I am so excited to announce that I have officially accepted a 6-month internship position with Walt Disney Parks and Resorts! As of now, (I think) I will be performing quantitive and qualitative research for their strategic planning.

I wanted to write a quick post about my interview experience.

Lets start from the beginning

I have been applying to Disney internships for a while now. Over the past 2 years, I have probably applied to over 30 positions. 2 years ago, I even got to the second round of interviews for a consumer insight position last Spring. No dice.

This time around, I applied for maybe 8 different positions in marketing and analytics. After this round of applications, I got (what seemed like) an automated email asking me to choose a time for a screening interview with the recruiter. I chose the earliest available time slot (recency effect here!). I think I was mostly asked basic questions such as: What is your greatest weakness, etc. Since the interview was back in January, I am not sure about the interview questions. But I do remember thinking that the interview went really well. About 3 weeks later, I got the rejection email.

BUT: Shortly after the rejection email, I got another (what seemed like) automated email telling me to apply for another position! This position was definitely something more obscure (which is why I didn’t apply for it in the first place), but I was still qualified and it definitely spiked my interest. After I applied, the same recruiter reached out to tell me she enjoyed our initial conversation for the first position. However, she said, the hiring manager decided to interview a different set of candidates. She sent me this position (ha! it wasn’t automated!) because she thought I would still be a good fit somewhere at WDW.

From there, I interviewed one more time and performed a case study. The interview consisted of many different questions like:

•  Describe a time you were put in a difficult situation at work and describe how you handled the situation.
• Describe a work environment that you would not enjoy working in. For this question, I can see how many people would either answer “A team environment because I prefer working alone” or “In an environment where I get to work with a team because I enjoy working with others.” I did not want to rule myself out of either of those working environments, so I answered with a truthful response where I do not get ruled out in either situation. I said, “I do enjoy woking in a team where I can bounce ideas off of people. I can also work alone with very good intuition in what direction a project should go without having to ask. However, I would not flourish in an environment where I am working on a team with people that prefer working alone.”
• Which Disney character would you be and why? I said Goofy because he always has a positive attitude and is taller than most (like me!).

About a week after that interview, I was scheduled to perform a 2 hour case study. I had no idea what to expect going into the process, so I did not prepare at all (except for getting some scratch paper and a fully charged laptop). The case study was not difficult and I think they were measuring my intuition and creativity. It kind of felt like a “take-home assignment” for an Intro to Management class.

I know any interview process can be very stressful, but it should be a breeze if you truly know about the company, if you are qualified for the position, and if you can deliver your best self. If you have made it to the interview process, you are qualified. They wouldn’t interview you if you weren’t. The recruiter wants to find the best fit for the position.

Be on the lookout for some future posts from The Happiest Place on Earth!

 

Keep moving Fourward,

Ash