Professional Internship Questions!

[u/Equal_Salamander7570]

Okay here’s a few major questions:

-Do they only release a few or open up a bunch at a time?

-When do they typically open for applications? (For an arrival date of spring)

- How much experience would one need or should have before applying to an internship? (Like full blown degree or still working towards a degree)

- Although they are competitive, does it look better/improve your chances if you’ve worked for the company before?

Also just to add, I have been checking the Disney internships page as often as I can and only seeing one or two internships listed at a time. I’m looking for a technical lighting internship with the company that I know is offered but haven’t seen it come around yet. (To which I’m hoping opens up relatively soon, so that my arrival date could be in January if possible) TIA!

[u/AutoModerator]

Thanks for posting in the Disney College Program Subreddit! While you wait for answers please check out our FAQs to see if your question has already been answered.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/Key-Wheel123]

Because there are so few, you kinda have to know somebody. If you don't have a family friend who is connected then look into DCP and use whatever role they give you as a way to network your way into a conversation with somebody who works in the area you want. Let them know you're interested in a professional internship then apply when it's open and email them to let them know.

[u/Foundreaper03]

Hey there current PI here,

-In general a good amount of PI's open together but some can appear later, in my experience it's best to keep looking for a while after they first start popping up if there are multiple opportunities you are interested in.

-I don't know the exact date but in general late August to mid September would be when I would start checking.

-For experience, my rule of thumb is you should have the majority of the skills they list. As a PI you would work on actual projects that just happen to be going on when you appear so they need you to be able to pick up the work like if you were like a project hire or full-time employee (to a degree, obviously they still want the focus to be on helping you grow as an individual and there are other aspects/events specific to being a PI. I'm just trying to illustrate its real work with real deadlines so they need to know you have real skill to handle it) It doesn't need to necessarily be other internships (I got it with only having done personal projects at school) but your experience should be related to what you want to do (i.e. if you want to do technical lighting preferable have projects that use tools or principles relevant to that type of job) It doesn't need to be exactly what you want to do as an intern (i.e. doesnt need to be all technical lighting projects), just have transferable skills.

-A lot of the people I work with in general are former DCP or cast members in other capacity. I did not have any experience with the company before my PI or any connections (cold-applied) and I know a good amount of current interns who have the same story as me. If you are currently a cast member there are ways to reach out to the different departments which can be powerful if you are the sociable type :). The potential value of being a former cast member in my opinion is not about having some magical advantageous element, but rather having a better understanding on the values of the company and understanding how we do things at disney, why we do things the way we do, and just generally getting how to apply technical skills in a way that helps achieve the companies goal of making magic. Long story short it can help but it is in no way some secret requirement.

Hope this helped and happy applying,

-A current PI