Graphic Design jobs?

[Xethis]

I may be opening up a can of worms here, but here goes.

I have my BA in Visual Communication, and over 10 years in the graphics industry and am looking to work for Disney & relocate from Texas to Florida in the next 5 years, if at all possible.

My concerns are this: I lived in a 200,000 person town before Austin, and there would be 2-10 applicants for every job. Now fast forward a few years to living in Austin currently, and here there are 100+ applicants for every graphics job posted through a reputable site, and even more for less than professional sites.

So, what kinds of graphics jobs does Disney have in Florida? What would the pay scales be? (I obviously can't go from what I'm making now to minimum wage & still support a family.) And do they hire people that are willing to relocate but currently live out of state? Seeing as it's Disney, I'd bet every graphics job has 250+ applicants.

I'm not sure if anyone has any info or insight as to the Disney Graphics world or not, so this may be a hit & miss kind of thing. My ultimate goal is to work for Disney, but there is no way I can turn my back on my degree to be a character in a suit or food service attendant. I've worked too long & too hard to give up on my degree.

 

[mkt]

Disney's Yellow Shoes is the in-house ad agency for Disney Destinations, and WDI has graphics people. In California, there's also Disney Consumer Products which has graphics people as well.

And you got it right, there are way too many applicants for very few jobs.

I have an MFA, interned at BBDO and worked for Saatchi and draftFCB, and I wouldn't likely get hired.

 

[Figment82]

There are way more graphic design jobs at WDW than what mkt mentioned above, but yes, there are far more applicants than there are jobs. Most people that have those roles probably aren't going anywhere anytime soon.

Normally I'd recommend a Professional Internship as a starting point for a GD position, speaking from personal experience. But since it sounds like you've been out of school for a while, you might want to keep an eye out on the Disney Careers site. Postings in the graphic design field appear every now and then and something might intrigue you.

 

[mkt]

Which other ones are there that pay well?