So, hey! You've found my blog. Congrats!
I thought that I'd start a little blog and let the world know all the things I wish I knew about a year ago, and tell people what it's like to apply to Walt Disney World's International Programs. Or, more specifically, what it's like to apply to their Cultural Representative Program.
First off, I thought I'd give a bit of an introduction about me.
I'm currently 21, living in Bristol with my boyfriend and working in a full service restaurant called Zizzi. (yea, yea... you've probably heard of it) I've been working there since October 2008, and I still enjoy it as much today as I did then.
I first discovered the Disney International Programs in about June last year. It all came about from an old school friend's facebook statuses. I saw she would be working at Disney over the summer and thought "how on earth does one get a job at WDW?!" A little bit of facebook-stalking later and I found WDWIP.com, the website and forums for people applying for, or on, the WDW International Programs. This lead me to the Disney website about such things, and so my researching began. I spent the next few days learning as much about these programs as I could. What the different programs were, which I would be eligible to apply for, how long they were, how much they'd cost... you name it, I tried to find out about it.
During this research period I came across a couple, although not many, blogs from people who'd applied, or been. In every single one I found a little information, but not as much as I wanted. It took me a lot of time, a lot of effort, and 2 applications to find out as much as I know now.
We're currently on the lead up to my third application. The recruitment agency (yummyjobs) will start taking CVs in June, and start looking at them in August. Between now and then, and hopefully after, I plan on blogging as much information as I can to help any and all future applicants. Fingers crossed, this will be my third time lucky, and you the readers can follow me as I blog about the application process, the expenses, my frustration over savings etc etc. to finally follow my blog as I enjoy the sunshine in Florida, and tell you all about working for the Mouse, himself.
If you have any questions, or any topics on which you'd like to see more information about, just let me know and I'll try to post a blog about it. I want this to be an educational tool for future applicants, as well as a memory of my own application.
Next time, I'll go into more detail on what the Cultural Representative Program is, who can apply for it, and any niggling little details like that. Most of this information is available from the Disney website itself, but I'll try to add in any excess little tidbits that I've learnt along the way!
See you soon! Vikki.
