What Would Be Your Second Choice?

[SanFranciscan]

I notice that a number of you here are interested in the Disney Collge Program. I hope that you get in if you want it because I went to an orientation for that with my husband knowing that we were too old, too established here in San Francisco, etc. just because we were curious as to what they were telling the young people there. I do have a question for you though.

If you don't get into the Disney Colllege Program, are you still interested in other internships? What companies do you think you'd apply to? It is just interesting to know what young people are thinking these day.

 

[Joanna71985]

I have already done 3 CPs. But if I had to pick a different internship to do, I would love to do one with a sports team.

 

[Flower4Pwr]

If you don't get into the Disney Colllege Program, are you still interested in other internships? What companies do you think you'd apply to? It is just interesting to know what young people are thinking these day.

I've worked as a Campus Rep since Spring 2004, and I've noticed that for the most part there are two types of people who come to the presentations. Other than the curious there are the ones who come because it's a Disney Internship and those who come because it's a paid internship. The ones who come for Disney are on board no matter what. The others usually tend to interview but go with higher paying jobs in the area. My school is in a beach tourist area so a lot of people end up taking jobs with resorts in the area. Hilton and Marriott are big competitors for us because they both have huge resorts in the area.
I personally applied because it was Disney and would have gone down no mater what they were offering!

 

[SanFranciscan]

I do like knowing that the interns are paid. I don't think that an intern should be a serf. Personnel policies do affect where I spend my money. I don't eat at certain places because the way they treat their workers makes me feel like I would deserve to choke on the food. Disney does have a better reputation for the treatment of its workers.

 

[Berlioz70]

I have done TONS of internships/Graduate Assistantships/Part-Time jobs during college:

I was a news intern for our local NBC affiliate, then moved to a part time postition once my internship was over - it was awful and I have decided news is not the right place for me. I returned to the company a couple months later as an intern in their creative services department, it was fine - but I did not fall in love.

I then did an internship at a local community college in the Admissions office and went on to become a part-time Admissions rep for them while I finished my bachelors - I LOVED it and will be earning my masters in student affairs in May.

Since starting my masters I've worked at my current institution as a Graduate Assistant (which is a fancy word for intern) - my first year I worked in our Orientation office, this year I am working in our Registrar's office.

Even though I do still love higher education as a career - I cannot get Disney out of my mind and would be absolutly DEVASTATED if they do not hire me for the CP!! I really REALLY regret not doing the program as an undergrad. Even though I'll have my masters and my husband will have to stay in Iowa, I cannot live with this regret any longer.

 

[Stitch_lover_Sith]

Well I have done the CP once and found it to be very rewarding, but I think I would also like to do internships at Apple and for a Senator in DC. I really would not care if they were paid, but I would go for just the experience. One thing about Disney is they tend to lose sight of the Small things in favor of big things like YOMD. It would be nice to see how a smaller company handled similar marketing strategies. My majors are Corporate Communications and Marketing, so this is a real interest for me.

 

[Dee/Belle]

There are SO many opportunities for college students these days. Internships paid and unpaid, here in the US and abroad. I'm doing an internship at a newspaper in town this summer for my journalism degree and then doing the CP (hopefully if I am accepted). I was going to go to Scotland for an unpaid internship but nothing can beat Disney for me. Granted I will get paid with the CP but it's not about the money. Like you guys are saying about the presentations. I see two types of people. People who love Disney and would go down there even if they didn't get paid right above minimum wage, or people who say "Oh, Disney. That could be fun and would look great on my resume. I'm gonna earn big bucks at the same time"--only to find out they won't get paid nearly as much as what they make at their current job. I think there are so many exciting things offered that you should try as many as you can while they are still available to you. If I couldn't do Disney, I would do the internship in Scotland or somewhere abroad. I've studied abroad before and I find that is where you learn the most about yourself and grow the most as a person. With Disney, you grow tremendously as well, just in more "Americanized" ways.