Accepted into a role I did not ask for

[mitchie09]

I got my invitation today, but it was for a role that I didn't ask for. My interviewer asked me if I would want to be in that role and I specifically said no. Is there anything I can do?

 

[ladypage]

You could turn it down. Otherwise, no, unless you have a valid medical reason for not being able to do it.

 

[DisneyGirlie]

Agree with what the person above me said. Also, they're allowed to do that. On my role checklist it instructed me to check off roles I would be willing to do, but to be aware that I could be assigned a role that I didn't check off.
I know it sounds weird, but I guess if they need people to fill specific roles that no one wants to do, they have to do that.

 

[Brent13]

What role where you given, and why dont you want it?

 

[duffietc]

I say call and delicately ask why were you offered that particular role. It could never hurt. See what they say and see if there's a way to re-interview for a role you could handle. If not, decline or accept it and bare with it.

 

[shelovesdisney]

My interviewer asked if I preferred any roles more than others. I listed my top three and got in, but not for any of the top three. However, it's Disney World, so I figured it didn't matter.

 

[disneymegs]

My interviewer told me I would only be considered for roles we discussed during the interview. Did you give them a firm no? Maybe they technically can do that since you did talk about it.

 

[Sparkles109]

When I feeled out my application, I remember it said that you may be offered a position for which you didn't apply. The recruiter must have thought you were more qualified for the position they offered you.

What Position did you get offered?

I think you can email the recruiter and ask to switch to another position, but only if you have already accepted the roll they offered you. And they won't promis they can change your roll, but its worth trying.

 

[duffietc]

When I feeled out my application, I remember it said that you may be offered a position for which you didn't apply. The recruiter must have thought you were more qualified for the position they offered you.

What Position did you get offered?

I think you can email the recruiter and ask to switch to another position, but only if you have already accepted the roll they offered you. And they won't promis they can change your roll, but its worth trying.

No, that's the complete opposite thing to do. If you accept the role that was given to you then you have agreed that you are willing and able to do the role. If there's any hope of switching roles it's before actually accepting it. The response you will get when calling to switch roles after accepting, "We do not have the authority to switch your role. I'm Sorry."

 

[DisneyGirlie]

When I feeled out my application, I remember it said that you may be offered a position for which you didn't apply. The recruiter must have thought you were more qualified for the position they offered you.

What Position did you get offered?

I think you can email the recruiter and ask to switch to another position, but only if you have already accepted the roll they offered you. And they won't promis they can change your roll, but its worth trying.

I did this, as well as others have too. It won't work. They don't have mercy on you at all. You got the role you were assigned and they won't change it unless it's for a medical reason. I asked why I got my role and they said it was "due to my limited work experience." I disagree highly with the reason, but anyway the way they said it was rude and cold and I don't take rejection well anyway so embarassingly enough, I started to cry on the phone. I didn't want to. It was just overwhelming disappointment from not hearing any good news and them making me feel incapable. They still paid no attention. So you can fuss them out on the phone, or beg and ask so nicely and try to reason why you deserve another role, or try to make them feel bad for you (I wasn't intentionally doing that) but either way, they won't care. They won't change it.

 

[tinkerbelle22]

I did this, as well as others have too. It won't work. They don't have mercy on you at all. You got the role you were assigned and they won't change it unless it's for a medical reason. I asked why I got my role and they said it was "due to my limited work experience." I disagree highly with the reason, but anyway the way they said it was rude and cold and I don't take rejection well anyway so embarassingly enough, I started to cry on the phone. I didn't want to. It was just overwhelming disappointment from not hearing any good news and them making me feel incapable. They still paid no attention. So you can fuss them out on the phone, or beg and ask so nicely and try to reason why you deserve another role, or try to make them feel bad for you (I wasn't intentionally doing that) but either way, they won't care. They won't change it.

Wow, that's so sad! I'm really sorry you didn't get the role you wanted. And honestly if it were me, I would have cried too. As much as the main thing I'm worried about (I'm applying for Spring 2012) is the WBI, I often forget about this "limited work experience" thing. I've worked at 3 different day camps in 4 summers, and Build a Bear Workshop last summer. I've also volunteered a ton. Would they still say something like this? It sounds harsh to me, especially because the main reason I didn't work during the school year was because I had a really rough time keeping my grades up, so I needed to focus on my schoolwork. I'm very lucky that I didn't have to work for financial reasons, but in my opinion, as much as I would kill to get in the CP, studying and doing well in school is more important than anything, especially in high school. So I really hope they wouldn't say that I haven't had a "real job" just because I didn't sacrifice my grades to get one. idk. sorry if that was kind of a rant

