United Backpackers

Placement organization

Name of organization: United Backpackers
Town/city: Melbourne
Country: Australië
Website: http://unitedbackpackers.com.au

Student

Name of student: noortje verheij

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2015-2016

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Accomodation
Organization’s activities: Backpackers hostel. I worked under the general manager in different departments. Marketing (social media, reviewing websites), events (planning, organizing, working with a budget), branding, finance

Other duties on request

Target group of the organization: Backpackers
Company culture: Informal and not really strict. I worked under the general manager together with the duty manager as well.
Number of employees: 25
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes, I truly had an amazing time although some major changes in the company during my internship. Would recommend it to anyone!

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? I work under the management, this means that I have worked in all departments of the company.

Back Office (marketing, events, financials)

Front Office (Reception)
Brief description of your daily activities: Front office procedures
general reception operations – day to day reception duties such as reservations, check in and out procedures, taking enquiries by phone and email, handling guest enquiries and providing local information customer relations.

Back office procedures
entering reservations that come in via booking agents or our own website, quality control procedures, gathering and entering guest feedback data by using feedback forms and process it, Assisting in running events with events staff, promotion of events, event planning and budgeting, reporting on events, use of social media e.g Facebook and Instagram, daily banking and solve financial issues if needed and counting the floats.

Marketing-oriented tasks in the back office include updating online content, weekly ratings and competitors reporting and analysis, attending industry events, updating social media, being in charge of reviewing websites.

Other duties as required e.g organizing and hosting free walking tours through the city for in house guests of United Backpackers.

Brief description of your company assignment: address and develop the review criteria as to increase the property rating, profitability and reputation of the property by focusing on customer service (focus on reviewing websites as tripadvisor, hostelworld and booking.com)
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: They are very laid back and more like a family. They tell me what to do and then expect me to be able to do it without to much supervision. However, when I have questions they are always eager to help me out with anything! You have to be independent and ask! They like you to show initiative

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, teamplayer, social, flexible, representable
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, writing skills
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I slept in the hostel (staffroom) for free which is an 8bed dorm to share with colleagues
How did you go to work every day? I walk down the stairs to work

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? yes, working holiday visa subclass 417 (first year wh)
Do you need a work permit? no
How did you arrange the necessary documents: online via the embassy in Australia
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 1 hour
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? If you can’t speak or write in English after 3 years of study… yes

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1200
Accommodation (monthly): € nothing
Local transport (monthly): € 50
General costs of living (monthly): € a lot, Australia is expensive
Costs of visa: € 300
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Accommodation during my internship, some tours at the destination (great ocean, grampians) and free accomodation in Nomads and Base properties all over Australia. Discounted trips to other places in Australia via their own travel agent (mad travel).

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?

I did not really prepare, it is a really western country and Melbourne is a big city. It is pretty similar to the Netherlands

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: noortje1995@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: be yourself, be social and be open for all new experiences. Don’t hesitate to ask questions!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Great Ocean Road up to Adelaide
Grampians national park
Wilsons Prom national park
Hotsprings in mornington peninsula
Yarra Valley winetastings
MCG (melbourne cricket ground) to watch a footy game, the sport of Melbourne
Grand Prix formula 1, Australian Open, Melbourne Cup. Depends on the time you to Melbourne

Sydney (night bus or flying, both cheap)

(Outback!!!! Uluru, Kings Canyon, Kata Tjuta) expensive but sooo worth it!

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link