Spice Divers

Placement organization

Name of organization: Spice Divers
Town/city: Long Beach Perhentian
Country: Maleisië
Website:

Name of student: Bram de Jong

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2014-2015

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Dive school
Organization’s activities: Dive trips and dive courses
Target group of the organization: Anyone that is a diver or is interested in becoming a diver.
Company culture: The company culture is very open. There is basically no hierarchy whatsoever and all employees are seemingly on the same level. Instead it’s more like a team where everybody works together to achieve the best results possible. It is also very informal, all employees interact like friends would on a night out, even with the boss. This creates a very positive atmosphere in the dive school and a feeling that all employees are equally valued. High performance is always expected however and since there is a shared feeling of responsibility it is usually not the boss that points out the mistakes, but the employees among each other that make sure that a high standard is maintained.
Number of employees: 10
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Spice divers is too small to really have departments but my job was basically to run all the tasks behind the scenes which made the job quite diverse.
Brief description of your daily activities: Every day is different and i basically just do everything that needs to be done but some of the most frequent tasks include maintaining the dive schedule, manage bookings, keep the books, manage payments, equipment care, and maintaining contact with partners and suppliers.
Brief description of your company assignment: The number of dive schools on the island is increasing rapidly and spice divers wants to know how it can maintain its market share with the increasing amount of competition. The company has previously been entirely offline and fully reliant on walk-ins, the owner now recognises that the market is changing and wants me to find out how it can adjust so that it won’t lose it’s share of customers or possibly even increase it. Therefore the company assignment is mostly market research with a clear focus on consulting the company how to improve its marketing.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Supervision is quite passive and I was given a lot of responsibility right from the start. If I have any questions the owner is always happy to take time for me but most of the time he wants me to figure things out in my own way. Even important business decisions such as determining product prices and the hiring of new staff became my responsibility. In the beginning this was quite difficult because I wasn’t sure how far i could go without consulting with him but i quickly learned that I can basically do anything as long as I am sure it is in the best interest of the company. we sometimes get together to evaluate on the decisions and actions I made but in general if he doesn’t say anything it means I did it right.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? independent, flexible, organised, team player
Additional company requirements for this placement? diving knowledge
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: plane, bus and boat

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? myself
How did you go to work every day? roll out my hammock and there I am!

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? no, you get 3 months on arrival so you only need to do one visa run
Do you need a work permit? no
How did you arrange the necessary documents: no documents needed
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? none
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance? already had them all

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, everyone speaks good english on the perhentian islands

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 600
Accommodation (monthly): € 0
Local transport (monthly): € 0 (no vehicles on the island)
General costs of living (monthly): € 150
Costs of visa: € 0
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? free dinner, free accommodation, and free diving.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I’ve been to Malaysia twice before and was already quite familiar with the culture
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: bram445@gmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Perhentian island is an easy going place, not much to consider, just go check it out
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: It’s a very small and isolated place. aside from diving there is not much to do except for sunbathing and the occasional drink at one of the bars. a constant supply of new visitors ensures however that you never have to get bored.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link