I really need some help: Advice needed

[elcondor]

As some of you may know, I started college last month. Last night, I went to what I thought would be a strictly information-only session about Disney internships. At the end of the presentation, they said "Okay, fill out these applications and we'll interview you for a position!" Not wanting to kick myself when I woke up this morning, I decided to go for it, even if I wasn't 100% sure yet. Well, my interviewer all but told me that I had it.

Here's the problem: as fun as it sounds (hello, living at Disney World for five months!) and as great an opportunity for networking it would be--I would basically have to take a semester off school. Now, my theory is (and I could be wrong), is that if I have to take a semester off for an internship--it might as well be now, before I get into my major (political science)--but I don't want to get behind my class and graduate a semester behind. Also, as a political science major, I'm not sure how helpful this would be to me.

If it's just a matter of taking a few classes this summer at a community college--should I do it? Would this be helpful to my major?

So, if you have ever done the Disney College Program, were/are a political science major, or just plain have some advice for me: please help!

(Note: I will be meeting with my department chair and financial aide officer next week--so don't think that the rest of my life hinges on this! I'd just appreciate some advice from those who have been in similar situations!)

Thank you in advance!! :D

[Padraig18]

1. Go for it!

Life is long, and this opportunity may never present itself again. You can make up missed classes over the course of a summer or two!

:)

[GOPisEvil]

2. I was a political science major.

I graduated from college when the first idiot Bush was President. Needless to say the job market sucked as it sucks now. I didn't do any internships or outside work in college. I went to school ALL THE TIME. I took only one summer off to work at an old summer camp job from high school, but that's it. I graduated the summer after my 4th year, so 3 months late. Graduating with one's class isn't as big of a deal in college since most everyone is on different schedules. Plus, at my college, you could receive your diploma fall, spring or summer.

Now, getting back to the internship - DO IT! Make all the contacts you can. Getting a job straight out of school is hard enough. Make friends with people that have hiring influence and KEEP UP WITH THEM. I think I'd rather have taken a bit longer to graduate and have some contacts when I left than go through 2 years of hell trying to find a suitable line of work.

Go for it! :thumbsup:

[qb]

3. I have no experience with Disney internships, but it sounds like

a lot of fun. Regardless of how much the experience contributes to your political science knowledge, it will certainly make your resume stand out a little bit.

I wouldn't sweat the "graduating a semester behind" bit (then again, I'm not big on ceremonies). There will undoubtedly be others who have to delay graduation for one reason or another.

[radwriter0555]

4. Disney sucks. No offense. They're using this program to get low

paying help.

They won't help you network, they pay shit, and cut you loose the moment a bottom line interfering with hefty profit margins gets threatened.

Disney is in VERY rough shape financially. Not a company I'd invest time in.

I used to know scores of folks who have worked for Disney. NONE of them are there anymore. Stay in school, don't worry about missing an opp at Disney, because you aren't.

[TexasEditor]

7. Hey, Grinch

It's for five months, not a lifetime.

[radwriter0555]

17. Not being a grinch . Disney SUCKS, so what would be gained by

slaving off to them?

Nothing.

[elcondor]

12. I need to know the good and the bad

Can you give me any specific instances where one of your friends had a negative experience?

I don't really mind the pay--I'd be making about the same wherever I intern and doing grunt work too. But, if you could provide a specific reason why I shouldn't, that would help a lot.

[radwriter0555]

18. Let's see, lousy bosses, crappy corporate policies, low pay,

treating women like crap.

WAY too much demands on work time; ass kissers get promoted, hard workers get fired.

They expect too much and reward far too little. As a corporation, folks get LOST and disregarded.

You won't get appreciated, is the bottom line. So you'll spend all this time gaining nothing. Go intern for someone that will value YOU.

[XanaDUer]

21. radwriter speaks the truth re Disney...

As a FL semi-native, I have friends who were unlucky enough, while young and youngish, to take jobs with the Corporate Mouse.

Ditto what radwriter says...one job a friend had was as a computer programmer. It was still a bad job.

Sorry if I grinched you, but I assume people want to hear the good and the bad.

[elcondor]

25. I do

I'm not naive--I know that there is good and bad things about every job or internship--and I need to know if the bad sides to Disney are enough for me not to consider this if offered.

