Pilot

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Hello there! So as you’ve probably gathered, my name’s Elin. I’ve been contemplating on starting a blog for some time now, and it’s taken me about a week or so to figure out how to work this thing out, so bare with me. As I’ve mentioned in the description, my blog is going to be about my preparations before heading out to Florida, and during my time. I’ll also be blogging about my cakes and other things too, occasionally.

A bit about me:  I’m 23, soon to be 24 and have recently graduated from University with a degree in Law. I also graduated in 2008 with a degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice. I’m still open to the possibility of having a future career in law, but for now, I’m focusing on Disney. One of my passions is baking and cake decorating, as you’ll see throughout my blog, in time.

I decided to write a blog because in about four month’s time, I’ll be jetting off, across the pond to live and work for the mouse, in Walt Disney World, Florida. I am beyond excited but equally as nervous.  I applied in August 2010, but had been considering applying since June. Spending sleepless nights just thinking of how amazing it would be to work and live in Disney for a year, it was literally all I could talk about with my friends, so I decided to just go for it. I’m pretty sure they’re sick of hearing about Disney by now.

 I read countless blogs and sifted through so many threads on WDWIP. I knew it was really what I wanted to do.  I had originally heard of working for WDW because a girl I met on my brief stint at Chester University had done the International College Program over summer, in 2006 but I couldn’t do it at the time. Well, actually, I was heading out with an old friend to visit WDW for the first time in Sept 2006 – And got to stay in one of the value resorts, Pop Century.

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Finally, I thought I should cover the application process, but it’ll be quite brief, since countless of other blogs have described it all quite accurately and thoroughly enough.( If you ‘re not interested in the process, skip this until you see a *) I applied August 18^th (Although the Applications were being accepted in June) and I patiently (Well, impatiently) waited to hear back. I was thinking of it every single day, constantly checking my emails. It became quite an obsession.

I got an email on the 6^th of September, inviting me to a telephone interview. I was absolutely ecstatic. We got to pick from a selection of times and dates and picked the 9^th. I wanted to allow myself a couple of days to just prepare for it, instead of rushing straight in.

The 9^th came along, and I could barely sleep the night before. Simultaneously nervous and excited, but thankfully, my interviewer Nick was lovely and put me at ease.  I’ve never prepared myself so much for something in all my life. The interview was far more informal than I had expected, and lasted longer too, but I do tend to ramble on, as everyone knows.  Immediately after the interview, I felt pretty happy, and pleased with how it went, however, as the day carried on, I started analysing everything I said, and I was just a nervous wreck.

Following day, I got an interview inviting me to the face to face interview in the Disney Head Quarters in London, to which I obviously accepted. It was on the 1^st of October which gave me plenty of time to prepare. I had made arrangements to meet up with some of the other applicants the night before, which was definitely a great help in easing the nerves, as everyone else was in the same boat and we all just got on well.

During the interview day, we watched a presentation on the CRP and one of the recruiters, Jill talked us through it all. I saw the presentation beforehand, but it was good to see it again. We were then allocated times to come back for our interview, in pairs. Mine was scheduled for around 2pm but ran late. I had my interview with a lovely guy, Matthew, from South Wales. I thought the interview went pretty well. Hollis, our interviewer was lovely, and Matthew was really good too. I couldn't have asked for a better person to be interviewed with, because we both let eachother answer and listened. It wasn't awkward like I imagined it to be.

15^th was the date I found out I’d be on the ‘opportunity list’. I was completely devastated because I just thought I’d completely blown it, and I’d never get the chance to go. After speaking to a few people, I calmed down. Fast forward 3 months later, and I got call off Hannah on the 11^th of January, offering me a position in F&B for the 21^st June. I was completely over the moon.  It was, to put it simply, the best feeling ever. The wait was soul destroying, but completely worth it (Well, I hope lol).

*If you’re interested in applying, check out  Yummy Jobs – They do various other international programs too, for example hospitality work in Australia, Canada or Switzerland etc, so it’s really worth checking out, if you’re interested in gaining some work experience abroad.  Oh, and they also help out if you want to travel the world too. I can’t praise the team enough. Very, very helpful.

Thank you for reading my first ever blog entry, hope it wasn’t too painful.  I really hadn’t intended on it being so long.  I’ll post up some pictures of my Little Mermaid cake tomorrow. See you all soon.

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