The earliest I could schedule my phone interview was October 2nd at 8:15am, which was 10 days after I took the WBI. It was a long time to wait compared to other people who applied earlier and could interview the next day, but I was just relieved I actually got a phone interview!! I started feeling more confident and excited about the program! However, I knew there was still SO MUCH I needed to prepare for! I scoured the internet for a list of possible interview questions.
These two blogs helped A LOT:
Alyssa's Dream Come True: Interview Questions/Tips
...and all our wishes will come true
Plus the Unofficial DCP Guide Question List
These links had a HUGE list of questions that I copied into a word doc and wrote out all my answers too! Except knowing myself, if I had simply wrote out my answers without practice, it would sound WAY too rehearsed and totally unnatural. So I did what any independent, strong-minded, young woman would do....
I called my mom every night for 3-4 nights in a row and practiced with her for 1-2.5 hours at a time! I knew what I wanted to say for most of the answers, but she would help me figure out the best way to say it and how to not sound rehearsed! I must've changed my "Why I want to do the DCP" answer at least 3 times!! They ask that question 99.9% of the time! It's the one they always start with.
In fact, the three questions you ABSOLUTELY should be prepared to answer are:
1. Why you want to do the program?
2. Tell me about your past work experience
3. What are your top 3-5 roles and why?
Two tips you'll hear over and over again are to SMILE when you talk (this was not even a concern for me) because they can tell over the phone! Also to find a quiet room and be prepared 15min early or for them to call 15min late. This was a little more concerning to me because I live in a sorority house with 39 girls. My room is right across from the bathroom which is basically chit chat central. I told everyone ahead of time which was good because everyone was quiet during the interview! (except like 5min before it was getting kind of loud and I was like OMGOMGOMG stop!! But by the time the phone rang it was all good :) I just get distracted so easily with noise!!
The night before the interview I practiced one last time with my mom, and I was up until 2am looking at Disney blogs and videos. Right before I went to bed, I watched this video, and out of tiredness/love for disney I actually got teary eyed at one point! So embarrassing...but the video is actually really great!
I ended up not falling asleep until about 3am. This was how I set my alarm, better safe than sorry!!
I was so tired, and I had a long day of school and work ahead of me. Plus I was feeling nauseous. It was weird, my mind was calm but my body was like YOU SHALL FEEL VERY SICK. I drank some green tea to wake up, ate cereal, played words with friends with my parents, put on my disney world t-shirt, and called my mom and dad one last time because I knew they were awake too.
At 7:50 I sat in the middle of my room with my phone and put on disney music. I tried taking deep breaths but my heart was pounding!! Except finally at around 8:10, I suddenly felt really relaxed. My mindset changed from nervous to
At 8:17 my interviewer called! They usually call from a Blocked number.
She was friendly, but seemed a little tired, however she became more and more animated as the conversation went on! I was definitely over-prepared. The interview was REALLY straightforward! I had prepared so many different scenario questions that people do get asked often. I didn't get asked any! Most of the questions I got were very this or that. Such as do you prefer working indoors or outdoors, with a team or individual, Disneyland or Disney World, are you familiar with The Disney Look, are you okay with working for minimum wage, etc. (I told her honestly I would do this for free, and she laughed at that and said she would too!) We talked about how rewarding the experience itself is, and getting paid is just a plus!
The other questions I got asked were, of course, Why I wanted to do this internship, work experience, and my top 4 roles and why? But there were no follow up scenario questions to my role selections, which was very surprising. (I will go into detail about my top 4 in my next post!) I didn't remember right away (it was all a blur!) but looking back I think I also got asked Which character I was most like and why and What three words would my co-workers describe me as? I answered Mickey Mouse, because he faces challenges with a smile and positive attitude, loves all his friends, and is a natural leader! And the three words I said were happy, energetic, and efficient.
At the end of the interview they always ask if you have any questions for them. In any interview it is always best to have a question in mind to show you're interested! I asked if she thought it was best to bring a car to the program and her favorite parts of her DCP experience. This sparked a long conversation which was great!
I swore she said at the beginning of the interview her name was Betty. So naturally, at the end of the interview I said "Thank you so much, Betty!" Her name was Debbie.
She said she gets that a lot though. I told her I should've known since my mom's name is Debbie. She said oh how funny! :)
I was very happy with how the interview went! Which of course called for 1 minute of dancing around to Disney music in my room like a goober. I told myself even if I don't get in, there was nothing I could've possibly done or said better, which made me feel really good.
This doesn't mean I was confident about getting accepted though. Everyone was telling me that I should have nothing to worry about, and I was meant to do this, and all that other good stuff...which was really nice of people to say! But that still doesn't mean that the 10,000-22,000 other people who apply each semester aren't meant to do this either! Only around 3,000-7,000 are accepted. I was deathly afraid of being PENDED which is basically like being put on a wait list, and you don't find out until December 14th if you're rejected/accepted. SO SCARY!!! Some people wrote on the wall saying they've been pended like 2 or 3 times before and this was their 3rd or 4th time applying! They said they felt so relaxed/confident/happy during their interview too! I really had no idea what to expect. Like everyone else applying, I just wanted to know!!!
My interviewer said I would find out in two weeks.
I knew this was not really true because people post on the group wall saying they have found out in 2 days, 3 days, 4 days, 5 days, all the way up to 3-4 weeks!
Let the "waiting game" begin!
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