The result...

My result was not what I had hoped. It came today, Monday the 22nd, three days after the first wave of acceptances went out.

I am on the Cultural Exchange Program wait list.

I am not giving up so soon though. I will continue to plough on. There seems to be a good few positions left that Disney simply haven't decided on.

Have the put everyone on the wait list to bide themselves more time to decide? Who knows. Only time will tell.

I'm just so happy I wasn't rejected at this point.

Final Interview

So, it's been a while since I updated my blog! (And I'm truly praying it wont be the last time either...)

It's been almost two weeks since I attended my final interview in Hammersmith, London - and I can't believe how quickly it's gone! (I honestly thought the wait would drag, but we're half way through already!)

I'm going to start by saying I have absolutely no idea whatsoever how my interview went. The recruiters are all so professional and lovely, they don't give anything away and obviously I don't know what kind of answers they were specifically looking for, so I'm just trying to remain positive at this point.

I took a 6 and a half hour coach to London, where I stayed overnight as there was no was for me to physically get there otherwise. It cost me £101 for my hotel and return coach. 

On the morning, we headed to the HQ (round the back entrance next to the bus station). We had our photographs taken and were given lanyards.

We went upstairs where our ID was checked, and we had a little chat with one of the recruiters about the tube! Then, we were shuffled into a little cinema screen. (P.s. the HQ is awesome)

We had a little quiz, and were shown a presentation by Sue (head recruiter) which lasted about an hour.

After that was finished, we were left to our own devices and were told to come back for our interview time slots. Mine was at 12, so I returned with another interviewee I had met at about 25 to. At this point, the recruiters were already finished with the 11-12 slot, so we were seen at quarter to which was much earlier than anticipated.

The interview itself lasted around 15 minutes. It was very casual, and I was VERY nervous!

Here are the basic questions that I was asked:

• What do you study at University?
• What does your course entail?
• What do you plan on doing once you have finished University?
• Why do you want to do the program?
• What are your past work experiences?
• What are your top 4 job roles?
• Are you okay with room mates?
• Are you okay with the heat?
• Are you okay with working with chemicals?
• Are you okay with heavy lifting?
• Would you be okay with having a drugs test upon arrival?
• Are you happy with the fees / the wage you will be paid?
• Do you have any tattoos that may interfere with your costume?

I think that I was very professional, and at very least looked professional. I tried to answer each question in depth, giving a detailed response instead of just answering "yes" or "no". I said everything that I was planning on saying, which I'm taking as a good sign.

When asked about tattoos, I mentioned I had one on my back and hip / upper thigh which she seemed to be okay with. I then mentioned I had one on my wrist which I have had seven sessions of laser removal on. Sue asked to see this, and asked a few questions about the pain and measured to see where it stopped to ensure if it wasn't gone in time, it wouldn't be seen underneath a long sleeved costume. This did panic me a little, but I made sure to emphasise that I was getting it removed, and that I wanted to maintain a fresh, conservative appearance.

We will find out results out near the beginning of December, which is still another 2 weeks away. I have spent today being very nervous and thinking about it a lot, which is why I chose to update my blog!

Hopefully in two weeks time I will report some good news, but for the time being I'm not feeling too sure or good about it whatsoever. 

Final Interview Prep

So, it's Sunday night. I'm waiting for paint to dry in my sketchbook before I can do any more Uni work so I thought this would be the perfect time to do a little post on final interview prep!

I thought at this point there would be so much to do, but it was actually fairly straight forward!

Firstly, we were sent an email from DOC (this was actually before we found out if we got through) to fill out some bits and pieces, which were just:

• Fill out your basic information, such as address etc.
• Emergency contact information
• Passport information
• Proof of student status (although later we were told we didn't have to upload this and to just bring it to the interview - I uploaded it just before I found this out but it didn't matter)
• Visa appointment location information

When we then found out we were through, we were then sent our role check list, where we just had to put whether we had high interest to low interest on every role. This got sent off online, so I'm guessing the Disney recruiters will have access to this when we are interviewed. 

The only things left after that, was that we had to book travel and hotels if needed, and on the day we will only need to bring our passport, updated CV and proof of student status form. (Although you could bring a photocopy of your passport as long as you have another valid form of ID with you - which I am doing because I'm so scared of losing it)

And that's about it! Honestly not as much or as scary as anticipated. Now to wait for the actual interview! Eeek.