 

[DisneyGirlie]

Wow, that's so sad! I'm really sorry you didn't get the role you wanted. And honestly if it were me, I would have cried too. As much as the main thing I'm worried about (I'm applying for Spring 2012) is the WBI, I often forget about this "limited work experience" thing. I've worked at 3 different day camps in 4 summers, and Build a Bear Workshop last summer. I've also volunteered a ton. Would they still say something like this? It sounds harsh to me, especially because the main reason I didn't work during the school year was because I had a really rough time keeping my grades up, so I needed to focus on my schoolwork. I'm very lucky that I didn't have to work for financial reasons, but in my opinion, as much as I would kill to get in the CP, studying and doing well in school is more important than anything, especially in high school. So I really hope they wouldn't say that I haven't had a "real job" just because I didn't sacrifice my grades to get one. idk. sorry if that was kind of a rant

Your story sounds similar to mine! Luckily I don't have to work and school is more important to me. It's hard to find a job now anyway, especially with no experience. But, this school year I found a job as a nanny and so everyday I pick up kids from school and have been doing this since august. I thought they'd cut me some slack since technically this job, and yours as working in a camp, takes a lot of responsibility. Plus, my "rant" is that I don't have experience for the role I got, so what difference does it make? I wanted merchandise most because I love every single store at WDW, know what each one has for sale, and love all WDW items. I'm just ridiculously passionate about it. IMO, if they're looking for retail experienced people to work in merch, why? I think working in a WDW store is a world of difference from working in a regular retail store anyway. But, that's just my two cents.

 

[tinkerbelle22]

Your story sounds similar to mine! Luckily I don't have to work and school is more important to me. It's hard to find a job now anyway, especially with no experience. But, this school year I found a job as a nanny and so everyday I pick up kids from school and have been doing this since august. I thought they'd cut me some slack since technically this job, and yours as working in a camp, takes a lot of responsibility. Plus, my "rant" is that I don't have experience for the role I got, so what difference does it make? I wanted merchandise most because I love every single store at WDW, know what each one has for sale, and love all WDW items. I'm just ridiculously passionate about it. IMO, if they're looking for retail experienced people to work in merch, why? I think working in a WDW store is a world of difference from working in a regular retail store anyway. But, that's just my two cents.

That's true, it shouldn't make a difference. I hated Build A Bear because I'm just not a natural born salesperson I guess! They pressured us way too much to sell, and would get angry at us (in front of guests, but that was just because my boss was mean lol) if we didn't sell our target amount. Even though Attractions is my first choice, I'm still going to include Merch in at least my top 4...just because it's Disney, and I really can't see it being too bad. But yeah the limited experience thing is bizarre.

 

[DisneyGirlie]

Totally bizarre. I didn't know they depended so much upon experience. I don't know why they do. For example, not that many people can have attractions experience because let's face it, not everyone lives near a theme park. Some states probably don't even have any theme parks. So, I wonder how they base their "experience" for attractions. UGH. Obviously I'm still frustrated (lol), but I've gotten a lot better and more positive since I first found out my role. I'm just grateful to be in.

 

[jlg263]

That's true, it shouldn't make a difference. I hated Build A Bear because I'm just not a natural born salesperson I guess! They pressured us way too much to sell, and would get angry at us (in front of guests, but that was just because my boss was mean lol) if we didn't sell our target amount. Even though Attractions is my first choice, I'm still going to include Merch in at least my top 4...just because it's Disney, and I really can't see it being too bad. But yeah the limited experience thing is bizarre.

Thankfully merch at Disney isn't like that. I hate having to sell people stuff they don't want. At Disney we had promotions sometimes like "spend $20 and you can get this watch for $10" that we had to suggest to guests when they checked out. But it wasn't too bad. If they weren't interested you just moved on with the purchase, no huge pressure. And I found an alarming amount of people actually took the promotions! haha. The work locations always have a target sales amount for the day, but the individual person doesn't, which is good. Of course they want you to sell as much as you can, but I never felt pressured because of it. At least that's how it was in my area. I can't think of any merch areas at Disney that might have a target you have to meet. I personally really loved merch. Much more than attractions.

Also, just as a sidenote: the Vacation Planner role DOES have quotas to meet. That's a reason I never wanted to apply for that role. I've heard it's fun, but I just really hate trying to make people spend more money when they don't want to. Just personal preference I guess I'm not cut out to be a salesman.

