Authentic Scandinavia

Placement organization

Name of organization: Authentic Scandinavia
Town/city: Oslo
Country: Noorwegen
Website: http://authentic-scandinavia.com/

Name of student: Lisanne de Groot

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2016-2017

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Booking the hotels, booking any other suppliers, calculating the tour price and additional services
Target group of the organization: All kinds of target groups
Company culture: The hierarchy in the company is not really formal. The colleagues are interested in you and are nice. You will be handled as one of the team, what gives you a good view of what is going on within the company. Of course there is a structure, and rules, but overall it is rather informal. Also, the dresscode is appropriate but not formal.
Number of employees: 6 employees and +/- 3 interns
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? I am working in the FIT booking Department, also the only department the company has
Brief description of your daily activities: In the morning we check our e-mail for booking request. We register this in the system and start booking the suppliers. As soon as all suppliers have confirmed, we send a confirmation to the customer. Furthermore, we work on the website. Right now, we are updating and rewriting certain texts. Also we register the payments in the system.
Brief description of your company assignment: My company assignment will be a marketing plan, to help the company get an insight of smart marketing via social media etc.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision is done by one person, however, the full time employees are helping me with any question that may occur. They explain it clearly and go at your own pace. If you think that everything is going to quick then you can tell that and they will keep it in mind.
They are willing to help and giving advise/feedback on how to improve yourself.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? team player, flexible, sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office, writing skills, communication skills
English: Intermediate
Spanish:
French:
German: Basic
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Tram and bus

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I contacted a previous intern of Authentic Scandinavia
How did you go to work every day? public transport

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No, but I live in the EU
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: I had to go to the tax office to arrange a Tax number, and to ask a bankaccount with the bank. The company helped me with the bank account
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 2-3 weeks
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? No not necessarily, unless you would like to learn Norwegian, or German

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 100-200
Accommodation (monthly): € 545 and more
Local transport (monthly): € 0
General costs of living (monthly): € 100
Costs of visa: € 0
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? The company gives a financial compensation of 5500 NOK per month and the monthly transportation ticket.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not really prepare myself for the culture. However, the Norwegians have different views than we have in the Netherlands and are less open. Overall, these do not necessarily have influence on your experience

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: lisannedegrooot@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Travel around when you get the chance, and travel to the surrounding countries, which will make your experience more memorable
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There are some sightseeing places. The nicest of Oslo, is the nature surrounding the city.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link