Final Interview

So, after feeling terrible about my interview due to having the flu for it it appears I had absolutely nothing to worry about as I've managed to get a place in the final interviews! I absolutely can't believe it, after not getting this far last year I was feeling so pessimistic but now I am so over the moon! 

The last of the pre-screen  were on the 20th of October this year, and we started finding out THAT VERY NIGHT! I have so much respect for Yummy Jobs for getting them out so quick and working so hard in their recruitments!

On the Monday night, as I wasn't expecting anything, I fell asleep at 10pm in preparation for getting up early on Tuesday. As I've still got quite a bit throat infection, I woke myself up at about midnight needing a drink and thought I'd quickly check my phone as I leave it on silent when I go to bed. I had a tonne of facebook notifications of applicants going frantic over receiving emails, and my heart dropped. I couldn't help thinking, "This is it. This is where I get my rejection email" and when I checked, there it was! An email from Yummy jobs!

I opened it and noticed it was quite lengthy. Last year when I didn't manage to get through, the rejection email was short and sweet - so my heart was obviously racing. I just skimmed until I found bold writing which said: The Yummy Jobs team very much enjoyed our conversation with you and would be delighted to invite you to the final stage of recruitment!

I kinda screamed. My boyfriend was staying over and was still awake so I was just shaking his shoulders like crazy screaming "I GOT THROUGH!" 

To sum it up, the interviews this year are taking place between Tuesday the 4th of November and Friday the 7th of November, which is roughly two weeks notice which gives plenty of time to organise travel etc. We received our email from Disney Careers asking us to select our interview dates two days later.

I will be doing another blog post on what you need for the interview and the various emails I've received so far regarding it very soon!

Pre-Screen Interview

Okay, so the big day has came and gone!

Yesterday, the 16th of October 2014 I had my Pre-screen interview with Yummy Jobs for the Disney International Cultural Exchange Program.

My pre-screen took place in various areas of the Northumbria University campus in Newcastle, which was amazing for me only living a short 50 minute train ride away, which cost as little as £9.80! I had been saving just in case they, like last year, were only in Manchester and London - so now I have a little bit extra to keep inside in case I receive some good news about London.

Once I arrived in Newcastle station, I grabbed myself a cup of tea (as I was slowly dying with the flu) and waited to meet up with someone I had met from the facebook page. It was only a 15 minute walk to the campus from there, but in the pouring down rain we ended up drenched!

We found the room very easily and awaited the presentation. It was all the same stuff from last year, and most if it you can actually find on the DCP's youtube account. We were told about fees, regulations and of course the magic of working for Disney! It felt wonderful to be back in those seats.

We were then given our interview times. I had James' first interview group (Team Olaf!) at 12, so I had a short amount of time to kill before going in.

Unfortunately, as I was coming down with the flu, my nose wouldn't stop running, my ears were popped and I had to clear my throat before my body would let me talk which I was so unhappy about, but I'm hoping James would be able to see I was simply ill!

Besides that, I had such a pleasant interview experience - even more so than last year! My group was amazing! Everyone was so lovely, and everyone really focused on contributing and chipping in and making it a discussion rather than spouting different and separate answers. I felt that we all managed to bounce off each other really well which was such a relief. 

Although I couldn't talk properly, I think I managed to answer with what I'd wanted to say, as well as chipping in every now and then!

So more importantly, to the actual interview. We started off by being put into pairs. We the had to ask each other what our names were, what we were studying at University and an interesting fact about yourself. I had to introduce Amy who studied Marketing at Glasgow University and was just recovering from a half marathon (I still remember!)

Okay, so what you're ALL wondering. What questions were we asked?

1. Why do you want to do the program?
2. What of American culture would you like to experience?
3. What of your own culture could you share / what could you share from your home town?
4. What are your top 3 job roles and why?
5. What would you do if you had a messy room mate?
6. What would you do if your room mate was home sick?
7. What would you do to keep yourself motivated?
8. What would you do if it was a families last day and they were desperate to meet Mickey mouse, but it was the end of his time slot and he had to leave?
9. What would you do if it was a families last day and they were desperate for a particular t-shirt but you were out of stock?
10. What character are you most like, and why?

So that was pretty much it! Once I was finished I left with my interview group and we chatted on the way to the high street where we went our separate ways (and inevitably added each other on facebook later)

To be honest, at this moment in time I have no idea how I've done. I feel like (besides my cold) I had managed to do much better than my pre-screen interview last year and that my group was very communicative - but I still have negative vibes and feelings and wish I had said more blah blah blah. Most people I've talked to seem to be feeling the same, but only time will tell!

