“Welcome to Disneyland!” »we could hear as we entered the doors of the Novotel in Tours, Tuesday January 21, 2025. No, here, no relocated branch of the famous amusement park, but a stage of the site’s annual recruitment campaign, which is full seasonal workers for the summer.
In the three rooms where around ten recruiters work, candidates of all ages parade. Coming in costume, Oumarou Traoré came from the Paris region especially to apply. After studying Fine Arts, the middle-aged man has already worked at Disneyland Paris. “I did makeup for visitors to the park. » He hopes to get a job as a receptionist.
If the jobs offered only concern “operational professions” – catering, reception, hotels, ticketing, sales… – some try their luck in other ways. “I came to the nerve to ask for an internship”slips Noah Patron as he leaves. A BTS tourism student, he came from Nantes. “I seized the opportunity. »
Seven thousand positions to fill
In Tours, 140 people made an appointment. The organizers expected 200. “It’s been a long time since we’ve been to Tours”explains Stéphane André, recruitment manager at Disneyland Paris, who says he is mainly looking for “people who are dynamic”. He explains: moving recruitment sessions – such as in Lille, Marseille, Spain or Italy – allows us to reach more varied profiles.
-“We still have a lot of positions to fill”specifies Stéphane André. The group’s communication puts forward the figure of 7,000 positions to be filled, mainly fixed-term contracts. The site employs around 19,000 people at peak season.
“No similar experience”
In a room, a candidate answers questions from Claire Wolf, head of the catering recruitment group. The latter can meet up to thirty candidates per day in this type of session. One thing leading to another, she tries to assess the skills of the young candidate, who will have confirmation that the interview went well within 48 hours.
For Claire Wolf, one of the challenges of these interviews is to ensure that candidates will not be put in difficulty in their position. “There is no similar experience elsewhere”she assures. With more than 10 million visitors per year, Disneyland Paris is the most visited site in Europe. And, by starting their contract at the start of the tourist season, candidates “will be confronted immediately” to clients, warns the recruiter.
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