Dreams Take Flight with UK Early Careers

by Disney Career Recruitment

UK Early Careers participants let their dreams take flight in programmes that provide a fantastic springboard for their future careers at Disney. Currently, there are two programmes available in the UK — a 12-month internship programme and several Level 3 and Level 4 apprenticeships — spread across multiple areas of the business. The internship program is for university students in their penultimate year of their undergraduate degree, and the apprenticeships are for those who have finished their A Level equivalent. During the apprenticeship they will work for Disney four days a week and complete an academic qualification related to their field of work.

From enabling functions in Human Resources, Finance, and Legal, where you can learn about the people behind the scenes of a large company, to roles where you see your work in the real world, including Marketing, Product Design and Licensing teams, there is something for everyone. Learn about these exciting opportunities from UK Early Careers Recruiters, Vicky Virdee and Laura Bland, and discover the integral part they play in the organisation.

What excites you about working with UK Early Careers?
In our roles, we attract, engage, and recruit future talent for The Walt Disney Company! We are responsible for the end-to-end recruitment process and have been exploring new ways to make the process more efficient by leaning into tech advancements and tapping into how new generations work and engage.

Also, not only do we work with around 200 hires, but we also get to learn so much more about The Walt Disney Company with the 200 hiring managers we recruit for. It’s so exciting to see our hires join us on day one, and we love hearing how our hires progress during their Disney journey!

How is UK Early Careers building the future of Disney?
We hear a lot from the business that previous interns return to the company after completing their degrees, which is fantastic! In our roles, we are constantly working to ensure we are advertising to a diverse range of young people so we can spread the word about the fantastic opportunities we have available. It is important that The Walt Disney Company is doing what it can to ensure roles are accessible to all individuals regardless of whom they know so our opportunities are equitable.

How does UK Early Careers focus on diversity, equity and inclusion?
At the start of our recruitment season, we train the business by giving them a refresher on the selection process, how inclusivity is factored into our remit, and what to do when candidates require a reasonable adjustment. Also, this year we are piloting drop-in sessions so hiring managers and their teams are welcome to join should they have any questions or topics to discuss regarding their recruitment for an intern and/or apprentice.

For prospective applicants, we have a hints and tips document available in all our job descriptions. This has been introduced to help ensure applicants are clear on what is required and hopefully make them feel confident before submitting their application. Lastly, we have introduced some strength-based assessments in our interview process for hiring managers. Strengths-based assessments look at an individual’s innate potential rather than what they have done as some people don’t have access to work experience or an application guide from their network. We strongly encourage anyone from any academic background to apply because you can learn on the job.

Everyone has a beginning to their career — start your magical journey with Disney!