Explorica

Placement organization

Name of organization: Explorica
Town/city: London
Country: Groot-Brittannië
Website: http://www.explorica.com

Name of student: Carmen Willemsen

Specialist area: MT
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour Operator
Organization’s activities: Explorica travel company was founded in 2000 and helps teachers to create educational tours full of authentic, interactive learning experiences. They specialize in connecting teachers and students to new cultures, languages and people on educational tours across the globe. Explorica has six offices arounf the world. All their European operations are handled by the office in Ealing, West London, from which they handle all operational, logistical and commercial issues.
Target group of the organization: Students (aged between 14-16) from the US and Canada
Company culture: The London office consists of the Tour Director Department and the Operations Department. Other departments as Sales, Finance, Product Management, Customer Service etc. can be found at the offices in North Amerika.
Furthermore is everyone very friendly and approachable, it’s easy to communicate with colleagues and the manager. The atmosphere is informal and the dress code is casual. Also contacting colleagues from other offices is super easy via phone or email.

Number of employees: 10
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Tour Director Department
Brief description of your daily activities: – Tour Director(TD) Materials
– General support of the TD’s
– TD Recruitment
– Annual TD Conference preparation
– Market research
– Updating online resources, manuals and emergency files
– Improving internal social media website
– Updating TD Explorica short bio
– Some tasks for the Operations Department

Brief description of your company assignment: My assignment was related to Tour Director Material Branding. The Tour Directors of Explorica need materials when they’re on the road , leading groups. Those materials needed to be renewed/improved, it was my task to do this. I had to do research, had to contact the suppliers and had to contact the Tour Directors etc.

Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision was super! My supervisor(s) were always there for me to answer questions or to help with something. They’re both Polish and communicate with each other in Polish which is sometimes a bit annoying but overall they’re very nice and relaxed!

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Team player, Sociable, Flexible,
Additional company requirements for this placement? Outlook, Microsoft Excel, PPT, Word
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Train (airplane, bus, boat and car are possible as well)

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Internet; www.spareroom.co.uk
How did you go to work every day? Public transport (tube)

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? No but you do need a National Insurance Number, you can apply for this when you are in London. (the company will help you out with this)
How did you arrange the necessary documents: No
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 1h
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance?

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? No
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? Only if your English isn’t advanced.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 200
Accommodation (monthly): € 600
Local transport (monthly): € 115
General costs of living (monthly): € 125
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Financial compensation of 300 GBP

(London is a very expensive city, be aware of rent prices between 500-800 euros per month for a room!)

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Not, the UK belongs to europe and is pretty much the same, although there are some significant differences (driving left, Pound Sterling, Miles, 1h time difference, etc.).

Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 113060@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Be yourself, communicate with your colleagues and enjoy. No one will point out to you if you do something wrong or when you arrive a bit late at the office due to delays or something else.
Everyone is very friendly, try to become part of the team than you will have a really nice placement!

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Too much to even start summing up. You won’t get bored in bustling London!
There’s always something going on! Just check the websites of Visit London/Time Out every week, they show all the activities and special stuff that’s happening in London.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link