...Disney Institute Called!

From what I had been reading online, all Professional Internship decisions were supposed to have been made by November 25.

So you can understand my surprise when on Tuesday, November 26, I received a voicemail from someone at the Disney Institute in Celebration, Florida, stating that they had ended up with my resume and were calling to see if I would be available for and interested in a Professional Internship. I called back to see what the job was about and it turns out it was for some sort of consulting position with the Account Director of the Disney Institute. Definitely nothing I applied for myself! But I thought it couldn't hurt to practice interviewing and to use this as an opportunity to see if this would be something I'd be interested in after the College Program. So I set up an interview for the following morning at 9:30 AM, Central, with the Account Director of the Disney Institute.

This man was very nice and explained the job very thoroughly for me. Basically, I would be acting as an assistant to the Account Director, coming up with proposals, and assisting in training sessions with the companies that come to Disney for advice on how to run their business. He made sure to mention that they were looking to hire for the long-term, as they were experiencing tremendous growth and wanted people who they could keep on as full time employees after the internship period. That part I liked! However, he also mentioned that once full time, there would be travel involved - such as going out and meeting with businesses at their own locations, all around the country. While I would probably be interested in that if I were single and had no pets, I just can't see that being my lifestyle at this point in time.

He told me that if I was interested in the position, I should get online and find the application to fill out by Friday. He said they were looking to make a decision very quickly and that the two chosen applicants would find out this week if they were extended an offer.

After carful consideration, I decided not to apply. I was called again yesterday to inquire about my application status, but I just don't think I'll be following up. While it does seem like a great job to have with Disney, I'm not quite ready for that kind of business atmosphere just yet. I've wanted to do the Disney College Program for the past seven years and I just couldn't bring myself to even chance giving up my dream role as a concierge in a Walt Disney World resort. I want to be trained to give the best possible customer service to guests and have the chance to interact with fellow Disney fans from all over the world before I settle down at a desk job.

However, I am pretty honored that I was even called and offered a chance at this internship with the Disney Institute. It has definitely made me feel more confident going into the next round of applications for Professional Internships in February, especially getting to see how different people conduct the phone interviews. Definitely eases the stress a bit.

So, that's that! I'll update soon about our apartment-hunting trip we took to Orlando the weekend before Thanksgiving!