Originally Posted By SSE I don't think I would recommend for anyone to move down to FL and say I want to work for Disney and I don't care what job I do. I did the CP back in 2007 and had such a great time that I went seasonal and continued to work during school breaks. Then in May 2009 I graduated college with my degree and had so much pixie dust in my eyes I decided I was moving to FL and going to work for Disney full time! When I got to FL I worked at my previous location while applying for jobs in my field inside and outside of the Disney Company with no luck. Since I was seasonal I knew that I could only work so long before they capped my hours so since I had no luck getting a job anywhere else I went to casting and put in a request to go fulltime. It took until February of this year for me to get a fulltime position and when I went from seasonal to FT I didn't even get a pay raise. Now I basically struggle just to make ends meet. I make under $8/hr as a ride operator and get treated horribly by guests and Disney management alike. The pixie dust has been washed out of my eyes and now I am trying to find a job back home where I came from with the help of my parents. Who I will be living with again once I do move, just so I can save money and try to pay off some of those lovely student loans. I love Disney a lot and am a huge fan, but being a visitor is nothing like working for them. I want to have a life and explore the world and if I work at Disney I may never get that chance. So if there is anyone else that is considering moving down here I strongly recommend considering all your options. Maybe you will have better luck than me and land a job making enough money to live without worries. In the end though, people are going to do what they want. I was the same way and if a person's mind is made up there usually isn't anything that can be done to change it.
Originally Posted By WDW Imagineer >>>How can I do the college program if I'm graduating? Would it be smart to come down at Christmas time and get a seasonal job and then go to casting? Any resume advice?<<< I know alot of people who got in during festival disney. Were you in college band? Cause that could help you work your way up to a steady job
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Great post SSE. I think it's all well and good to 'follow your dreams' but sometimes ... dreams need some reality dust sprinkled. $8 an hour. Management that has no use for you. Guests who often treat you like subhuman refuse. Usually no chance to move up ... even to that HUGE $10 an hour level. Working at WDW can make you hate Disney.
Originally Posted By SSE Working at WDW has begun to make me hate Disney, which I never believed would ever happen. I loved Disney ever since my first visit back in '93 and was there favorite customer who would buy anything they put in front of me. But being around everyday to see how they operate and constantly see the same boring merchandise it starts to take its toll on you. Every time I am in the parks I walk into the merchandise shops hoping I will see something unique that makes me go "I have to have that"! So far nothing does it for me tho. It's painful to see former CPs that have made it to the management level forget where they started from and treat the front line cast members like they are better than us. I'm not a fan of "the Basics" because I believe Disney should be giving its guests a great experience, but I don't want the managers always harassing the cast about how magical the Basics are. Whatever happened to plain old great guest service?
Originally Posted By Socrates Pursue your dreams! (But always have a back-up plan.) Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Originally Posted By EPCOT Explorer ^ That sounds like my Mom... "Persue your dreams....just make sure you don't end up in a worse place because of them."
Originally Posted By vbdad55 and 98% of today's workforce can't expect to move up even one level let alone have a real career. sadly Spirit - the 'career path' is a thing of the past in corporate America for the most part. Gone are the days someone can start off as a secretary,receptionist admin person or mailroom and have a career- most of those jobs have been outsourced/offshored or don't exist at all... companies don't want people for more than 5 years- period-- this is not a Disney phenomenon
Originally Posted By vbdad55 and SSE I absolutely can understand your feelings, but please don't assume working for Walgreens / Walmart or other major companies isn't exactly the same these days at entry level. And many jobs that one can make a living off of- no one is hiring. Thank your givernment ( and don't care which party you blame but remember they both own huge parts of this from congress down thru every state government)- but don't worry, the current admin has already said we've turned the corner and of ocurse the previous admin din't see there was an issue. I am 55 years old and this is one of the toughest job markets I have ever seen. I deal with exec's from many major companies and can tell you in many entry level jobs, turnover rates are 300% / yr plus- due to a combination of unlivable wages / poor employee morale / lack of usable skills in a lot of the workforce applying for these jobs / poor benefit etc... chickenand egg on which causes which symptom.. so when you are actually a person with skills that could succeed if given the chance it is very frustrating...
