College Program Questions Thread, Pt 3

[GraceysGirl]

all you people are awesome here....

i got through the online portion with ease and now just have my phone interview to look forward to. i have great idea of how to properly prepare and honestly i was much more worried about the online portion than the phone.

thanks to everyone that didn't know they were helping me, because i was lurking. hope to see you all in the spring!

Good Luck! Just relax and have fun with the interview.

 

[jchampl]

Good Luck! Just relax and have fun with the interview.

thanks, I deff will. good to see a roaming around the boards.

 

[jjlara21]

ok i have a couple more questions. Im planning on applying for spring at wdw.
Im worried that i wont be able to make my car and insurance payments every month if i do the cp. Right now i get paid bi-weekly $7.25 an hour and i work 40hrs a week sometimes overtime. I take out $100-$200 each paycheck to make my payments every month. Do you think Ill be able to do that and pay rent and have enough for food and gas and fun? How many hours a week do you work? is it at least 40? i just dont wanna be stressing with money while im there. Thank you for your help.

 

[InPerfectClouds]

ok i have a couple more questions. Im planning on applying for spring at wdw.
Im worried that i wont be able to make my car and insurance payments every month if i do the cp. Right now i get paid bi-weekly $7.25 an hour and i work 40hrs a week sometimes overtime. I take out $100-$200 each paycheck to make my payments every month. Do you think Ill be able to do that and pay rent and have enough for food and gas and fun? How many hours a week do you work? is it at least 40? i just dont wanna be stressing with money while im there. Thank you for your help.

Hey! So most of the general CP roles run at $7.25 an hour as well... Some are a bit more. Character Performer is more, Photopass is the most from what I've heard. We get paid every week, but your housing payment for the week will be automatically deducted. That ranges from 70s to 90s ((if I remember right)), depending on where and how many bedrooms. You usually won't get less than 35 hours a week. I usually had 35 or 40. You can always pick up extra shifts.

Hopefully this helps some and you can better calculate for yourself? Maybe getting paid each week will be better for you too. Gas is pricey and costs a lot of people so much of their money down there, at least in my group of friends. But this can all be avoided by either 1) Not taking your car down there, period, 2) Taking the bus to work/play in the parks or resorts, or 3) Hitching rides.

 

[jchampl]

I know at the end of the interview, she is going to ask if I have any questions, however I feel like I have done my research. Is there something I should ask? I feel like I will think of something the second I hang up the phone.

Also, I tend to be a funny person, (not rude), is that something I should use to my advantage in the interview?

 

[jchampl]

I had mine with Claire, very easy to talk to and a lot of fun. I might have talked too much, but that's my personality. Here's hoping and waiting.

 

[SportsChick]

ok i have a couple more questions. Im planning on applying for spring at wdw.
Im worried that i wont be able to make my car and insurance payments every month if i do the cp. Right now i get paid bi-weekly $7.25 an hour and i work 40hrs a week sometimes overtime. I take out $100-$200 each paycheck to make my payments every month. Do you think Ill be able to do that and pay rent and have enough for food and gas and fun? How many hours a week do you work? is it at least 40? i just dont wanna be stressing with money while im there. Thank you for your help.

I'm working generally more than 40 hours with a couple of over 8 hour days thrown in (overtime after 8 hours or over 40). Last week, I brought home over $200, even after taxes and my $95 Patterson 1 BR rent. That was for 44 hours - 8 of which were overtime.

 

[SoccerRob12]

I had mine with Claire, very easy to talk to and a lot of fun. I might have talked too much, but that's my personality. Here's hoping and waiting.

Best thing to do is not to think about it for the next three weeks (I know, just try not to think about it). My invitation email (9/13) came two weeks after the interview (8/31) so you never know.

Good luck.

 

[mooqtie215]

jjlar,
You're going to be tight on cash for the beginning few weeks, thats for sure. You get paid for doing traditions and other training. My first check was for $140 dollars, which was plenty for groceries/gas. The next check I got where they took 2 weeks rent out (2 br chatham) was $24 bucks lol. This week, with 1 rent taken out, my check was $94 dollars, but I did only work 29 hours. Yeah, not very much!
My advice would be to save up money beforehand. Not the most genius advice but even 10 bucks stowed away a week can add up. I worked this summer part time and saved up my money for coming here so I can still go out to eat and buy stuff and not feel the pinch. I also got a check from my other job because i worked until 2 days before I left, they pay bi-weekly so that extra money helped. Also, like previously said, the bus is free. And making your own food instead of buying it will save a lot.

 

[jchampl]

Has anyone gotten the comment/question towards the end of the interview "with your outgoing personality we would love to have you at the front gate or at quick service, would you be okay with thiss?"

