Abercrombie & Kent

Placement organization

Name of organization: Abercrombie & Kent
Town/city: Melbourne
Country: Australië
Website: http://www.abercrombiekent.com.au/

Name of student: Niki Bongers

Specialist area: MTMC
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Travel Agency
Organization’s activities: The student would be working with the Marketing team across different aspects of the marketing discipline: Product, PR, internet, marketing operations, affinity campaigns and events. They believe this exposure is interesting, engaging and helps the student develop an understanding of the nuances of travel and tourism marketing. The company sells luxury travel and wants to make sure that every trip contains a lot of luxury and a true experience for the costumer. They also organise some events and campaigns. They work a lot with social media: Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram.
Target group of the organization: People with High income
Company culture: I worked mainly with the Marketing team and they are very friendly. I could ask everything I wanted and they always tried to help me.
Number of employees: 30-40
Dress code: formal
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? I’m currently working at the Marketing Department.
Brief description of your daily activities: The student would be working with the Marketing team across different aspects of the marketing discipline: Product, PR, internet, marketing operations, affinity campaigns and events. They believe this exposure is interesting, engaging and helps the student develop an understanding of the nuances of travel and tourism marketing. I worked a lot with the itineraries. I made them, looked for pictures and cropped them with photoshop, uploaded them on the web etc. I also worked a lot with Social Media and with other marketing operations.
Brief description of your company assignment: My assignment is a combination of all the things you have in Marketing. I’m mainly focused on selling our new campaign and keeping Social Media up to date.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervision is really good. They help me, give me tips and complement me when they think I did something good. I can really recommend you to come here.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, team player, good English, stress-proof,
Additional company requirements for this placement? Office, writing skills, talking skills, Photoshop
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic
French: Basic
German: Basic
Italian: Basic
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? previous students
How did you go to work every day? public transport and foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, Working Holiday Visa for Australia
Do you need a work permit? no
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Internet
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? A long time, start early!
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 your English is not advanced I would consider a language course.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1200 return ticket
Accommodation (monthly): € 420 euro per maand (150 dollar per week)
Local transport (monthly): € 100
General costs of living (monthly): € 500/600 euro
Costs of visa: € veel (tussen 400-500)
Costs of work permit: € ?
What did the company pay for/to you? The company paid me for the work 300 dollar per week. That is around 835 euro a month. The only thing is that there still goes tax of this but you can ask that back later.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Not really.
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: niki.bongers@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Save a lot of money before coming. Make sure you are not homesick. Dress appropriate for work. You work every day from 9 till 5.30 so be prepared, if you’re not a hard worker this is not the job for you.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Great Ocean Road, Philip Island, Eureka Tower, Melbourne’s Coffee Alleys & Graffiti Walls, Melbourne Zoo, Tasmania, Yarra Wine Valley, St Kilda, Beach

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link