Wish me luck!

Application Part 2: Documents

So, something I didn't include in my previous blog post was the content of my CV and Cover Letter. I wanted to save them for a separate post as they can be quite lengthy and I didn't want to make my last post ridiculously long.

As part of your application you need to upload some documents. The first being a passport styled photograph of yourself which I covered last time, a scanned in photograph of your passport, previous visas if you've worked in America before and your CV and Cover Letter.

Here's my cover letter:

I tried to cover pretty much everything from work experience, to education and I must have done something right to get an interview! Remember: plagiarising systems are used so don't risk getting your application rejected by copying what I've wrote - it's simply there to give ideas of the kinds of stuff to talk about.

So, next thing is CV. Now, when I first found Yummy Jobs before they updated the website they used to have a CV template (which is what I've based mine on) however, I don't think it's on the website any longer.

Here's my cover letter and how I've laid it out based on the former YJ template:

At the bottom which I've missed out, was a references section where I've simply wrote "available upon request" - as they're not required for the first interview.

That's pretty much it for my documents! I think I've managed to lay things out pretty professionally which I think should be the number 1 focus. I hope it may help you in the future!

My application / Application walk through

I'm going to be honest and say I've been very wary about posting this until now, because I'm very conscious that plagiarising systems are used to check individual applications to make sure they haven't been copied off of another applicant or off of previous applicants, but now that applications have closed and pre-screen interview dates have been sent out I feel more comfortable in sharing my application for future reference for those who are stuck on what to write! :)

Okay, so to start I am a British applicant (as I've probably previously mentioned) therefore I applied through Yummy Jobs!  If you're not British and you're looking at how to apply to can click here to find out how you can apply for your country!

The application process is fairly simple. You create a Yummy Jobs account and open an application, where you'll in put personal details such as name, date of birth, next of kin etc. You will then have to upload a passport photograph. This IS NOT an actual passport photograph! It just needs to be a very recent photograph which is an exact likeness of what you look like right now, taken with a white or light background and must be of your head and shoulders. Mine looks like this:

It really isn't the greatest photo ever (especially as there is white paint in my hair that I didn't notice when I initially uploaded it) - but it is a strong likeness to what I look like now.

Next, you add your education and work experience. But don't forget - you have to upload your CV as well so these sections don't have to be too lengthy!

Next are a few questions! The first is about your views on cultural exchange. This was my answer (although I still hate it and found it very difficult to put this into words)

Next is a Final Comments box, which I know a few people were struggling with. I decided to use it as a way to fit in anything I hadn't managed to say in my cover letter so mine (beware of cheese) read:

The last question, is "what were your motivations for applying". My answer is below:

Again: plagiarising detectors are used so please only use these answers as references and don't attempt to copy anything.

Application approved!

I can officially say I have a pre-screen interview once again!!

I received my email 2 days after the applications closed (pretty much when everyone did), and it was sent by the new recruiter Michelle Biesters!

My email looked something like this:

I was at work in the midst of a 10 hour shift so I was very excited to find this out on my break! My manager was very supportive and is making sure I don't have any shifts on the day of my interview. Thankfully, I have Thursdays off Uni, so it looks like I have absolutely nothing stopping me! I also have to say I am so super happy that my interview is taking place in Newcastle this year - saves me so much money and only takes 40 minutes to get there by train which is ideal!

The day after I received my approved application email, I received another from Louise, who was my interviewer last year with the subject "Important Next Steps..." Now, after being through the pre-screen process once before I was a little bit confused by this as we hadn't received other emails last year.

It read:

 This was obviously something completely new, so I was a little bit nervous (although I had absolutely no reason to be, as my Disney application was already linked with Yummy and it was pretty much approved straight away:

Okay, so another thing in prepping for the interview was that we have a Yummy passport to fill out. This was something new last year, so I was already familiar with it. It looks like this, and you MUST bring it to your interview as it's what the Yummy team write your interview notes on!

I added my photograph before I printed it, but I know a lot of people are simply sticking there's straight on. (Please excuse the awful picture - I had paint speckles in my hair from moving back into my parents house!)

It's very simple - just fill out the top and circle what's applicable! Last year I wasn't very flexible, so I've made sure to change that this year as I am much more available and can partake in more roles than I would have been able to last year (as I've had a wrist tattoo that I've had laser removed since my last interview stopping me being able to do roles in QSFaB)

As expected, I am so nervous as this is my last chance to be able to do the program, and I am very wary after not making it past the pre-screen interviews last year but as always - I'm remaining positive and hoping for the best!

