What happens when your internship is over?

Today was the last day of my internship in Guest Relations and I will be moving to a new role in Merchandise at World of Disney.

I'd like to talk a little bit about the process of what happens at the end of your PI. There are several options.

1. You leave Disney

Maybe you aren't finished with school, or maybe there is another opportunity for you at home. Either way I'm sure you had a blast and learned some great skills to bring to another position

2. You get a position in your current role.

Some internships may have the ability to take you on in your current department. Every area is different, some may offer you a statused position as part or full time, while others may offer you a Temporary Assignment or TA. Guest Relations at this time did not have any positions available, but many interns will take option 3 and be chosen for a TA later on. Some internships do not have any capability to take on even TAs so be aware of what other options you have.

3. You take on a Part time or Full time role.

This is the route I had to take. 6 weeks before your internship end date you can visit casting. You will then need to book an appointment for an "interview" to discuss role choices. You may remember my career goals are in Lodging. Well I was quite disappointed to discover that you cannot just transfer to Front Desk or Concierge any longer. Infact all of the positions that would be a good match for my skill set were not available to me. If you are interested in Front Desk, Concierge or Vacation Planning, you must wait for a posting to come up on the MyDisneyCareers website, apply and go through an interview process. After that if you are selected you will be put on a transfer list and wait for a spot to open up. They last posted in October of 2013 and there is no indication of when these posting will happen.

I told the person I was interested in Merchandise as I had done that role previously. Now was another shocker, the first available appointment was on May 27th. 10 days before my internship ended. The person at Casting was unsympathetic to this fact and told me to ask my leaders about a seasonal position (Which wasn't available) She said I could call back and see if other days would open up. So that's what I did. I kept calling and eventually an earlier time opened up. When I went to my interview it was very short, I was told only Part time was available, and he read me a list of places to pick from. I picked World of Disney because I felt it would be easy to get more hours there. The recruiter told me he was sorry he didn't have anything better to offer me for my skill set.

Honestly, working Merch feels like a waste of my skills but it will allow me to focus more on "soft skills" Some feedback I got from the team at DTD was that my technical and problem solving skills were very good but that I had difficulty with "soft skills" while doing the technical stuff. Basically I found it difficult to have those conversations with the guest like "Where are you from?" or "What parks have you visited?" while working to fix their issues. Working in Merch is going to allow me to step away from the technical side of things and really just talk with guests. If you've met me before, you know I am good at talking, its the merging talking while working that I will work on.

So in my new role I will take the feedback from my previous area and work to improve. Also working Merch is a fun job! Lots of positive guest interactions and the chance to help guests locate a special item. It's important to remember that while this role may not be the one I wanted, it is a chance to learn and work toward my goals.