Once upon a time...,
You submitted your application to the Disney Cultural Exchange Program in Walt Disney World and ✨Fairy Godmother chanced upon your submission. Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo! You get an interview! ✨ Hot Dog! As Mickey would say.
(Gotta inject a little storytelling to keep the positive vibes flowin' every chance I get, right?)
In all seriousness, a common question I've received lately relates to the group interview, resume and cover letter prepation. Now, I am not a formally trained career coach, so this article is written based on my personal experience from past interviews, including the 2-round interview for the DCEP.
Resume
This is the one tool in career hunting and personal branding which I strongly encourage students to prepare as early on as possible. Reason being, a resume does take some trial and error with formatting, layout and content. I remember having at least 4-5 versions before finding the one that worked out for me. Here are 3 key takeaways I learnt from sending out my resume the last few years.
1. One piece of paper
The consensus when you google advice about making a resume is to keep your resume within the length of a single piece of paper (2-pages). This way it's easier for your future interviewer or employer to get a good summary of your experience within the 6-7seconds they take to read through your resume.
2. Place (relevant) Work Experience before Education
This goes to those of you who have done an internship at a marketing firm over the summer or worked at a construction site for your Industrial Attachment managing a site team. I was advised once by a mentor to place Work Experience before Education on my format. I found this strange intially because I was still in school and had only done 2 internships. But
In the DCEP's context, I included 1-2 part time F&B and Hospitality jobs I had done recently. Normally one wouldn't include them for a job application to Google but it definitely is related to the roles in a theme park. In fact, it caught the eye of the Disney recruiter and she asked me more about my part time stint at a coffee kiosk in the busy financial district which led to my role (at least to my suspicion haha) in Outdoor Vending, serving guests with the classic theme park snacks - popcorn, pretzels, mickey bars, and the likes. The role also involved dealing with a fast turnover rate and guests whom expect top service lickety-split, which I had experienced in my coffee kiosk. So, tailoring the work experience in your resume to the job you're applying for does contribute to an effective resume.
If you don't have any work experience at all yet, fret not. You can tap into the Education or Co-curricular Activities sections to expound on what you have done in school to develop your skills. Perhaps you participated in a youth program where you interacted with young children or you love doing beach cleanups for your school's environmental group. Include those involvements too!
3. Include Additional Exposure and Certifications
I used to think employers wouldn't be interested if I had taught myself how to use Adobe Lightroom or if I had gotten certified as an Scuba Diver during my university years. This could not be more untrue. It's always good to include a brief list of side hobbies, interests that you enjoy - it shows employers that you have a interests beyond just school or your field.
Group Interview (by NUS)
Let's go back to Fairy Godmother's office where she had picked up your application and decided to sprinkle some Bibbidi Bobbidi magic and the NUS interviewer emails you back.
Filled with thrill and excitement, you now wonder what you need to do to prepare for the interview.
Here are some things you can do to prepare:
Read up about the Walt Disney Company and the values Walt Disney built the company on- this is good practice when applying for any job
Read up on the roles offered and what they entail, which you are interested in/skilled for
Get your interview outfit laid out and ready the day before - reduces the early morning jitters and rush
Be confident! The interviewers want to know more about you, and how you'd fit into the programme.
It has been 5 years since my programme but the few questions, more generally targeted, that I do recall had to do with your interest in the programme; your experience with Disney growing up; and the relevant experience based on your resume. These are questions that you can definitely prepare for, but of course, try not to memorise your answers to keep your response authentic and genuine :) If you have not done a group interview before, it's a similar setting as a normal interview except there will be other candidates with you and each of you will take turns to answer the questions. But fear not as they will definitely give you time to share your take.
I have attached a sample of the resume layout I use below for you to refer to. I designed it on Canva, the free content creating website, but you can get the same result using Microsoft Office too. For students in my alma mater, the NUS Centre for Future Ready Graduates (CFG) also has many tools online to help you prepare for interviews, cover letters and resumes. One that I have tried is VMock (click here for link), an online platform where you can upload your resume and the programme assesses the effectiveness of your resume based on language used, formatting, sections included etc.
CFG also has workshops and career advisory services you can tap into. I remember setting up an appointment with my faculty's career advisor to get advise on how to start a cover letter and where to begin when searching for internship opportunities. They have revamped the webpage from my undergraduate years and it seems to offer much more user-friendly guides and resources.
MY RESUME TEMPLATE
Disney Recruiter Interview
After you've passed the internal interview at NUS, shortlisted candidates will go through a second round of interviews with the Disney Recruiter. And yes I do mean an actual Walt Disney Company Recruiter. But you need not be too worried about impressing the interviewer, as written earlier, just be you.
That being said, here's some advice. The interviews are straight forward and simple - getting to know you and your prior work experience, skills as written in your resume and your expectations of the program.
There could be a situational question or two, like:
tell me about an experience you had when dealing with a difficult person/boss/teacher etc.
tell me about a time when you made a guest/customer happy at a previous job
One thing to note is that Walt Disney World Resort does have 4 theme parks, 2 waterparks and a mini golf course (plus many hotels) of which most of its attractions are situated outdoors. The programme takes place in the summer season and Florida summers can get quite hot, though less humid than Singapore definitely, so you'll have to be comfortable working outdoors. The Disney Recruiter will potentially ask this question as well; linked to the question about your role(s) preference.
Another is whether you have any tattoos or body modifications. Previously, these were advised against to uphold the "Disney Look" - a set of guidelines that uphold the company's branding and values. In 2021/2022, there was an update to the guidelines which allowed for some leniency and creative expression, tastefully. My advice is, be upfront if asked this question. I only had 2 piercings on my ear lobes so I just briefly mentioned it.
Other questions included (based on my interview and other DCEP-ers' interviews):
Do you mind working on mornings, evenings, weekends and holidays?
What are your top 3 roles? And why?
Are you open to QSFB (Quick Service Food & Beverage - THAT'S ME!) and Custodial?
Who's your favourite Disney Character? (Disney = Disney, Pixar, Marvel, and Star Wars by the way)
Are you comfortable handling money?
What is your favourite memory of Disney?
I hope this helps in your application journey! Let me know in the comments or drop me a dm on Instagram if you'd like to know more about a specific Disney topic or the Disney Cultural Exchange Program 😁
See ya real soon friends!
And remember your daily scoop of pixie dust! ;)
Comments