Originally Posted By SSE ^^ I do realize that working at any other company is pretty much the same at entry level is just as bad as at Disney. It just stings a lot more with Disney because it is something I grew up with and idolized so much and wanted to be a part of since I can remember. Then when I started working there and realized how little the company actually valued its employees and how in my opinion it doesn't really care about the guests anymore as long as they get their money. I do hope that Disney will change eventually and other major companies, but I don't hold out much hope any longer. I have become a little cynical.
Originally Posted By jkayjs Size hurts, the bigger a buisness/organization gets the less there is to go around when it comes to emotional investment in the work force. That's why I'm always amazed when folks carry on about a 5th gate what things are impersonal enough for you.
Originally Posted By CMDad Just to balance this a bit ... while I can't TOTALLY disagree with what has been said here, (and I have spoken with Tink privately as well), it would be wrong to say that you CANNOT go from a minimum wage hourly to a salaried CM making decent money. Many of you know that is just what my daughter did. She started off as a CP in DAK, then worked front desk at CBR (with stops at AS and GF) and today is doing well working in IT - not bad for a girl (woman? nahhh she is still my little girl <G>) with a degree in Psychobiology and no previous IT experience. Now I am not saying that this can or will happen to every hourly CM, but if you are ambitious, willing to "pay your dues" and have a little inteligence ... it can.
Originally Posted By CMDad <<How can I do the college program if I'm graduating?>> As long as you do your interview and are accepted before you actually graduate, you can do the WDWCP after graduation. My daughter did exactly that.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper <<Now I am not saying that this can or will happen to every hourly CM, but if you are ambitious, willing to "pay your dues" and have a little inteligence ... it can.>> You forgot luck. You need a heck of a lot of luck. I consider myself one heck of a CM. I do my job, and do it well. I've had very good repertoire with my managers as well. But if you don't meet the right person, or that person somehow doesn't get through to the right person, it's tough to get where you want to be.
Originally Posted By CMDad Maybe that is a bit too simplified, but networking and making yourself available to meet the right person who knows the right person should be an active process, not a passive one. Yes, luck is involved, but often luck is indeed the residue of design.
Originally Posted By HokieSkipper One can only make so much of their own luck. I've networked with about everyone in my field at the resort, and have made good friends. Hasn't translated to a job. If a recruiter doesn't like you application, you aren't getting a job.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 <<One makes their own luck.>> Sorry, but maybe I'm just in a nasty mindframe because two friends have been diagnosed with life threatening illnesses of late ... or the fact that a 'too big to fail' bank has been actively engaging in extortion over my accounts for almost seven weeks, while lawyers, judges and politicians (state and federal) wink knowingly ... or maybe it's because I just read the most incredible indictment of our post 9/11 security/spending in the Washington Post ... maybe, all of that has me a more cynical Spirit than usual. But ... that said, I believe the concept of making one's own luck is a crock. It's great that your daughter got a fair shake from The Mouse and has what appears to be a career, or the start of one, with them. But you can't extrapolate from her experience anything other than it is possible. Many things are possible, but not very likely. It's great when you can be an exception to the rule ...
Originally Posted By MPierce >> or maybe it's because I just read the most incredible indictment of our post 9/11 security/spending in the Washington Post << Reading the Washington Post will give you ulcers. Try the Washinton Times.
Originally Posted By CMDad <<But you can't extrapolate from her experience anything other than it is possible.>> And that is exactly my point. Some people here are saying that it can never happen, and that is simply not so. And many of her colleagues have come by the same path so it is not simply her. <<Many things are possible, but not very likely. It's great when you can be an exception to the rule ...>> Agreed - but it does prove it is possible. And - sorry to hear about your friends. I hope that their stories turn out better than expected. <<Hasn't translated to a job. If a recruiter doesn't like you application, you aren't getting a job.>> Had nothing to do with a recruiter. She simply took advantage of opportunities which presented themselves as an hourly CM ... starting in the period between when she was a CP and a full time CM ... when she was part-time.
Originally Posted By CMDad << I've networked with about everyone in my field at the resort>> Don't limit yourself to people in your field. You never know where (or how) your opportunity might come from.