I'm hoping that's a good sign of things to come. Still nervous as hell.

 

[SportsChick]

I didn't get a question like that but I'm at the Main Entrance of Epcot and I really like it

 

[jchampl]

I didn't get a question like that but I'm at the Main Entrance of Epcot and I really like it

Hopefully that's a good thing then and she really meant it when she said it. Also I feel like it was a question for me and not just for anyone to try and get them to do front gate.

If you don't mind me asking, what do you generally do on main gate duties?

 

[SportsChick]

Main gate falls under main entrance operations which also includes parking, auto plaza and ticket sales at the water parks.

I work turnstiles, so I get every in and out each day. There is TONS of guest interaction which I love and hate depending on the day

the turnstiles themselves are easy to operate once you're trained with all the commands and codes they give. Exit is as easy as easy can be

 

[TinkerMouse]

How can guests be awful at the turnstiles? I know that jerky people get everywhere but I'm just wondering since people are only supposed to be at the turnstile for about a minute before they get their ticket/pass scanned then run in. I don't get how that's enough time to really do anything. When I go through I really only have time to tell the person taking my ticket, "Hello!" and that's about it. One time after I said that, the guy called me princess and asked how my day was so then I got all smiley, responded politely and asked him back. My friends didn't get such treatment at the turnstile they went through so lucky me! But after I walked away the guy did call the girl in line behind me princess but she kinda looked a him like "huh?" and didn't really get it sos I guess on bad days you get more girls like her than girls like me?

 

[khancock]

How can guests be awful at the turnstiles?

Here are 2:

• Parents who squeeze their 6 year olds into a stroller and claim that their kid is under 3 so they don't have to pay for them to get in
• People who fell for the road side ticket scam and purchased tickets that expired or were previously used by another party (caught by the biometric scanner). Embarrassed/ashamed/angry at the situation, the poor cast member gets the brunt of it until they decide to go to Guest Relations and take it out on them.

While I didn't work them, I witnessed both of these situations during my last trip.

 

[SportsChick]

Those are two big examples, but you'd be amazed at how many people are not happy or just plain rude. I've been cursed out, people ignore what I'm saying, argue with me, try to tell me that I'm not doing my job right. It can be rough at times (and the past couple weeks have been really bad for some reason)

Most people are great, but there are few rotten apples that spoil the bunch (no teenager, you can not use your father's annual pass to enter the park, sorry)

 

[Don the Legend]

anyone have a good estimate on the "age range" for the majority of CP'ers?

i ask because im 36 but trend much younger. most guess me to be 27-28.

i always tend to get along with a younger group rather than older and although i have led a more professional lifestyle (in my career), i usually "hang out", drink and do what i term as being fun crazy things rather than look down the end of my nose at "younger" people.

just trying to get a feel for the atmosphere. id rather not be known as "pops" or the old guy or whatever. =)

 

[Traveliz]

Those are two big examples, but you'd be amazed at how many people are not happy or just plain rude. I've been cursed out, people ignore what I'm saying, argue with me, try to tell me that I'm not doing my job right. It can be rough at times (and the past couple weeks have been really bad for some reason)

Most people are great, but there are few rotten apples that spoil the bunch (no teenager, you can not use your father's annual pass to enter the park, sorry)

My daughter works attractions and those same people must be visiting her the past two weeks - she regularly has a story or two but oh my gosh the things people have said to her and done to her the last two weeks are unreal. Last weekend she said to me, "do I really need to go to work Sunday?"

Hers are basically parents upset with her because their child is too short and teaching the child or themselves using inappropriate language, gestures to share their disappointment with her or people upset by the wait time (primarily standy by line people) and not reacting appropriately.

Liz

 

[Sorahana]

anyone have a good estimate on the "age range" for the majority of CP'ers?

i ask because im 36 but trend much younger. most guess me to be 27-28.

i always tend to get along with a younger group rather than older and although i have led a more professional lifestyle (in my career), i usually "hang out", drink and do what i term as being fun crazy things rather than look down the end of my nose at "younger" people.

just trying to get a feel for the atmosphere. id rather not be known as "pops" or the old guy or whatever. =)

It varies but I think a good chunk of CPs are 18-24, although I'm not sure. I personally did it when I was 20 and 21.
During the summer, you see more "older" CPers since there's an alumni program only offered in the summer if you did a CP before. They won't call you "Pops" lol .

 

[Joanna71985]

Hers are basically parents upset with her because their child is too short and teaching the child or themselves using inappropriate language, gestures to share their disappointment with her or people upset by the wait time (primarily standy by line people) and not reacting appropriately.

Liz

This is one reason why I'm glad I'm not at Toy Story anymore. The issues over the wait time were horrible! The only thing worse was the complaints about fastpass.