[Bossy Monkey]

5. Ask if you can talk to some current/former interns

My kneejerk reaction is "What does Disney World have to do with political science?" which of course is completely unimportant except that it's also what any future employer looking at your resume is likely to be thinking, too. So my suggestion is that yes, you should definitely do an internship, but think long and hard before doing Disney.

Meanwhile, you might google Disney "college program" and any additional term that will get you people's weblogs. I added blogger and got this:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=disney+%22college+program%22+blogger
Hope it helps. Best of luck regardless of what you decide.

[TexasEditor]

6. When opportunity knocks... open the door.

Not the same but similar... A friend of mine's daughter, while she was a high school senior , was offered a job at DisneyWorld, as a singer and dancer, which she accepted. She stayed for one year, had a very fulfilling experience working there, broadened her horizons, met lots of interesting people. They're a classy company, despite what some may say.

Go for it.

[curse10]

8. Who cares if it takes longer than 4 years to graduate

I took time off during undergrad. So it took me five, no big deal.

[jiacinto]

9. Stay in school

Unless you are going to get credit for the internship I would not do it. Also, before you decide to take this position, MAKE SURE YOU KNOW WHAT IT IS. ALSO make sure that you have realistic expectations of the work you will be doing. With most internships, as is usually the case, you will probably doing very low level grunt work that the staff doesn't want to do. So keep that in mind.

How much does it pay? Does it pay at all? Where would you be staying? Would you have to pay your own rent? Would your parents be willing to help?

Think of the answers to this question. Disney World sounds fun, but you must be sure you know the position. Get an offer in writing and get the details sent you. Before you agree to anything ask for it writing. I learned that the hard way with the job I just had here in Miami.

[elcondor]

11. Some details

It's $6 an hour (more than what I am getting with my on-campus job) and I would be working 40 hours a week. I have to pay for my own meals (though I do get a discount at park restaurants, and they provide a shuttle to a local stores). Housing is about $65 a week and is deducted out of my paycheck. If you're under 21 (like I am) they place you in a dry apartment complex. (The complexes are gated communites with 24 hour security).

I absolutely will get something in writing--I'm in Ohio, so I know I can't just turn around and come home if it turns out to be a bust. (I read your post, jiancinto, and I'm sorry things aren't working out for you! Good luck on your end!)

I will find out in three weeks if I have it, and they give three weeks after that to decide.

I perhaps phrased the "graduating with my class" thing wrong--it's more of a money-issue than a class-issue.

That said, I have to leave for work. I'll check in when I get back. Thanks for the advice everyone!

[SoCalDem]

14. Have you read "Nickeled & Dimed"?? You might need to..

$6.00 x 40 x 4 = 960.00 BEFORE TAXES

$65 a week x 4 = $260.00 a month for rent

You will get tired of the "park food" fast, and there will no doubt be other expenses..

If you have a car payment, you will need to keep paying that, even if you do not get to take your car..


If you can afford to take the internship , it sounds like a fun experience, but do consider how broke you might be.:):)

[elcondor]

24. Yes, that's one thing the recruiter said:

"Don't expect to get rich."

I don't have a car and Disney is exempt from local taxes (though not state and federal, I'm sure).

Oh, and I know about the food! I got sick of cafeteria food here after about two weeks--I imagine "park food" would take me even sooner to tire of!

These are all important points for me to consider--thanks.

[jiacinto]

30. You need to have a car to live in Florida

There is little public transit to get around.

[jiacinto]

29. Good point

nt

[radwriter0555]

19. In show business, even in THEME PARK show biz. interns are SLAVES...

Take a look at the hollywood postings. Everyone here in town knows that interns are the bottom feeders of the business; kids who don't know any better, having their asses worked off, for no pay, all for the 'glory' of working in show business.

I don't trust -- and wouldn't work for -- ANY co that uses slave wage, or unpaid interns, because it means they put the importance of their profit margin FAR ahead of the people that work for them.

[elcondor]

23. Believe me, I'm not looking for "glory"

but I do need an internship SOMEWHERE. Nowadays, having a B.A. or B.S. isn't enough. Disney is one of the first I've looked at--which is why I'm asking for advice whether or not I should take this one or wait for something else down the road.

[jiacinto]

27. Well

At least in my field--international relations and political science--a lot of NGOs and organizations have unpaid interns. It's quite the norm unfortunately. Capitol Hill internships are all unpaid. What this does, in effect, though, is exclude millions of working class college students and instead reserve them for the very rich.

[jiacinto]

28. Okay

Let me do the math for you:

Florida has no state income tax, so you get to keep more of your paycheck.

