Recasting

Let me start off by saying that the casting and re-casting process can be daunting and confusing. If you ask the same question of five people you may get five different responses. A lot of it is a matter of opinion, and some people can be a little unclear. Here's my story.

I knew my internship would come to an end within the next two months. The rule is that you can go to casting once you're reached the six week mark to the end of your internship. So during that sixth week, I made an appointment and went to casting. I sat down with one of the recruiters and we went through some things. I had put on my pre-form that I was looking into Front Desk and Concierge, and was only looking for full-time. The meeting started off with my recruiter laughing at me and telling me I had no chance for Front Desk/Concierge, and little chance for full-time. So then he's looking at the different jobs they have open or will have open. I'm a little thrown off from the beginning because I was looking for a specific role, but I did not turn anything down outright. My recruiter asked me about several roles. These included Food and Beverage (quick service), dish-washer, and some other things. Later, he told me that I turned everything down. Mind you, I never turned anything down, he was taking my facial expressions as affirming or negating. Anyway, so my only options are part-time. And my best one that seems the most interesting was a part-time Slide Operator at Typhoon Lagoon. But, I would have to end my internship early, by three weeks I think. Not the best idea, but that's the one I tentatively accepted. Before we could move forward, my recruiter needed confirmation from my manager that I could leave my internship early.

The next day, after my recruiter did a more thorough search, he found another role. It was also part-time, but it paid a little more. It was a Seater role at ESPN Club. Honestly, I was more excited about the slide operator role. I don't know anything about sports, and I never really wanted to work in food and beverage. But I would only have to leave my location one week early. And it paid a little more. So I accepted that role and we moved ahead with the transfer.

Two days later I go back to casting to skill-code. Basically what that means is that you put your name on lists and if a position comes available and you're next on the list, they offer the position to you. I skill-coded for full-time attractions. Before the receptionist even handed me the paper to fill out she said "I have a full-time attractions role in Backlands." I was told that I would put my name on lists and wait up to and even more than six weeks. I was caught a little off guard when they offered me a position right there. So I jumped on it. Full-time is definitely better than part time. So I cancelled the Seater role and moved forward with the Attractions role.  For those of you who do not know, Backlands is an area in Disney's Hollywood Studios. I did not know what attraction at the time, only the area.

A few days later, I get an email about my training schedule for the Seater role. I talk to my casting recruiter to see if I need to contact the location to tell them I'm no longer accepting that role, or if he would. He said he would take care of it.

Fast forward to the second week before my internship ended. All of a sudden I'm getting emails, calls, and IMs from the Seater location and the Attractions location. The attraction role messages are all fine. Mostly, they were welcoming me to the area, talking about my training schedule, etc. But I should not have been getting any from the Seater role location. I contacted some pertinent people regarding this, including my recruiter. Nobody got back to me. One man said that they would move forward with the attractions role, but had to push back my training for the seater role. Another lady said that my internship end-date had changed and so they are moving my training forward. It was a big mess. Finally I IMed the one lady and said "look, my internship end date never changed, and I'm only supposed to have the Attractions role." I went into a little detail, and finally, she was able to straighten it all out.

So now, I only have one role. Confusing, messy process, but it all worked out in the end. And as I announced last entry, I am one of Andy's Toys working at Toy Story Midway Mania. And I love it! I have two more days of training, then assess the next day. If I pass, I'll be on my own!