Thursday 28 April 2011

Roll on 4th June...!

Well, it's the day before a historic event is happening in the form of the wedding of Prince William and Catherine 'Kate' Middleton, I'm super excited about it despite the saturated media coverage... let's face it, mainly because her name is the same as mine! Heehee!

Anyway, the point of this post is to say - I have a face to face interview!!! I am mucho excited about this and it's on the 4th June at the Disney HQ in Hammersmith. That place is AMAZING and I can't wait to go back! It will be nice to have an interview in the warmer climate and so not have to carry a coat around with me! I already booked my train tickets (leaving Bristol at 6.31am - ouch!) and it should get into Paddington at 8.07am. Now, this does only leave me with about 50 minutes to get to the interviews but it's only about 6 stops on the tube on one line so I'm hoping I'll be okay. Last time I travelled there I was going from Waterloo station which was why it took me longer so I'm hoping I'll have plenty of time and will successfully find the back entrance to Disney HQ as, again, it's a Saturday and the front entrance will probably be shut!

So, this will probably be my last post for a while seen as the interview is over a month away...  in the mean time I will be trying to prepare for the questions and of course, deciding what to wear!

Sunday 24 April 2011

I need to break back into Mousecatraz!

So I've just completed reading a book called 'Mousecatraz' (click here to see it on Amazon) which is a book written by an ex-CP (college program cast member) with many contributions from other CPs, CMs and Managers throughout the WDW Resort. It is very geared towards the domestic American CP however several parts of the books were particularly identifiable for me even as an International CP. I have read the book in the space of about 24 hours as when I get on well with a particular book I tend to read it super fast! It made me laugh, smile and even feel a bit teary! It's not the most sophisticated writing or complex narrative but that isn't what the College Program is about. It's about memories.

WDW's latest theming for 2011/2012 is "Let The Memories Begin" and I think this is definitely an appropriate one for anyone undertaking a CP. As an applicant wanting to go back to Florida for a third program, a few people have made it clear to me that they don't think it's worth it or that it is a bit of a pointless exercise. But I couldn't agree less, especially after reading that book. Yes, it's true that by participating in the CRP I won't be gaining a full time permanent job, residency in the USA or an educational qualification... but life is about more than that - it's about experiencing new things and meeting new people. I've spent just over six months back at home in Bristol now and I feel completely claustrophobic. I spend a lot of time at work, partially because it means I can talk to people who also work for the Mouse but also because I find home life so boring when there aren't theme parks to visit, fast food restaurants open 24 hours a day or Butterbeer to drink! I can understand how my application is seen by third-party observers but that's just it - nobody understands what being a CP is like unless they've also been one! From my point of view, going back for a year-long CP would provide me with the opportunity to do lots of things I haven't done before, gain more working experience and network, make new friends and visit new places in the USA which I would love to see. Yes, I will come home and be back at square one... but then again, maybe I wouldn't be at square one - maybe another program will provide a route to square two??

Tuesday 19 April 2011

The Phone Interview

Well, I had my phone interview last Friday and I have to say that I was probably the most nervous out of all my phone interviews in the minutes beforehand! I tried to distract myself for the hour leading up to it by having a shower and then straightening my hair (one of my least favourite pastimes!) before sitting down at about 9.40am to have a read through of my notes.

Yes, I had notes... I don't remember using notes in any of my previous phone interviews but this seems so important to me that I didn't want to get stuck and it also helped me think of some good/unusual points rather than the things which automatically come to me straight away. Using other blogs and Vlogs (Video Blogs - I'm thinking of doing these in the future possibly!) I knew some of the questions they could potentially ask me. Some would say this is unfair but to be honest, having been through two ICP phone interviews I was expecting similar questions. The main difference (which was one of the reasons I did notes!) was that I knew I'd be asked a culture-related question as, after all, it is called the Cultural Representative Program. I knew this was my key to making the answers to my questions more relevant than I gave at the ICP phone interviews as it's the main difference between the two programs (except length of course).

So... I sat at my desk shaking my hands to try and get the nervousness out of me and then suddenly my phone rang at about 2 minutes to 10am. I was expecting them to call my home phone as that's the primary number I gave them but they actually rang my mobile... so cue quick dash across the room to be near the window as my signal is highly dodgy in my house and the last thing I wanted was to be cut off from Yummy Jobs by Orange! My interviewer was Amy and she was lovely... very easy to talk to and (as usual) the interview was more of a chat than an actual interview. She asked me the predicted questions regarding my personal appearance (piercings and tattoos), my availability (she laughed when I said "Well, I'm really available from next week!) and what role I would opt for (I said I had more experience in Merchandise but I'd be perfectly happy to do Food & Beverage alternatively). She then moved onto the more specific questions (well... kind of!) as obviously she had my application and CV in front of her. First she just asked me to talk about myself and my motivations and then moved onto questions such as why I wanted to do the program and how I'd feel about living away for a year, customer situations and the expected question regarding my hometown - it made me glad I researched Bristol prior to the interview! But really... there was nothing unexpected in there which I was glad about as it didn't throw me off or make me nervous. My nerves really disappeared as soon as I started talking to her... it was just the waiting I couldn't bear! So, all in all, the phone interview was fine, I did the best I could and the questions were very similar to those I'd seen and heard about online.

She also mentioned we'd hear within the next 2-3 weeks and that the face to face interviews would be in the first week of June which is a relief because it means I don't have to think about the awful possibility that I'd be on holiday for them! Of course, it all depends on whether I actually get a face to face interview! Fingers crossed!

Wednesday 13 April 2011

You have one new email!

Well, as I walked out of work yesterday, I turned on my Blackberry as per usual. It's a novelty for me to have this constant connection to my emails as for my previous two Disney programs I have had to make my way to a computer for any communication from Yummy Jobs, so it's really exciting to be able to recieve emails instantly now! It pinged as I'd recieved an email and I just knew it was going to be Yummy Jobs, and it was! I had an email informing me that I'd been invited to a phone interview and they'd email me again with the details on how to book it.

YAY!

It might seem a bit odd that I'm surprised I got a phone interview, but the competition seems to be so stiff this year that any further into the applications process is an achievement in itself. I'm not a huge fan of phone interviews as I tend to talk too fast and forget what I've said with the nervousness of it all but hopefully it will all work out! So when I came out of work today I got another email telling me to log onto the website to book a slot. As soon as I got home, I logged onto the YJ website and booked my interview for this Friday morning! It's in less than 48 hours which is a bit scary but the only other time I was free to have it would have been next Thursday and I don't think I can wait over a week for this crucial stage! I decided it was better to have the phone interview soon, get it over and done with and then try to forget about it until we get an email with the outcome!

The reason I had such limited availability for the phone interviews is because it's now the Easter holidays and I'm keeping myself very busy by working the (insane) amount of 19 days in a row. It's a mix of my two jobs - indeed some days I'm actually doing both jobs in one day (e.g. tomorrow). It's a good thing tho to keep my mind off the process - after a full three months of waiting for a response from YJ, everything is now moving faster and I should know within the next two months or so whether I'll be going back to Florida which is quite exciting! I'm hoping for the best (obviously) but at the end of the day - what will be, will be. But keep your fingers crossed for me anyway!