[Question] Working my way up!

[vhien]

Hello! I'm just curious, without a college degree, how high up would I be able to make myself after working in the parks? Also I want to be a lead one day at my location, how soon is long enough of a wait to be one and what's the pay like?

 

[mamapenguin]

Idk the particulars of Disney, but get a degree. You will be limited how far you can go without it, and end up having to do it later.

 

[Priory]

If you really want to reach the upper levels of park management, make sure to learn as little about the parks as humanly possible.

 

[mom2rtk]

If you really want to reach the upper levels of park management, make sure to learn as little about the parks as humanly possible.

Hah!

 

[Iceman93]

Well, one of the best fellow Imagineers I had the pleasure of working with had no college degree, started as a ride operator in the parks, and worked her way up to executive producer. I don't know if such a career path is even possible anymore, though, and as a previous poster said, getting a degree is really, REALLY important to advancement at Disney and anywhere else, to be honest. It may seem like "just book learning", but part of it is showing employers that you can dedicate yourself to a 4-year task and then achieve it. Having a relevant degree is even better, but many job postings just state "college graduate--mandatory" and that's it.

 

[gottalovepluto]

And don’t dismiss school while working, even an online degree obtained while you are working can check that “mandatory degree”box.

 

[vhien]

Thanks for the responses! I have a HS diploma and that's about it. I left college a while back and don't plan on returning in the near future. I'm not trying to make my way up to top dog or anything. I was just curious as to how far I would be able to go in the company without a degree. I'm just the kind of person that likes to know about things ahead of time so I can prepare for it. Even if I were to go to college while working, the location I'm at is very hard to do both considering how far away I live from the park and how they require us to work 5 days a week too. I would only be getting about 4 hours a day of college, assuming I'm able to coordinate the schedule, then I'd have to rush home to drive to DLR. I'm in a position where I need the immediate money to help my family until we are able to get back on our legs. So right now it's hard to do both. But thanks for the advice and I will surely keep it in my mind for the future.

Thanks again guys!

 

[tobikaye]

OP, I do not have a lot of knowledge of DL employment advances, but with many companies, even with on the job experiences, you get to a certain level and they require either a degree of some kind or many years of on the job experience. I know when I was last looking at jobs, most either required a degree or 5-10 years experience in the field.

I got my associates back in 2002 through online courses. I took one class a month for 20 months. It allowed me to only need to allot about 5 hours a week to reading and assignments. Having just the associates degree helped me get my past two jobs. I am currently debating on getting my bachelor's degree, more for a just in case since more universities now offer online courses.

If you are interested in advancement, I would suggest just asking questions of your HR department if there is not someplace that already lists the information. I know some companies have a handbook that lists everything, including promotions out.

 

[azdisneylover]

Sometimes, places of business will pay for some, if not all of college courses. Check into that too.

 

[BuzzyWOL]

From WDW experience, front-line leadership is the farthest you could conceivably go without a degree. I know a couple people who have done so, but it took them significantly longer than those who possessed degrees. You might see some higher ups who have been around 30+ years and don't have a degree, but that's not going to happen in the current job climate. Overall Disney is better at most than identifying talent rather than simply focusing on education. but you'll still hit a wall at some point.

As far as the salary goes, I couldn't tell you. The difference between FL and CA salaries can be pretty huge.