Malaca Instituto – Spanish School

Placement organization

Name of organization: Malaca Instituto – Spanish School
Town/city: Malaga
Country: Spanje
Website: http://www.malacainstituto.com/

Student

Name of student: Richard Smith

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Educational Tourism provider
Organization’s activities: High-end Spanish School. Recognised as one of the best in Spanish teaching.

Marketing team travels all over the World dealing with very high end clients/organisations/universities

The company has a lot of deep connections with the government and tourism boards. Its very easy to a foot in the door with some of the most important stakeholders in Spain and industry.
Target group of the organization: All
Company culture: 80ish person through a hierarchy system. However, friendly and informal communication
Number of employees: 80-100
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Marketing Department
Brief description of your daily activities: Social media & Content marketing within the marketing department.

Destination branding via online platforms

Assisting the IT department with creation of company promotional APP and student interface.

Researching

Analyse Social platforms with analytic software. Report on possible application data. Apply.

Promotion and content creation of events. The company knows how to put on extremely good promotional events, for example, bands playing on the roof, DJ’s, light-shows, etc.

Company business dinners with high-end clients

Advise on the Social Media benefits and application

(They respect interns and never ask them to do un-skilled tasks)

Brief description of your company assignment: Produce a Social Media Strategy and Content guide in order to explore and exploit the new forms of communications in marketing. Assess application of various platforms and how they relate to the target market.

Use tourism studies to apply benefits of destination branding within an educational product.

IMC course in 3rd year helped a lot.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Prepare to be very self motivated, well time managed and ability to work independently. Supervisor is very helpful but busy at times. Friendly staff always willing to help.

Generally, don’t say what you are going to do, just do it.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Be independent, Social, Friendly, self-motivated, mature
Additional company requirements for this placement? Anything that can bring value to the company
English: Mother tongue
Spanish: Basic
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Plane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? http://www.idealista.com/en/
How did you go to work every day? bicycle

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? n/a
Do you need a work permit? n/a
How did you arrange the necessary documents: n/a
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? n/a
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance? n/a

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? Yes. Its free, normally very expense

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 25-100 one way
Accommodation (monthly): € 400. 1 bed apartment next to beach. Close to centre
Local transport (monthly): € Cheap
General costs of living (monthly): € 100-200
Costs of visa: € n/a
Costs of work permit: € n/a
What did the company pay for/to you? Free Spanish lessons. One of the most expensive schools around.

Half price meals / buffet

Free hot drinks

Free excursions. Normally 50€ per trip

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
NHTV Spanish lessons
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? n/a

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: 121077@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Come with an open mind and don’t expect things to be rushed.

Great company, if you want to learn various aspects of a business and how it fits into a destination.

The internship is what you want to make it, show interest and specify what you want to learn.

The intern should be mature and able to fill own time with tasks that benefit the company.

Previous Dutch workers/interns haven’t left a good impression of their work mentality. Therefore, expect to work hard to prove them wrong.

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Endless options: Always a festival going on, everything from culture to parties.

Lots of money has recently been invested in the city and it is noticeable everywhere.

Good student vibe.

Authentic friendly Spanish.

Less touristic in the centre compared to tourist spots down the coast.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link