The Phone Interview!!

Hi everyone! I hope your morning/day is going well! I am currently at work (as always) and I am just waiting for the morning fog to go away. If anyone is reading this from Florida or where Hurricane Mathew is headed, just know I am thinking of you all and praying for you! Stay safe! That Hurricane looks vicious and its crazy how much damage it really can do!


My sister and I have been anxiously waiting for January to come. I definitely have so many different emotions about it that seem to take place all at the same time. I am super excited and blessed to be able to be a part of a program such as this! I have been researching this forever and when the time came it was a very surreal moment that I was actually finally applying. I also have nervous feelings about it too. I am nervous about moving out of my house for a bit since I have never lived independently. I am nervous about what is actually going to happen during the program. Many things. But what has helped through this whole rollercoaster of emotions is that I have my twin by my side through it all. One big difference between Megan and I is that she is totally ready and okay with moving out and living her own life. I am someone that loves new adventures but this one is just definitely one that came fast. When I was in high school, I went to a church camp for a week at Fort Lewis College called CIY. We would stay in the dorms there with our youth group and just worship and praise God all week. Which was AMAZING! The not so amazing part of it all was how I was homesick. Before heading to that trip, I figured I would be a lot like my sister; ready to leave and thrive. But that became clear that I am going to have a much harder time with these kinds of situations. I know the moment we drive away from my house, I am going to be crying and having doubts about the whole thing. Because where I have lived and my family that I have lived with is all I have ever known. Leaving that comfort zone is something I knew would come, but I didn't know exactly how it would feel. I am going to definitely struggle a bit when I get to Florida but I know that I will be able to adapt to my new comfort zone and all in all, this experience is something that I need. I need to experience life on my own and find myself away from my family that I love dearly. I need to find that feeling of being ready to leave and start my own life. Okay sorry for this rant. I had it on my mind and had to get it out.


NOW ON TO THE FUN STUFF!


The Phone Interview. If you have made it this far in the process, you should feel very proud and grateful of yourself. Some people that apply never even make it into the Web-Based Interview let alone the Phone Interview so if this is as far as you make it, that's pretty great. Some people are placed into Submission status and stay that way until the very end of the process.


The Phone Interview was actually a step in the process that I was excited for. The application and WBI were great but the thing about them is that no one is actually able to hear you and hear the passion that you have. They are not able to get to know you at all and are basically just looking at the skills you have and work ethic before they even know what you are like. I had never actually had a phone interview before, but I knew that this was my chance to show my interviewer why I wanted to do this program and why I would fit well at this competitive program.


I started watching a lot of Vlogs that gave advice for the interview and read countless blogs about what I could expect. I had a lot of time before my interview (August 22nd was my Phone Interview) and so I couldn't focus on anything but the interview. I would write down questions and answer them in my head so that I would at least feel familiar with what they might ask.


In some of the blogs/vlogs, they talked about making a 'cheat sheet' that had questions on it and bullet point answers to help if I got stuck on a surprising question. I am someone that loves notes and it eases my mind to make sure I have something to reference so this tip was one that I definitely carried out! The way that I did it was type the questions that some said were asked and then put bullet points under of like 2-3 words that would help me if I got tongue-tied in my answer. I made sure to organize them in sections like "Housing", "Disney Related", "Program Related" "General ?s about me" "Photopass" (Role Specific headings).... etc..
This definitely helped me a lot because not only did I keep it short answers, I made sure to organize it in a way where I wouldn't have to skim every question to find my answer. Instead of just keeping it on paper that could potentially make a lot of noise, I got a very thick poster board that wouldn't bend or move. I attacked the pages onto the poster board and then I also had sticky notes around it that helped me remember to stay positive and calm. I had one that highlighted the 4 keys of Disney; Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency. This helped because it made me make sure my answers were fitting at least one of these keys.


I scheduled my Phone Interview at about 2:45 MDT which was 4:45 in Florida and something that they mention is that the interview can call anywhere from 15 minutes earlier to 15 minutes later of your scheduled time. That day I got done with work at 12 and before heading home, I went to dance with some friends in my dance group so that my mind was not racing too much! That definitely made me calm! I went home around 2 and that way I would have enough time to gather my thoughts and get my set up ready. At about 2:30 I got a call from an Unknown Caller and I knew that my interview was happening 15 minutes before just like they said.


