I heard from Alexis today

Lol I've got ages so I guess I'll do some preparation, but I'm already very competent at babbling! Thanks

 

hey guys i got the email today about the phone interviews, so pleased....
sorry to hear about u guys that didn't get through keep trying.

 

Well, I emailed Alexis this morning, and she replied asking me to give her a call to discuss the application. She explained that they're looking for people with more experience in the food and beverage areas, which I don't have much of, which is why I wasn't chosen as one of the interviewees

I'm now trying to think about it, since my mind went blank when I was on the phone :-\

Andy.

 

Really?!. I dont have any experience in F&B and I made it to the F2F.

I have worked in an airport, clothes shops and i'm now a receptionist. Im started to get a bit worried cos if i have to re-apply i might not get past the application stage! Maybe i should get a part-time job in a restaurant or pub just in case!? :-\

xxx

 

Hey all,

Sorry to hear about the phone interviews, but like someone said, you should keep trying. I think that's something they look for, drive and determination and a strong desire to work for Disney. Having food and beverage experience isn't a must, in my opinion since there are other areas at Disneyworld you can work in, anywhere from working in a hotel, custodial work, to being a lifeguard! If you argue your case and demonstrate that you have experience in other areas, I don't see why they wouldn't at least give you an interview.

About phone interviews, I didn't really know it was an interview when I had mine. They never told me about it so I just thought they wanted some more information. I think the phone interview is not finding out the best applicants, it is to determine whether or not you would fit within the WDW organization and if you could cope with the living experience.

As for the F2F interviews, you can do some preparation for them, but don't give made-up answers, a good interviewer can tell and can ask you more questions to prove that you've made it up. What you can do, is find some common questions interviewers ask, and answer them honestly. Some questions like, "Why do you want to work for this organization", "What are some of your strengths?" or "What are some of your weaknesses?". You can find a multitude of them searching on google. The point of this is not so you can find answers you think they'll be looking for, its so that you know ahead of time who you are and how to best describe yourself without taking forever to think of it at the interview. It is OK to take a few seconds to reflect when being interviewed, but if you take to long, it gives a bad impression. Anyways, as kerrberr said, just be yourself! They're not necessarily looking for the person with the best skills, they're looking for people who best fit the position. Smile, get excited and be friendly!

Sorry this was a bit long, hope it helps!

 

Search back through the old threads and there is a ton of tips and what to expects for the phone interviews.... best tip I can give is be friendly, be yourself and SMILE, I know it sounds silly but you can hear it in your voice even over the phone (try it when you have a minute or two by yourself, you will see what I mean).

You will probably be asked about your home town, why Disney, what you would take with you to represent your country, how do you feel about sharing a room with people you don't know/ from a different country, that kind of thing. It is like a 15 minute friendly chat and Alexis and Jason are lovely so no worries there. They do understand that you are nervous, so as long as you don't swear or answer "Why Disney?" with, "Well I've loved Daffy Duck for the longest time!" you should be fine.

Best of luck!

 

it true u can hear a smile.

Get a mirror and practise what ur gonna say once u get past the whole feeling stupid talking at a mirror u gain confidence in what u r saying. But above all else smile and be yourself, be polite ask how alexis /jason are. Look back thru here i dont wanna make it easy for ya. Its a big commitment make sure its what u want too because there are a lot of ppl after the same position and some people only want to do it for the fun lifestyle going out drinking every nite living in florida which is awesome but some of us actually want to work for disney and learn from it. Anyways i sound like a right moaner... alexis and jason are great so dont worry u will be fine.

Good luck

Mike

 

the biggest problem i had with the phone interview was the question about my home time...i wasn't excpecting it and my mind went blank...so good idea to remember a few things that are interesting. Alexis was really cool and we spent ages just chatting about aberdeen before the interviw... i think she was just trying to calm me down..i was soooo nervous.

mind you now that i have got the job i am so much better in interviews...i just keep thinking if i can get into disney...i can get in anywhere!!!!

to those who didn't get interviews...try try try...i'll be with you at the picketing!!!!!

all tho doowop is right mak sure you are doing it for the right reasons...actually that sounds rubbish...lol..well just be warned if you get there while i am still there and you aren't a disney nerd i will beat you until you are

don't think i wont!!!!!!

