Becoming a CM

[Airblue1]

Is anyone a former CM?
If so can I PM you some questions?
Thank You

[Figaro]

Sure. Drop me a PM.

[Main Street Jim]

Feel free Was at MK for almost ten years.

[joanna71985]

Sure! I'm a current CM (since 2005).

[Epcyclopedia]

Why PM?

It's not a secret society. It's a public job - the WDW resort employs somewhere around 55k people in central Florida. Some of the jobs are great, some aren't.

Open and frank discussion is a wonderful thing. I mean, I can see why you might be a little wary of airing your career aspirations on a public forum in general - but as long as you're not posting your resume or personal info on here there's very little risk.

And discussing it here you can help answer people's future question they might also have as well.

[Airblue1]

I guess I have a lot of questions.
1. What is the working climate like as a CM? I have read a lot of complaints?
2. Does everyone enter as the same position whether they have post or graduate degrees?
3. How much in terms of salary do CM's get pd, around?
4. Who gets benefits?
5. What types of vacation time is part of packages?
6. What is the avg. length of experience?
7. How do they manage all of the different aspects, from dining to hotel to rides?
There has to be millions of managers running around that place?
8. Can CM's really make there jobs careers?
I guess this is my start and I thank you in advance for your responses!

[dnickels]

I guess I have a lot of questions.
1. What is the working climate like as a CM? I have read a lot of complaints?
2. Does everyone enter as the same position whether they have post or graduate degrees?
3. How much in terms of salary do CM's get pd, around?
4. Who gets benefits?
5. What types of vacation time is part of packages?
6. What is the avg. length of experience?
7. How do they manage all of the different aspects, from dining to hotel to rides?
There has to be millions of managers running around that place?
8. Can CM's really make there jobs careers?
I guess this is my start and I thank you in advance for your responses!

While I'm not a CM, I have some neighbors and friends who are so I'll offer my observations as an outsider regarding your specific questions that I can speak to and some general points.

1. My experience has been that most CMs really enjoy their jobs. Unhappiness generally stems from the lower pay scales, dealing with rude guests or work-hour demands (holidays, weekends, til 2 in the morning).
2. Your Associates/Bachelors/Masters/PhD degrees all qualify you for the same thing.... a position as an entry level CM making $7 to $9 per hour.
3. See previous answer.
7. Most of the lower-level park area managers are drawn from CMs who have already put in their 3-5 years working at the near minimum wage levels mentioned above.
8. See my general thoughts below.

In general, keep in mind that Disney's parks and resorts workforce is overwhelmingly drawn from two groups. Young people (college program kids, recent grads) who live with roommates and often have second jobs or older people (retired, semi-retired) who need some supplemental income or just want something to do and can enjoy the perks. There are very few middle-class type people with families to support who can do so as a CM.

That said, Disney does have professional level positions, but they are positions that Disney recruits for. Someone isn't going to walk into central casting and have a job making $40k with benefits two weeks later. Every year there are people with 20 years of teaching experience who get the idea that they could train new CMs at Disney University, or people with an MBA and 20 years of project management experience who think it would be fun to be a manager in Adventureland but again, they're generally going to find that they're qualified to start as an entry level CM, making a low wage and expected to work holidays, weekends, EMHs until 2 in the morning, etc.

I know a lot of us here on Intercot would love to work for Disney, but for anyone with a family to support, they shouldn't plan on moving then looking for a position with Disney or trying to work their way up. A move like that really should only be considered after securing a professional position with Disney (i.e. after they've flown you down for interview(s), offered the job, finalized the acceptance, etc). On the other hand, if you're single, just out of college and don't have the financial demands of a family to support you could certainly start low and make it a career.