The Disney Summer Associate program

[ibaw]

hey soundimagineer

i was wondering if you got any more information... or if you had an interview and if so how did it go?!?!?!?!

I am still curious about what they are saying about interviews and when they will make the decision. I am currently a cast member in Orlando and need to know what to tell my managers about the summer......

[soundimagineer]

Originally Posted by ibaw

hey soundimagineer

i was wondering if you got any more information... or if you had an interview and if so how did it go?!?!?!?!

I am still curious about what they are saying about interviews and when they will make the decision. I am currently a cast member in Orlando and need to know what to tell my managers about the summer......

Well, they are supposed to call me the beginning of this week (so I would assume tomorrow or wednesday) to schedule my phone interview with the department that is interested. As soon as it happens I will let you guys know how it went. I haven't really heard any more general information. I had my initial interview that was just the recruiter asking me basic questions like why I wanted to work for the company (i mean, honestly..) and where I found out about it (I said here ). Basics about my experiences with the software I listed on my resume, and generally chatted a little. They had me fill out all that legal paperwork already and an employee registration or application or some kind of form like that. I've been on set all day today for a student film I was working on, and I was so nervous they would call. Then I realized it was president's day and most likely not in the office.

I heard that they make their final decisions in March? Don't hold me to that, I could be wrong, but I want to say I heard that. It makes me a little nervous because I'm weird about not planning everything far enough ahead, so I'm eager to look for housing, but I don't want to jinx myself and find out I don't get it once I get everything organized. But I've been in close touch with the recruiter. We email like once every two days.

I don't know if any of that helped. But I'll keep posting when I find out new things that may be helpful. And I'll rush to the boards as soon as I get off the phone with them this week! cross your fingers!

[MAH4546]

Originally Posted by spbink

I don't remember there was a citizenship requirement, just the requirement of returning to the school in the fall. It never hurts to apply - better to try, even if it turns out to be a problem, than to not apply and have it not turn out to be a problem.

joepic, good luck! I'm pretty much in the same boat, but a bit down the line (I just graduated). It's a great experience. I definitely recommend applying for it!

To apply for the program, like most any paid job in the United States, somebody must be able to legally work in the U.S. There is no citizenship requirement, but to get the appropriate work visa, a student must either have a green card or be enrolled at a U.S. school.

For somebody who lives outside the United States and does not go to school in the U.S., the program is unavailable to them, because Disney will not sponsor a work visa for a summer program. Although Disney (and Pixar, which has a separate summer program) is one of the nice ones, because they will take international students that can get the proper work requirements on their own. Most studios require U.S. citizenship.

Like all major studios in Los Angeles (I work at a studio, albeit not Disney, that runs a similar program for graduate and undergraduates), Disney is extremely snobbish about schools. Typically Disney want students from universities ranked in the top 25 (Harvard, Vanderbilt, University of Chicago, etc.) or local Southern California-area schools with strong programs in relevant fields (i.e. Loyola Marymount for animaton; Southwestern Law for legal). It's unfortunate that the name of the degree matters so much, but it does.

[pinch]

Arghhhh the deadline is in a month tomorrow, and I still have tonnes of work to do and the work deadline for my degree stuff is the SAME DAY! What are the pigging chances?

I've also got to figure out this VISA business. I'm in the UK so I'd need to get some sort of intern visa/summer visa but it's $131 us dollars (£90 to me! not cheap!) but it seems I have to have this already before I even apply!
What if I don't get it? Then surely I've wasted £90? Ahhhhhh..
I've emailed the submissions people so hopefully they'll get back to me.

If anyone's got any suggestions on this topic then please please let me know as soon as you can, cheers

If anyone knows any email addresses that are going to get me an answer faster then please let me know too. I wouldn't mind a phone number but then it would cost me a heck of a lot since I'm not in the U.S.

[MAH4546]

Originally Posted by pinch

Arghhhh the deadline is in a month tomorrow, and I still have tonnes of work to do and the work deadline for my degree stuff is the SAME DAY! What are the pigging chances?

I've also got to figure out this VISA business. I'm in the UK so I'd need to get some sort of intern visa/summer visa but it's $131 us dollars (£90 to me! not cheap!) but it seems I have to have this already before I even apply!
What if I don't get it? Then surely I've wasted £90? Ahhhhhh..
I've emailed the submissions people so hopefully they'll get back to me.

If anyone's got any suggestions on this topic then please please let me know as soon as you can, cheers

If anyone knows any email addresses that are going to get me an answer faster then please let me know too. I wouldn't mind a phone number but then it would cost me a heck of a lot since I'm not in the U.S.

It's expensive, but call Disney on the phone and ask if they accept students with a valid J1 Visa. The majority (99%+) of studioss will not accept J1 Visas for summer interns.

[pinch]

Originally Posted by MAH4546

It's expensive, but call Disney on the phone and ask if they accept students with a valid J1 Visa. The majority (99%+) of studioss will not accept J1 Visas for summer interns.

Are J1's cheaper though?

It's just my problem is do I have to purchase a Visa before I've even got a place confirmed? I don't want to waste my money.

[MAH4546]

Originally Posted by pinch

Are J1's cheaper though?

It's just my problem is do I have to purchase a Visa before I've even got a place confirmed? I don't want to waste my money.

J1 is the only kind of visa that will allow you to work a summer internship in the U.S. as a foreign student.