But at $6 per hour that leaves you with $240 per week before taxes.

$240 A week
-$48 assuming taxes, FICA, Social Security at 20% (conservative estimate, probably less)
-$65 Housing
-$50 Food per week (I am assuming you are eating at fast food places)
-$40 incidentals/personal stuff
-------------------------------------------------------------------
=$37 left

So that leads me to ask you this question. Are your parents going to be sending you money at all? Or are you going to be supporting yourself? Or will they be helping? It seems like you will be under a tight budget there.

What are you going to be doing for Disney exactly? How does it fit into your career field? These are questions you need to answer before you move to Florida.

[supernova]

10. Well, what an interesting opp

to have! I'd seriously consider doing it. As others have said, graduating with your college class isn't as big a deal as it was in high school. You can return to school with the summer session next summer. If you decide to do it, do you have a way to pay for your lodgings/meals, etc or is that covered somehow?

[davsand]

13. A couple things come to mind for me.

First: If you want to be in Poly Sci and you are convinced of it, I'm willing to bet that in the next couple years there will be a lot of opportunity to do internships with political campaigns. They usually pay poorly (if at all!) but having an elected State Rep or Senator as a reference is not a bad thing at all... I know that in Illinois, my home state, there are several kids every year who do this.

Second: While there are people who bash Disney (for good reason, sometimes) Disney is a name that carries some weight. There is a perception that they hire good people. I remember having a kid apply for a job one time who had done a Disney gig, and it did get my attention that she'd worked there. They may not be saints, they may be rotters to work for if you plan to do it for a long time, but they are a name that is well respected.

If you were my kid, I'd ask you if this was something you really WANT to do -vs- are you doing it because you think it will look good on a resume? If you WANT to do it, then by all means, do it. If you are doing it because you think it will impress somebody, is that status going to be worth it if you hate the job? If it is worth it to you, then go for it.

Just my two cents.

Laura

[elcondor]

20. About your first point

That is why I'm going to talk to my department chair. If there are other opportunities down the road to work for someone DIRECTLY related to poli sci, I'd drop Disney like a hot potato. A small part of why I'm considering this is because of Disney's name--but it is also something I think I'd want to do. The thoughts here are really helping me--keep em coming!

[plcdude]

15. some of my students

have done this and generally they have enjoyed it. However, some have expressed that they felt they were just used to do menial jobs and that the term "internship" is not really appropriate. They worked hard and sometimes long hours for,in actual fact, low pay compared to other full time employees. But they had Florida met other people and enjoyed it. It was not, however, a real internship that would mean much on an activities transcript for future employment. But you're young and life is out there for you to explore. If you feel like going for it then do so. The students that I know who have done it generally had positive experiences although they would not do it again. Once was enough for them.

[elcondor]

22. "menial jobs"--seems to be the right assessment

The video they showed us of the jobs did send up a red flag for me. One girl swept up popcorn around the Magic Kingdom--while she certainly seemed happy about it, I don't think that that's worth taking a semester off of school for, nor would it help me in my future career.

Thanks, though, I was hoping to hear from a teacher!

[jiacinto]

31. Then don't do it

If you see "red flags", or if you have nagging doubts, then don't take it. I saw many "red flags" in my job that I just left here and I should have paid attention to them.

[Cheswick2.0]

16. .

.

[thom1102]

26. Sounds like you've already gotten a lot of good advice...

but let me toss in my two cents.

$.01: I think you made the right decision to accept when they offered. You can always back out if you change you mind. I have heard lots of bad things about Disney... I had a friend who was a performer at the park and said that, generally, lots of people want to work for the House the Mouse built, and because of that, they tend to pay poorly and treat their employees badly.

$.01: I wouldn't worry too much about graduating 6 months late, if you have too (remember, if you are ambitious and think you can handle it, you can overload in your remaining semesters to make up the time, if you really want to finish with your graduating class), but if this is something that you really want to do, then this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and you should avail yourself of it. It may look good on any resume, because of Disney's burgeoning rep as a poor employer, it means that you have a track record of working long hours, for poor pay (like a veteran) and that as bad as things get for you at your new job, it probably won't ever be as bad as it was at Disney. But it will mean six months of hanging out with a bunch of people your own age from across the country who are sharing a challenging experience and you may make friends you will keep for the rest of your life.

let's see $.01 + $.01= $.02! Good luck!