By Guest Blogger Christina F.

So you’re in college or have a child who is and they (or you) have always wanted to work for Disney. The Disney College Program (DCP) makes that nice and easy.

The first thing to do is to head to the College Program Website (http://www.wdwcollegeprogram.com) to see if there will be a live presentation for you. If not, no fear, you can view the online presentation.

Once you view a presentation you will be able to do the application and Web Based Interview(WBI). This is a very important step that a lot of people gloss over. It takes about 20 minutes and has a lot of questions that you have to answer on a scale ranging from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. The best tip for the WBI is to be consistent and try not to be too neutral. There are many questions that are the same but worded differently to be sure that you are really reading the questions.

The first thing to know about the DCP is to figure out when you would want to go. For the majority of students (culinary students aside) there are five seasons. Spring, Spring Advantage, Summer Alumni, Fall and Fall Advantage. As the name implies, Summer Alumni is for Alumni of the program so first timers cannot go just for the fall.

Spring/Spring Advantage – Your arrival will be in January/Early February. Spring ends May while Spring Advantage ends in August. Fall/Fall Advantage – Fall Advantage arrives in May/Early June while Fall arrives in August/Early September and both programs end in January. The length of the programs is really the only difference between them.  Applications for Spring are generally released in August while applications for Fall are generally released in February.

There are lots of roles that you can apply for – everything from Attractions to Housekeeping to Quick Service Food & Beverage to Transportation to Character Performer and so many more (for a full list, check out https://www.wdwcollegeprogram.com/sap/its/mimes/zh_wdwcp/students/role_descr/onstage.html)

If you pass the WBI you will be given a phone number to call and schedule your phone interview. Be sure that you pick a time that you can be in a quiet room and have 30-45 minutes free. Be sure to smile, believe it or not, your smile can be heard in your voice and we all know that Cast Members are known for being a happy bunch.

Once you get through the interview, the waiting game is upon you. Most applicants are told that it will take 4-6 weeks to hear a decision. Many are much quicker (it took 8 days for mine); however some are the full time.

You will get one of three responses: Accepted, Declined or Pending. Accepted is exactly what it means. You’ll get a package in the mail telling you what role you’ve been cast into and what your pay will be. You will have a deadline to go online and accept this and choose your check-in date. Declined is not what you’re looking for, but not everyone is accepted. You can try to apply again for the next season.

Pending is the hard one. It is pretty much a wait list. You are given a “drop dead” date that you’ll hear one way or another. That is the hardest wait.

So what are you waiting for – go, apply. Live and work at Disney. Make magic. It really is an amazing experience.