 

If they aren't Disney nerds we can force feed them my pixie dust

 

I think I speak on behalf of everyone who has a phone interview when I say thank you sooooooooo much for the advice & tips! ;D

Lol I'm pretty sure my Disney nerdiness is up to scratch, so a beating and being force fed pixie dust is one less thing to worry about!

A couple of things that are worrying me - my town is probably the most boring place in the world, do you think it would be alright to say that in the interview but say that the best thing is that I can easily get into London, and then talk about London?

Also, I don't have any F&B experience (and only 1 summer working in a shop) so do you think it's a good idea to try to get some more relevant experience before then? I'm thinking I might not otherwise have much to say on the 'what would you do if a customer complained' kind of questions.

Thanks

 

I wouldn't worry about specific F&B experience, I think if anything it's more a case of general customer service experience that they might look for.

I figure most of the F&B specific stuff can be taught there (well at least I hope so, otherwise I'm pretty screwed come September!) - and the Disney attitude/personality/ability to get on with people is the more important starting point they look for.

 

No way! you live in Worthing as well?! Seriously though I'd try and think of some positives about the place, nice scenery, lots of history a friendly community, there should be some way of putting a positive spin on the place!

Well getting some bar work in might be a good idea, that way you get to deal with all sorts of people as well as getting plenty of chances to provide excellent customer service.

ps I'm new here!

 

Yes, to be honest I think you would be doing yourself a favour to get some F&B experiance, there are more F&B posts, so you give yourself more chances if you do. Only my opinion though.


As for your home town, where are you? I live in a smallish village which has a prison.... Way to advertise!! I was honest, and said my village has nothing of great interest, but is near St Albans, which has a cathedral and the remains of a roman villa, Tring which has a natural history museum and it is also near London. Show local knowledge as well as knowing you are near a big city

 

That's weird.... they never asked me any questions about my hometown. Maybe it's cause I'm on the ICP and won't necessarily be working in the Canada pavillion at EPCOT.

 

Ah...the stuffed animals of Tring. Back in the day, a walk round that museum and a meal at the Little Chef on the way home constituted a good day out. Or at least, that's what my parents had me believe...

Agree on the local knowledge thing, I almost fell into the talking about London trap, but chances are that's the ONE place Americans will know something about already, so probably best to focus on more personal stuff. I only had a tiny little village to talk about, but (thank god for Roald Dahl), I had just about enough to say.

 

Andrew, you have that cool model village near you too! I loved that place when I was younger!

 

I live in a small town near Chelmsford in Essex. It was purpose built as a commuter town so has very few facilities and no history! I guess the only mildly interesting things in this area are Colchester (oldest town in England) and Southend (although the pier burnt down!).

Very good point - hadn't thought about that!

Maybe I'll go to the library and pick up some local history books - never know what I might find! Ooooh maybe I could mention my town was built on a marsh - kinda like Disney World!!

Thanks again everyone

 

i live in a place called dundee, it is basically the worst known place in scotland for its people and other things ( no offence if there is ne dundee people on here! ) it is known by people as scumdee ... in my phone interview i told it how it is ... its not nice really not much to see you basically wouldnt want to waist your time by going there ... i then said their is also other nice places to see in scotland ( to be honest i couldnt really think of nething interessting ) ... well i hung up the fone and thought oh my god i dont have a chance in hell so i emailed alexis and asked how much the fone interview was taken into account and she told me i had aparently done really well in my fone interview ... so my moto is "just be bloody honest" ;D

good luck peeps xxxxxxxxxxxxx kerri xxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

My home town is pretty boring too guys!! But I live near Portsmouth so its not too bad!

I think with regards to F&B experience it is a good idea to go out and get some. As Andrew said the majority of the roles are F&B (I think there were only 3 people who post on these boards who got merch this time round). Also (and I love you guys you know this), but some of the people who got F&B do not have that much experience in that field, so maybe next time round they are looking for people with more F&B experience.

Of course this is only my opinion and could be rubbish hehe!!

But I mean getting a job in a bar or restaurant of an evening may earn you some significant brownie points, so go for it!

Anyway...Meg I havent spoken to you for AGES!! We must chat soon hunny

Also Andrew...miss you too!!

xKx

 

My hometown rules!! its the best place ever!!

to second queen ana's point anyone who isnt a disney nerd will recieve regular spates of being force fed pixie dust!!

Mike xx