Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay

Placement organization

Name of organization: Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay
Town/city: Bali
Country: Indonesië
Website: http://fourseasons.com/jimbaranbay

Name of student: Annika Geiger

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Resort
Organization’s activities: Running a successful luxury resort and providing exceptional service and quality.
Target group of the organization: High-income people from all over the world
Company culture: The corporate culture of Four Seasons is a hierachy of course. Furthermore the company’s culture is exactly definded and all based on “The golden rule” whch is “We treat others as we like to be treated”. And you really feel this in every encounter and interaction either between the employees or between employee and the guests. It is an exceptional culture and one of the strongest points of Four Seasons. They could not deliver an exceptional quality if they wouldn’t have that culture. Cause what makes a service of a high-end resort different from its competitors? It’s human interaction, giving attention, knowing the guest, knowing what the guest needs before they even tell it, etc.
Number of employees: 750
Dress code: uniform
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes, everything!

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Public Relations.
Brief description of your daily activities: Working on social media content (Mainly Instagram and Facebook), following up E-Mails, setting up Itineraries for media visits, compiling “Best of”-Lists for recommendations concerning shopping, partying, etc. for our guests, meeting media, clipping, making quartely PR report, attending shootings, participating video shoots, etc.
Brief description of your company assignment: Execute a market research for Sundara (Restaurant/Beach Club of Four Seasons, available for in- as well as outside guests) to improve and increase the effectiveness of their promotions.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: I’m expected to work independently, which I really like. Last time I asked my supervisor if she had any tasks for me she simply answered “Try to figure something out yourself” but in a friendly way. I like this since it makes you think about the whole process and projects going on at that time to see gaps and opportunities to work on. But my supervisor also directly gives me tasks when something is coming up.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, sociable, flexible, open-minded, enthusiastic, hard-working
Additional company requirements for this placement? Excel, 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 arranged it myself and found a Villa, which I share with other Exchange students. The easiest way to find accommodation is on Facebook since there are numerous groups regarding Exchange students, finding room mates, finding Villas, etc.
How did you go to work every day? Scooter! Absolutely crucial on Bali!

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Cultural Visa but if you want to leave the country for holidays and come back, a Visa on Arrival is also suitable. However, you will have to extend it after 30 days and after 60 days you need to leave he country and come back in.
Do you need a work permit? No.
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Myself.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 4 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? Since you study already in english I guess that you’re language skills are sufficient so no extra course required.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 880 €
Accommodation (monthly): € 120 – 400€ (depends on your standards)
Local transport (monthly): € Scooter rental per month is approximately 55€
General costs of living (monthly): € Varies according to the accommodatin you chose. I’m not exactly sure (lost a bit of an overview) but I guess 400-600 €
Costs of visa: € Cultural Visa: 50 US$, Visa on Arrival: 35 US$
Costs of work permit: € —
What did the company pay for/to you? Compensation of 220.000 Indonesian Rupiah (approx. 13€), Lunch, Uniform (shoes included)

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I analysed the culture in my Placement Preparation Paper which gave me an insight already. However, you have to simply wait and experience it yourself. The Indonesian/Balinese culture is completely different from ours! It’s another world. I can guarantee you that you will have a cultural shock in the beginning but it is a great experience. Take your time to get as close to the people, their religion, culture, tradition, rituals,… as possible because you will learn so mcuh not only about them but you will also start thinking about your culture, your relation to religion, etc. Very interesting experience!
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Not really. You just need to be aware of that balinese people have a different perception of time. If you have an appointment with them at 10.30am they might as well be there at 10.00 or 11.30 am. However, the company is not much influenced by that. They mostyl stick to deadlines and appointments.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: annika.geigergeiger@yahoo.de

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: TO DO:
– Explore and experience as much as you can
-Get out of your comfort zone
– Travel as much as you can (luckily you have some free days + public holidays)
-Stay on the island for Nyepi (Balinese new year) day! You will not be allowed to leave your house, make noise, switch on light, etc. because the balinese pretend that the island is empty for that one day+night so that the deamons will not harm them. It’s a great experience to just stay in and at night watch that awesome night sky where you can see the iley way since there are no lights switche don on Bali. Most people leave fo that day to another island since they don’t want to be forced to sit inside the whole day. But I recommend you to stay.
-Climb a vulcano

NOT TO DO:
-Don’t even get the idea of smoking weed here! You will either get arrested or (if you deal with it) death penalty is awaiting you
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: -Visit Gili islands
-Trip to Java
-Trip to Australia (it’s a bit further away though but absolutely worth it!)
-Weekend Trip to SIngapore or Kuala Lumpur

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link