Two veterans of Disneyland’s College Program spoke to their hometown Newspaper about their experiences working for the mouse in Anaheim.
Voudy was offered a job in merchandising at California Adventure retail stores, and Iadarola as a vacation planner or ticket salesperson. As interns, they were paid the same hourly rate as any other employee, or cast member, as they are called. Housing in a nearby apartment complex was provided at cost of about $100 a week. Food was not included.
During orientation and training, the women quickly caught on to the Disney-speak that is part of the park’s culture.
“Don’t say ‘uniform’, say ‘costume’,” Voudy said. “Don’t say ‘employees’, say ‘cast members’. Don’t say ‘customer’, say ‘guest’. Don’t say ‘behind the scenes’, say ‘backstage’.”
Working for Disney once had a lot of cache on the old resume. If you’ve been through the College Program (either Disneyland or Walt Disney World) recently, are you still finding that Disney’s name carries some leverage with future employers?
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I worked the WDW College Program, graduated this past May of 2010 and sad to say NO, this does not impress people at all. It was a fun experience and helped me land a job at the Disney Store in my home town, that I quit 5 months later due to poor management, but every resume since then it doesn’t even matter. Again great experience if anyone ever wanted to go, I could tell ya some stories, but at least here in IL, it’s not helping me at all on the job front.
Did the Disneyland College Program in 1997 & 1998 as an attractions host. I don’t think potential employers are impressed by having it on my resume, but it makes for fun conversation. Every job interview I’ve had since then has devolved into the interviewer asking me all sorts of questions about Disneyland for the rest of the interview once they discover it on my resume.
I’ve always ended up getting the job after that though, so I suppose it works in that manner! ;)
I did the WDWCP in 1996 and can say that it impressed a few of the part time retailing jobs that I had while in college. However, it did nothing to help me get my first real post-graduation job and has since done nothing further to help my career.
Having said that, I had a great time, learned a lot, and would not change a thing!
I did the WDWCP in Fall of 2004 as a CP, and later worked on my school’s recruiting team, and I agree with Matthew and Steve. It sparks a lot of conversation and interest, but I can’t say that it’s gotten me interviews or any particular job. However, in my current job its well known that Disney employment is in my background, so I’m often looked to for customer service advice when planning my events.
For my personal life, I still feel it was a valuable experience and I would do the whole thing all over again.
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