My daughter is on the verge of getting her first job ever. We hope so, anyway. There have been a few false alarms this summer.
Anyway, she is now faced with two prospects that both look pretty good (although neither is guaranteed). One is at a local PetSmart, and the other is at the Disneyland Resort. Her first preference is to obtain the position with Disney, and if she gets an offer for it, she’ll definitely be taking it. The dilemma arises because while an offer from PetSmart could come any day (possibly even today), her first face-to-face interview at Disney is today (she already aced the online interview process last week). The hiring decision timeline at PetSmart has been a matter of weeks; at the same time, she doesn’t have any feel for what kind of timeline Disney would operate on.
So here’s the problem: let’s say she gets an offer to start at PetSmart now, and in a couple of weeks she gets an offer to go to work at the resort. Should she ask the Disney people for enough time before her start date to give notice at the pet store? Should she even worry about giving any advance notice at the pet store?
I think it’s very responsible of her to be concerned about burning bridges and appearing flaky, but never having been in that position, I’m not sure what advice to give her (other than to not mention to the PetSmart folks that she’s actively pursuing a position at Disneyland). For the moment, I’ve told her to cross that bridge when she comes to it (see what I did there? I incorporated the title of the thread into the OP! Go ME!), because there’s no guarantee that she WILL come to it.
But if she DOES come to it, how are the cool kids handling this sort of issue nowadays?
How should I know? It’s not like I have some sort of Hot Tub Time Machine.
Is this like a real job job? What does she hope to get out of it? Where does she want to go?
Because if it is, I see way more upward potential at Disney than at PetSmart. Particularly since I’ve heard rumor of massive restructuring going on that eliminates a lot of managerial positions.
I agree with the wait and see approach. Companies know a candidate is looking multiple places just as they’re looking at multiple candidates. If she has to cancel quickly for Disney, give them a week. That’ll give them time to update their schedule and make some calls to the candidates that didn’t get it.
I agree with the idea of crossing that bridge when you get to it. Of course there’s the traditional two weeks notice, but I don’t think that’s particularly necessary for those types of jobs. In general, all you should really need is enough time to cover the schedule.
That said, even for these types of jobs that are typically first jobs, there’s still some investment on the part of the company, the processing costs, orientation, training, etc. So even with a reasonable amount of notice, a relatively short employment can also burn bridges.
Is there a possibility she can get a timeline one when she might get an offer from Disney? That’s definitely something she should be asking at the interview, and it will help her figure out what a potential timeline might be if she gets an offer from PetSmart and whether or not she can wait to hear from Disney before accepting.
Reality Check x 2
Two weeks notice will not be allowed. At mid manager or below they will likely have her leave immediately or at the end of her shift with an escort so she doesn’t steal anything. If she deals with paperwork or inventory or computer work or anything she will be escorted out immediately so she doesn’t fuck over the company with vengeful spite. Yes it is exactly like being fired.
She leaves PetSmart hanging … who is going to know other than her and the manager? For two weeks I wouldn’t even put it on a resume or an application so future employers won’t know. It will never come back to haunt her unless there is some bizarre coincidence that has happened maybe like 3 times ever in the history of the universe.
I hired a young girl about 6 months ago who already had a job and even though I desperately needed her to start immediately, I told her she must give a two week notice to the job she was leaving. I did that to teach the employee the importance of doing the right thing. Will it ever matter? Probably not but I survived for two more weeks and she learned a valuable lesson.
She should ask Disney for their timeline, as well as their general hiring numbers (is this a 1,000 people applying for 7 slots thing?) and try to delay her PetCo offer as long as possible. Hopefully Disney comes back before negotiations with PetCo are complete.
If she doesn’t hear by then and doesn’t have a strong feeling about how Disney went, I would start with PetCo and plan to give them two weeks notice if Disney works out (assuming she is in an entry level retail position- they expect turnover and treat employees accordingly).
She called PetSmart again today right before heading out for the Disney interview. They told her (after having jerked her around for a couple of weeks) that due to a shakeup at corporate, they didn’t have a position to fill after all.
Then, she went to the Disney interview. An hour later she called home to tell us that she is now a cast member. She gets her ID card next Monday, and goes in for orientation on September 11.
For the best anyway. Disney is what she wanted and it’s what she’s getting. Besides, it just helps confirm my suspicion that something weird is going on at PetSmart corporate.
Yep, even the janitors who scrub the toilets are cast members. It’s silly, but it’s also a reminder to every employee that Disney is an entertainment company first, last, and always, and the reason you’re scrubbing those toilets is so the audience has clean bathrooms. It’s like how every Marine is a rifleman.
I found out that if you work, or have worked, as a character, you’re supposed to keep in on the down low (at least in front of children). Source: a former Minnie Mouse.
It wasn’t even just the parks. There was a World of Disney store in Manhattan (not a traditional Disney Store) for about 5 years, which was operated by the theme park division. Employees there were cast members who worked either “onstage” (sales floor) or “backstage” ( stockroom etc)
Even at the parks, employees of third party vendors are considered Cast Members. I used to run a sunglass store at Downtown Disney at WDW, and I was a Cast Member even though I wasn’t a Disney employee (though with fewer perks). Had to comply with the Look Book and so on.