I picked up the phone and said hello as well as my name and the Interviewer introduced herself as Cheraine (not sure how to spell it) and she told me that she loved my name and knew that it was from the movie Steel Magnolias! She said that she could recite the whole movie if I wanted her to and from there on, I knew that the interview was going to be way calmer than I thought.
*If you ever get Cheraine, congratulations because she was so awesome! She was super nice and she just made me feel calm and like I was talking to my best friend! Which was so great for my nerves!*


She asked me questions about if I have a drivers license, if I had any tattoos or piercings, if I have ever lived with roommates before... just very general questions that are really easy to answer because they are literally about you.


She then moved on to what she called "The fun part" and reminded me of what roles I had put interest in. She asked me questions like why I wanted to do the program and how it could help me in the future. She asked me role specific questions for Character Attendant, Photopass and Character Performer (Reminding me that I would have to attend an audition) and Children's Activities. Photopass was the one that I was aiming for, but I would basically take anything. Except for Custodial because I am scared of bees and they said if you are scared of bees you may not like that role haha!


At the end she asked if I had any questions and I did! I asked about taking classes while doing the program, I asked about continuing in the company after the program and I asked her what she took away from her program that she did!


It was a 42 minute Interview and I ended it feeling very happy and confident in myself! After that all I could do was wait!!


TIPS:
Like I said before, Take notes but not too detailed of notes about what you want to say. Even if its just a reminder to mention something while having your interview. Of course if you just want to go into the interview blindly and un rehearsed, that can totally work too! Its whatever works best for you!


Make sure you take a picture of your roles that you put interest in. I wrote down to do that, but I forgot and I wish I had taken or at least wrote down what I put. It would have made it easy to reference and then I would also have remembered.


If you have a role that you are really interested in, feel free to express that to the interviewer! They want to know what you want and they will take that into consideration. They may not be able to give you that exactly but they will definitely write it down.


If you tell your interviewer that you are interested in Character Performer she will 'sign you up' for a certain city that is holding auditions. BUT if you are unable to attend after all, it will not affect you in any way. They will offer you another role.


Here are some questions that might be asked during your interview:

What does Disney mean to you?

How will the college program help you professionally?

What are you most looking forward to?

What makes you a good candidate for the program?

What are three positive qualities about yourself?

What are three negative qualities about yourself?

What can you offer the company?

What Disney character is most like you?

What’s a magical moment you have had in the Disney parks?

Tell me about your past jobs/work experience

Tell me about a time where you made a guest happy at a job

How would your bosses (past and present) describe you?

Tell me about a time you didn’t get along with your co-workers

Tell me about a time where a customer was difficult. How did you handle it?

Do you mind working and living far away from home?

Do you mind working outside in the Florida heat or inside in cold air conditioning?

Would you rather work independently or in a group setting?

Would you rather work in a slow or fast-paced environment?

How would you handle an emergency?

How would you handle a guest who doesn’t speak English but clearly needs help?

Do you mind working mornings, evenings, late nights, weekends, and holidays?

How would you make a guest’s day?

What does character integrity mean to you?

Character Attendant

What would you do if a guest was being violent or inappropriate towards a character?

How would you react to a child who is afraid of a character?

What would you tell guests if you had to turn them away because a line to meet a character was closed for the day?

What would you tell a child who asked why the fur characters don’t speak? (Hint: if you’re asked this, say something like “Mickey Mouse is saving his voice for the parade later!”)

How would you tell someone that (insert name of character here) has to leave? (Another hint: Daisy has to get ready for her date with Donald/Buzz Lightyear has to go change his batteries.)

Attractions

If you were doing a task that was repetitive, how would you keep yourself interested in it?

Have you ever spoken in front of a large group of people?/Are you comfortable speaking in front of a large audience?

Housing

Have you ever lived in a dorm or with other people?

Have you ever lived alone?

How do you feel about the apartment/dorm setting?

How would you handle being away from home?

How would you handle a roommate disagreement?

What do you think the worst aspect of Disney Housing would be?

These are examples of some questions that might be asked. There is no guarantee which ones will be asked to you because each interviewer is different but just use these as a guide and you will do great! Good luck!


See ya real soon,
M'lyn Miller