AB Poland

Placement organization

Name of organization: AB Poland
Town/city: Warsaw
Country: Polen
Website: https://abpoland.com/

Student

Name of student: Jacolien Kaljouw

Specialist area: Tourism Management (EN)
Placement period: 2021-2022

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: tour operator
Organization’s activities: The company organizes tours in Poland, anything from day tours, guided city tours, and multiple-day trips.
Target group of the organization: Mostly tourists coming to Poland, very often from the US or UK, but also other European countries
Company culture: It is quite an informal company, with direct contact with the boss. Each employee/intern has their own priorities, but will generally work on a variety of tasks.
Number of employees: 2
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

There are not really departments in the office, but it is mostly back-office activities.

Brief description of your daily activities: I work to organize tours, book guides, drivers, tickets, and hotels, as well as prepare itineraries. My company assignment concerns the optimization of the website by using SEO, which I work on almost daily as well.
Brief description of your company assignment: My company assignment concerns optimizing the company website, for which I use SEO.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision is not very active by the assigned supervisor, but I can always ask questions to the supervisor or my colleague

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Eager to learn, professional language use towards clients, sociable is not really necessary, but would improve your good time at the company
Additional company requirements for this placement? Previous knowledge of MS office, and SEO can be useful, but is not necessary
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: Any European language is a plus, but not required

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? company provides it
How did you go to work every day? bicycle/ public transport

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? not with an European passport
Do you need a work permit? not with an European passport
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Aside from learning agreements(signed by company) there are not a lot of necessary documents required
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? a few 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? Learning some basic Polish can be useful, but I didn’t and I managed just fine

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 130
Accommodation (monthly): € 0
Local transport (monthly): € 30
General costs of living (monthly): € 400
Costs of visa: € 0
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? The company pays for my accomodation

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I didn’t
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? The online communication in the office is mainly Polish, but it is not a big barrier for me

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: I would suggest learning some basic Polish words such as ‘hello’, ‘thank you’ etc. Make sure you remember the online marketing and communication courses of the second year. Because my internship got postponed, I did it in the fourth year, and most of my SEO knowledge is gone now. I would strongly suggest to come to Warsaw during the summer months, because then there are many cool outdoor activities, and during winter it is very cold and dark here.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: I would definitely recommend to travel to as many different cities in Poland as possible, since there is so much to explore. Many people do not think of Poland as an tourist destination, but it offers something for everyone. In Warsaw there is much to explore, with a lot of interesting Museums, restaurants, parks and many activities. Public transport connects everything very well, so you’ll be able to reach anything close to the city center within 30 my.

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