Professional Positions

[Fatshe Leso]

A lot of talk in this forum is centered around the college program or working inside the theme parks. I was wondering if there are any posters here that have a professional position with the Walt Disney company. If so what are your experiences like? How did you first get in the company?

Any thoughts/experiences that you could share would be appreciated.

 

[Steve-B]

Ditto!!
I've wanted to know this since my first trip in 1986.

 

[rmforney]

Working for the Mouse in the professional arena is really no different than any other big American corporation. I worked in legal at WDW for about 4 ½ years and I loved every bit of it. I will say that Disney is one of the most red-tapey (is that even a word?) corporations I’ve ever seen, which does lead to some frustrations when faced with various deadlines. Likewise, the department I was in had a bit (read, large) of a problem with nepotism, though I understand that had been dealt with.

To answer your question, the old adage, “it’s not what you know it’s who you know,” does hold some truth. I got in through a friend who was in commercial real-estate development, and likewise was good friends with some of the bigwigs at the old Disney Vacation Development (that’s what ultimately became Disney Vacation Club.)

All-in-all, I was very happy there and if the situation were right, I’d go back…


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