 

[jlg263]

Totally bizarre. I didn't know they depended so much upon experience. I don't know why they do. For example, not that many people can have attractions experience because let's face it, not everyone lives near a theme park. Some states probably don't even have any theme parks. So, I wonder how they base their "experience" for attractions. UGH. Obviously I'm still frustrated (lol), but I've gotten a lot better and more positive since I first found out my role. I'm just grateful to be in.

I agree with you. My first CP was my first job and I was put in QSFB too (and then was switched randomly which i know I've talked about in another thread...). But the fact remains that I had no experience and they placed me in that role. I think they do it just because most people don't necessarily WANT QSFB and they need an excuse to put people there. I don't know what else the reasoning could be. Attractions is definitely not harder than QS. In fact, I'm willing to bet that QS is harder than most attractions. In QS you have to handle money, assemble food, explain items to guests etc. In attractions a lot of your job is just standing there essentially. haha. And answering questions. Maybe checking the time on fastpasses. And pushing buttons in a certain order. In rare instances it also includes lengthy spieling or driving a vehicle. It's not rocket science.

 

[DisneyGirlie]

I agree with you. My first CP was my first job and I was put in QSFB too (and then was switched randomly which i know I've talked about in another thread...). But the fact remains that I had no experience and they placed me in that role. I think they do it just because most people don't necessarily WANT QSFB and they need an excuse to put people there. I don't know what else the reasoning could be. Attractions is definitely not harder than QS. In fact, I'm willing to bet that QS is harder than most attractions. In QS you have to handle money, assemble food, explain items to guests etc. In attractions a lot of your job is just standing there essentially. haha. And answering questions. Maybe checking the time on fastpasses. And pushing buttons in a certain order. In rare instances it also includes lengthy spieling or driving a vehicle. It's not rocket science.

HaHa. It's the CP. None of the roles are rocket science and regardless of experience, everyone has to get trained so I generally just don't understand their crappy experience reasoning. Oh well. Just hoping to get a nice QSFB location of course.

 

[WhiteRabbit88]

I've worked retail outside of disney and in disney and my experience with both was exactly the same. They both had sales goals that we had to push our guests to purchase and if we didn't meet those goals then we got in trouble. Managers would stalk you and make sure you were always pushing the additional item. Personally, merch was a miserable experience for me because I felt like I was always forced to make people buy what they don't need/want and as cast members I witnessed and experienced plenty of abuse towards us. There were multiple occasions I would come home in tears. I'm now in attractions and am much happier.

 

[jlg263]

I've worked retail outside of disney and in disney and my experience with both was exactly the same. They both had sales goals that we had to push our guests to purchase and if we didn't meet those goals then we got in trouble. Managers would stalk you and make sure you were always pushing the additional item. Personally, merch was a miserable experience for me because I felt like I was always forced to make people buy what they don't need/want and as cast members I witnessed and experienced plenty of abuse towards us. There were multiple occasions I would come home in tears. I'm now in attractions and am much happier.

Really?? Where did you work? I never had a bad experience with it. Like I said, they wanted us to sell and engage with guests, but I never had to pressure anyone. And I've honestly never been pressured by cast members when I was a guest! They've been there if I needed help and offered promotions at the register, but that's it. I was never given a personal goal or anything. My experience was pretty laid back. Maybe because I worked at a bigger store and we generally had no problems meeting our goals? I don't know. Or maybe just a management difference. I personally dislike attractions because i had to deal with way more angry guests (but I worked at Dumbo...so...ya know, haha) and i really did feel like I was just herding cattle most of the time.

 

[autie689]

I've worked retail outside of disney and in disney and my experience with both was exactly the same. They both had sales goals that we had to push our guests to purchase and if we didn't meet those goals then we got in trouble. Managers would stalk you and make sure you were always pushing the additional item. Personally, merch was a miserable experience for me because I felt like I was always forced to make people buy what they don't need/want and as cast members I witnessed and experienced plenty of abuse towards us. There were multiple occasions I would come home in tears. I'm now in attractions and am much happier.

Where did you work? I've never had any type of sales goal for merchandise in either place I worked at. I worked Backlands Merch in DHS and I also worked at the Food and Wine Festival in Epcot. Both places were pretty laid back about everything. The only thing we would have problems with was the CDS not doing rotations often enough. With outdoor carts, that can be a problem. And we had four different sections in our area, including Tatooine Traders (Star Wars store). None of them had any personal sales goals for cast members. I was unaware of even the area sales goals. Our managers always dealt with that.

I've worked in both merchandise and attractions, and I had WAY more guest problems in attractions than I did in merchandise. I feel like each job has it's ups and downs, but I'd like to hear the reasoning behind your post.