EF Educational Tours

Placement organization

Name of organization: EF Educational Tours
Town/city: Madrid
Country: Spanje
Website: http://www.ef.com

Student

Name of student: Malou Boudewijn

Specialist area: MT
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour Operator.
Organization’s activities: Selling tours to North American students and their teachers. The mission of the company is: ´to break down the barriers of language, culture and geography that divides us’. The regional office in Madrid takes care of the Tour Directors who guide tours in Spain and Portugal

Target group of the organization: North American high school students and their teachers
Company culture: The way of working is serious but informal and relaxed. Also the relation between the colleagues is very good en informal. They make you feel like a colleague instead of a trainee. Everyone is very friendly and social.

Number of employees: 3
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes.

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Tours department – Regional office Madrid.
Brief description of your daily activities: – Sending out all tours information (Pre-tour contact and tour director itinerary);
– Contacting TD´s (Tour Directors);
– Taking care of train and metro tickets;
– Helping with the selection and training of new tour directors;
– Administrative tasks.

Brief description of your company assignment: My company assignment was to search for new activities in different cities in the most visited countries of the tours (Spain, Portugal and France).
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Roberto is the supervisor, he is also the manager of the office. The supervision is very good. He tries to help you with everything he can and you can ask him anything you want. He really makes you feel like a colleague instead of a trainee. It is for him very important that you feel at home in the company and also in Madrid. If you want feedback on anything, you can ask him any time. Also the other colleague (Jose Ramon) is very friendly and he is a great help.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, sociable, team player, flexible, organized and responsible.
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office Word and Excel.
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane.

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Agency (TLS Group). They offer very nice apartments with international people.
How did you go to work every day? By foot. I lived close to the office (10 minutes walking).

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No.
Do you need a work permit? No.
How did you arrange the necessary documents: –
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? –
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? It is not necessary but Spanish can be useful by answering the phone or emails.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € €250,-
Accommodation (monthly): € €505,-
Local transport (monthly): € €25,-
General costs of living (monthly): € €300,- / €400,-
Costs of visa: € –
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? – Return flight ticket;
– Meal allowance (€5,- per working day);
– Metro tickets.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not prepare myself for the country´s culture. But if you want, you can find a lot of information on internet.
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: malouboudewijn@live.nl 122797@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: You have to look for a good area to live. I lived in the Salamanca district. This is a very nice, beuaitful and clean neighborhood in Madrid and is close to the office. The city center is 10 minutes with metro and you are close to Retiro Park.
Before you go to Spain, be sure you can speak basic Spanish. The most of the Spanish people are really bad in speaking English.
Find a apartment/house with international people. This is a nice way to learn other languages and cultures.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There are a lot of big clubs in Madrid (Kapital, Joy etc.). Those are expensive but worth to visit a few times. You don´t want to miss Fucking Monday. This is in Independence Club every Monday.
Go to Salsa of Bachata classes.
If you want to visit other places around Madrid, the best way to go is to go with City Life Madrid or Be Madrid. These companies organised trips for international students. It is a great way to meet new people.
And of course visit Palaco Real, Plaza Mayor, Real Madrid, El Rastro etc.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link