Santiago Backpackers

Placement organization

Name of organization: Santiago Backpackers
Town/city: Santiago
Country: Chili

Student

Name of student: Sara Albers
Website: http://www.santiagobackpackers.com
Name of student: Sara Albers
Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Hostel
Organization’s activities: Accommodation
Target group of the organization: Backpackers
Company culture: Very friendly
Work needs to be done and properly but you feel like in a family

Number of employees: 6 to 9
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Management, 1 day reception
Brief description of your daily activities: Reservations, email, booking engines, finance
Brief description of your company assignment: Researching whether converting dorms into private rooms increase profit
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: I was mainly supervised by the owner of the hostel (him being the supervisor)
But also a lot of work was check upon online meaning that using emails was the main form of communication.

Connection with study program: Relevant

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Team player, flexible, stress-proof (in high season especially)
Additional company requirements for this placement? Word, excel
English: Advanced
Spanish: Intermediate
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane – best and cheapest from Madrid through to Santiago – I flew from Paris though where you need to change airports

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I slept in the hostel
How did you go to work every day? n/a

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No but the VISA immigration paper you get is very important, this might sound logical but we had many people who lost it and if so you need to go to the police and get a new one. Also when leaving the county it might be necessary, depending on how long you will be here, avoid crossing the same border twice could make them suspicious
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 for chile however i guess have the basics such as hepatitis, tetanus is always of advantage especially if you go into other countries such as peru or bolivia where you also need yellow fever.

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? n/a

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 1200,00
Accommodation (monthly): €
Local transport (monthly): € 20,00 depends if you prefer walking or using a bicycle however transport is rather cheap – 610 for the metro. And also buses which however you can only use when have a BIP card which does not give you any price advantage though but is much more comfortable as you dont need to buy a ticket ech time. The card costs 1300CLP (aprox. 2 euros)
General costs of living (monthly): € 300,00 only money for shopping, party or something special you need. Food you get at work.
Costs of visa: n/a
Costs of work permit: € n/a
What did the company pay for/to you? € Meals and accommodation.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture? Not
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No.

Future students on placement

My telephone number:
My e-mail address: sara_albers@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Make sure you stick to your working hours to avoid working more than you need.
If you have time definitely visit torres del paine, and other destinations mentioned.
Don’t take valuable things with you on the street even though Santiago is the safest city in chile you should still look after your stuff.

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Infrastructure pretty good – most attractions

Media

Youtube linkYoutube video internship