probably going to be majoring in Public Relations, so i was wondering... how could a major like that, possibly land me a job with WDW and get me into the CP?
 
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Andrew015

Member
Well, with an A-rod avitar, there's probably no chance of you getting hired anywhere. :D Kidding?


Anyway, as of right now, there are plenty of positions available at WDW. However, most of them I would imagine are hourly type roles that aren't quite what you're looking for. (Quick food service, housekeeping, merchandise sales, etc.) As for salaried positions that most college grads would be interested in, the majority of these positions I believe are filled from within, meaning that you have to have some type of "in" at WDW. Not necessarily a conncention persay, but more along the lines of experience at WDW. If you're serious about getting a good paying saleried positon at WDW, your best bet would be to look into the WDW College Program. It's basically an internship opportunity in which you spend a semester living, working, and possibly taking classes at Walt Disney World. It's open to all majors, and usually, they attempt to put you in a positon that suits your personality, goals, and work experience. For more info. on the college program, check this link:http://www.wdwcollegeprogram.com Even if they don't recruit on your campus, you can interview for a spot at a nearby college. You may also want to check out some other opportunities on Disney's career site: http://jobsearch.disneycareers.newjobs.com/ Just search Lake Buena Vista and Orlando FL. There are plenty of internship opportunities posted right now. To be honest, I think that the WDW CP isn't the best working experience, as you'll more than likely be doing a standard hourly job (selling things, running a ride, cleaning, food service.) You won't be learing overly valuable job skills. However, what the CP does do for you is that it opens up the door to better internship opportunities. As you'll see, many of the good internships available on the Disney Career site require you to be an alumni of the WDW CP. These "Advanced" internships do provide you with excellent work experience, and are a way of grooming future full time CM's. However, I think in order to get a decent job at WDW, the College Program is a necessary stepping stone. If you want more info. about it, there's plenty of alumni on here who'd be happy to fill you in. I applied and was accepted in my sophomore year, but could not attend due to a death in the family. I will be applying next semester for my Senior year, and will hopefully be pursuing a dream career at WDW. Best of luck to you.
 
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Blizz

New Member
RobVanDam said:
So here I am going into my SR year of high school, so it's time to start thinking about colleges. Right now I am probably going to be majoring in Public Relations, so i was wondering... how could a major like that, possibly land me a job with WDW and get me into the CP?
Click to expand...

My best advice to you would be not to look for an intership with WDW in PR but rather consider one of the many Six Flags parks and inter with them. Each of their parks takes interns in PR and through that experience you can network with people at Disney and try to move to a job with Disney after school. (by the way if your more interested in just a job with Disney while you go to college, the University of Central Florida offers a major in Public Relations and they will give you the best shot of being able to intern with Disney in their PR dept. because the college has close ties with WDW)
 
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Mmmeredith

New Member
RobVanDam said:
So here I am going into my SR year of high school, so it's time to start thinking about colleges. Right now I am probably going to be majoring in Public Relations, so i was wondering... how could a major like that, possibly land me a job with WDW and get me into the CP?
Click to expand...

Well, you must be very intelligent because that is the best major of all :animwink: . Disney has some very attractive advanced internships in PR related areas, but all of them either require or prefer that you have completed the College Program first. My advice? Go ahead and start college, apply for the CP early on, and then spend the rest of your college career applying for Advanced Internships until you get a good one. At least if I were starting college over again, that's what I would do.
 
RobVanDam

RobVanDam

Member
Original Poster
But see, I dont know if i even wanna major in PR. Maybe just media, or communications in general.. or maybe theater.. I don't really know.. Lol..
 
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Andrew015

Member
Your major doesn't matter at all. The College Program is designed to be accepting to all majors regardless of the role you're shooting for. Naturally, if your major is hospitality management, they'll try their best to get you a role in that type of position. However, if your major is something obsceure, it won't matter. CP Positions are offered based on individual qualities and characteristics. If the interviewer thinks you've got what it takes to work at WDW and you stand out from the rest, you'll have no problem being accepted. You've got a few years still to figure out what you want to major in. Scary thought, but something like 75-80% of college students change their major, and close to 50% change their major multiple times. No worries, It will all fall into place.
 
RobVanDam

RobVanDam

Member
Original Poster
Yeah true, but for my actual career for when I graduate college, I DO wanna work for WDW in some way, so I really dont know what path to take.
 
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Spicey477

New Member
Rob,

Seeing all of my friends who have graduated from great Universities, one thing is in common: if you are an engineering, education, pre-med, or pre-law major, you will probably get into engineering, education, pre-med or pre-law. Everyone else is a toss up.
After years of trying to figure out what I wanted to major in (Communications, no, PR, no, sociology, no, education, no), I finally just majored in something in which I loved the classes: International Studies (with a minor in sociology). When you look at those career books that say, if you major in this, you will do that, well, I am planning on returning to WDW part time (I just moved back to Orlando this month after 8 years since my CP) and getting my real estate license. If I followed those career books, I would be working at the state dept. in DC as a drone.
You know that you want to work at WDW, we have all told you to just hold out on the major picking and get to school and start applying for the CP. Get into the CP, love every minute of it, and get back and apply for the Advanced Internship, and even if you majored in basket weaving, if you left a good impression on Disney, you will be able to start a career with them. Oh, and remember to have a great time in college!
 
stitch82

stitch82

New Member
spicey is on the right track...your major really doesn't matter. especially to get your foot in the door with disney. i know that there are people from my school who applied to the college program as undecided majors, and still got into the program.

the trick is to find something you are truly interested in, and the rest will come. i'm a theatre major, and i have been from the moment i first registered. i never changed majors (not that there is anything wrong with that) because i found something that i am passionate about. i've decided i don't really want to work in theatre professionally, and that's no big deal...i can still say that i value my years in college and certainly learned a lot. any liberal arts student that gradutes with a b.a. is well rounded enough to pursue whatever they want post-graduation.

also, you can always double-major or add on minors. minors really let you adapt your degree to whatever you want; i have one in history, communication, and art & design. they also make you more marketable.

hope this gives you food for thought...:)
 
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Mmmeredith

New Member
RobVanDam said:
But see, I dont know if i even wanna major in PR. Maybe just media, or communications in general.. or maybe theater.. I don't really know.. Lol..
Click to expand...

Hope it didn't seem like I was trying to rush you into a major (especially since I think I set a record for the number of times I changed mine)! My modified advice: take some classes in each of the areas you're interested in. It takes some time, but that way you can test the waters and see where you fit best. For CP, it doesn't matter what major you have, but it does matter for many AI's. Once you graduate, it won't particularly matter what your major was unless you want a job that requires specific training or certification (education, for instance). Most majors will offer you a huge variety of options.

Here's a website that might be of interest for exploring majors: http://www.uncwil.edu/stuaff/career/Majors/
 

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