My Florida / Walt Disney World Bucket List

After visiting Florida for the first time in April of 2013, I have yearned to go back - with the realisation of how much I actually DIDN'T do in my two weeks there! I feel like I missed a vast portion of Walt Disney World and some of the major things it had to offer!

The majority of my bucket list obviously takes place in Walt Disney World, but I've also included a few other none-Disney Florida things I'd love to have the chance to do if I managed to get on to the program this year!

• See Chewbacca the sloth in Animal Kingdom
• Ride the new Mine Train 
• Go on Space mountain 
• Four parks in 1 day challenge
• Stay at a Disney (World) hotel at least once - (I stayed in a Disney hotel in Paris)
• Attempt Everything But The Kitchen Sink
• Take a photo in Main Street with a bunch of balloons!
• Meet ALL the characters!
• Try a coke from everywhere in EPCOT
• Go on the Characters in Flight hot air balloon in Downtown Disney
• Go on both versions of the GMR
• Candy Artist!
• Visit all the resorts
• Dine at Be Our Guest
• Eat at each World Showcase
• Character breakfast at Ohana’s
• Watch Wishes! from the Polynesian
• Eat at Pizza Planet
• Go to the water parks
• Jungle Cruise
• Backstage Magic!
• Watch the fireworks from the Contemporary
• Drink around the “World” in EPCOT
• Draw 5 different characters at the Magic of Disney Animation
• River Rapids at Animal Kingdom
• See the Lion King stage show at Animal Kingdom
• Try all the snacks 
• Grow the balls to go on every WDW roller coaster
• Wear a birthday button for the day 
• Meet either Hercules / Tarzan / Flynn Rider (I know how impossible that sounds, but I can dream!)
• Attempt to go on EVERY ride in Magic Kingdom
• Purchase some Glow With The Show Ears
• Cirque de Soleil
• Eat at Chef Mickeys
• Ride Cinderella's horse on Prince Charming's Regal Carousel
• Make a wish at Cinderella's Wishing Well
• Afternoon tea at the Grand Floridian
• Try 5 different WDW Peanut Butter treats
• Arrive early enough to see the rope drop at Magic Kingdom
• Try a Dole Whip
• Ride all 12 monorails 
• Go on Tower of Terror for the first time
• Watch the Dapper Dans
• Eat at Liberty Tree Tavern

• Eat at the Cheesecake factory
• Visit the new Diagon Ally (It was only getting built when I was there!)
• Visit a Floridian beach!
• Take part in VoluntEARS

The girl...

So this is my first post of a fresh blog! 

I'm going to make it short and sweet, and just as a small introduction.

My name is Charlotte Appleyard. If you applied for the Cultural Exchange Program for 2014, you may or may not remember my previous YouTube Vlogs. Last year when I applied, I made it to the pre-screen interviews (which was such an amazing, new experience - especially for someone as socially awkward as me!) but unfortunately, I didn't make it any further.

This year, however, I am back with a vengeance and more determined than ever! 

I am widely known amongst my friends and Uni-peers as a complete Disney nut. It is basically my life and mostly what I think about 24 hours a day. Especially day dreaming about this program! I have had many eyes rolled at me, but who cares when it's something that you love? I also run an Etsy store where I sell Disney inspired jewellery - which kind of fans the flames of my obsession being able to work with Disney items nearly every day!

I am 21 years old, and I turn 22 in November. I am currently about to start my final year of University where I study Textiles. I have a foundation degree in Contemporary Textiles, and from September I will be starting my third year top-up BA degree in Textiles and Surface design! (Trust me, there's a big difference!) I'm hoping to secure a place on a Primary PGCE course for next year however (which makes working at Walt Disney World an ideal opportunity, right?) Unfortunately for me, I hadn't decided this last year - I'm sure it would have really aided my pre-screen interview!

Basically the point of making this blog is to hopefully help future candidates (if I get any further this year). That was my intentions with last years Vlogs and Blogs, but I was so ashamed of not making it any further that I deleted them. Hopefully this year I wont have to! I am going to be re-making my Vlogs, but I won't be posting them on YouTube unless I gain a position. I think blogs are a little less active that videos, which is why I'm starting this now and not later. (Hopefully not many people will read this unless I actually get somewhere!)

I'm going to make this very diary-esque, but obviously very informative as well - so I hope I end up helping someone in the future! And hopefully this year I will learn from the mistakes I made last year.