Check this out:
http://www.interexchange.org/internship/index.html

Unfortunately, you will most likely have risk putting down some money before getting an offer.

However, again, contact Disney and find out. Some studios do not care, and are willing to hire before the visa is received. However, that also means you should be applying sooner rather than later to give you a longer window to apply and receive a J1.

[pinch]

Originally Posted by MAH4546

J1 is the only kind of visa that will allow you to work a summer internship in the U.S. as a foreign student.

Check this out:
(URL)

Unfortunately, you will most likely have risk putting down some money before getting an offer.

However, again, contact Disney and find out. Some studios do not care, and are willing to hire before the visa is received. However, that also means you should be applying sooner rather than later to give you a longer window to apply and receive a J1.

Thanks for the information

I emailed Disney Submissions and I'm still waiting on a response from them, but in the mean time I phoned up the American Embassy and they said that I cannot apply for an internship visa without confirmation of a place and the correct documentations to show them.

So that's a little clearer, so I suppose Disney will just have to accept my forms without the visa no's for now.

[evelynr0se]

Originally Posted by MAH4546

Like all major studios in Los Angeles (I work at a studio, albeit not Disney, that runs a similar program for graduate and undergraduates), Disney is extremely snobbish about schools. Typically Disney want students from universities ranked in the top 25 (Harvard, Vanderbilt, University of Chicago, etc.) or local Southern California-area schools with strong programs in relevant fields (i.e. Loyola Marymount for animaton; Southwestern Law for legal). It's unfortunate that the name of the degree matters so much, but it does.

What do you mean? I'm from UCLA, and there are a lot of interns from USC, and I find most of the people I know are from non-top 25 schools such as CSUN and Cal Poly's. I'm not disputing this - I'm just wondering what your source was, because I'm really inclined to believe this but I haven't found it to be true.

[MAH4546]

Originally Posted by evelynr0se

What do you mean? I'm from UCLA, and there are a lot of interns from USC, and I find most of the people I know are from non-top 25 schools such as CSUN and Cal Poly's. I'm not disputing this - I'm just wondering what your source was, because I'm really inclined to believe this but I haven't found it to be true.

CSUN and the Cal Poly's are local area schools, which I included.

I work at a studio (not Disney). We usually throw away resumes that are not from Top-25 schools or from within California.

[bonjourlove]

Originally Posted by spbink

So feel free to ask me questions! If I don't know the answer, I can ask somebody. And sorry this got so long

spbink, this has been so entirely helpful. i've been trying to find more information on the summer program. i am currently in the disney college program and i would love to work the studio program. my mentors say it will be a lot easier for me to get in since i am already under the company. is there an email where i can contact you to ask more questions? i don't know how to use this message board haha but if there is a PM somewhere, you can send it through there. please help! thanks so much

[tracytreasure]

Hey! I just saw this post, and im really trying to get a summer internship at Disney. But i cant see any of the summer internship positions under the 'apply for position' option. is it that the positions are not yet out for the summer program?
also, im applying to be either an animator, a storyboard artist or a visual development artist. Seeing that im only a sophomore, do i have to be absolutely great at animations or are they simply looking for people with interest and talent.
Again, im a bit nervous about the reel portfolio submission. Did you need to turn in any one? and what were the kind of things you put together?

[spbink]

On the Studios' internship website it says that internships will be posted on November 15th.

The position I had wasn't an artistic one, so I didn't have to submit a portfolio, but I'd say do the best you can! Be sure that your cover letter shows that you are passionate about the field and eager to learn. I'm sure that any portfolio is better than none - if they see your potential, they are more likely to take a chance on you. One time I had to go through some applicants for an internship and I definitely ranked the ones with cover letters above the ones who just sent resumes, because the letters told me why they wanted to do the internship and it highlighted the work they had done that would relate to the job. I'm sure having a portfolio is the same for artistic people. If they can't see any of your work, they'll probably assume the worst, not the best.

Remember that internships are learning experiences. Nobody will expect you to do professional quality work when you're still in school - that's why you're going for an internship in the first place!

[heaven2dc]

I just found this thread and after reading the original post, I am excited about applying for the undergraduate internship position. I applied 2 days ago and now two of my applications show "in progress" which I hope is a good sign. These two are for the Undergraduate Intern, ABC Entertainment Group for Spring 2012 and the other is for Undergraduate Intern, Casting also for Spring 2012.

I am very new to this whole process and am very excited too! I hope to receive an email or phone call for an interview. Has anyone else on the Disboards ever worked as an undergraduate intern at ABC Entertainment? When I applied, the application didn't ask for a cover letter but when I looked over my submitted resume, there was a place to submit one. Did anyone else submit a cover letter with their resume and application? (sorry for all of the questions!)

[spbink]

Good luck with your application!

I did include a cover letter, and I always recommend including one. Anything you can do to make yourself stand out and highlight why you'd be a good choice for the position over all the other people submitting resumes is important. Not all HR people will read them, but I've looked over resumes before and I always end up ranking the ones with cover letters higher because the applicant tells me why they want the position and why they would be good at the position. On ones with just resumes, I have to try to pull those details out myself out of past experience that isn't always directly related to the job. Not that you can't get a job without a cover letter, I just feel it helps

Also, when I applied for my internship in 2007, I sent in my application in December and didn't hear back until the end of February. So don't worry if you don't hear back right away!