EF Travel SA

Placement organization

Name of organization: EF Travel SA
Town/city: Madrid
Country: Spanje
Website: http://www.eftours.com/

Name of student: Kirta Walia

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2015-2016

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Offering educational tours for students from The States and Canada in Europe! Next to that, managing the tour directors whom belong to the regional office in Madrid (200).
Target group of the organization: Students from The States and Canada
Company culture: Horizontal hierarchy culture with a lot of informal communication going on in the company.
Number of employees: 3
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? EF tours
Brief description of your daily activities: Supplying all the on tour material and managing the Tour Directors.
Brief description of your company assignment: Executing a qualitative research assignment among the students whom travel with EF.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision will be done by Roberto Fraile who gives you the space in order to reflect on your own progress and developed skills. He will sit down with you and discuss everything with you based on your own input which is really helpful!

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Independent, team player, stress proof, sociable
Additional company requirements for this placement? writing skills, MS office
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Myself
How did you go to work every day? Public transport (metro)

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? no
Do you need a work permit? yes, a NIE!
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Comisaria General de Extranjeria y Fronteras
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 1 week
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance?

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? yes

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 150
Accommodation (monthly): € 700, own appartment.
Local transport (monthly): € 20
General costs of living (monthly): € 500
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: € 20
What did the company pay for/to you? Meals
Transportation
Financial compensation (contract base)

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I already traveled a lot so i did not feel the need to prepare myself for the countries culture. However, i asked my friends in Spain what I could do in order to prepare myself to live in Spain as an expat.
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: kirta@live.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Take care whenever the company asks you to stay longer on a contract base, what happened in my case. The placement agreement would not cover this which means that you have to make a contract with the company. For this you have to apply for a NIE, social security and a spanish bank account.
If you need any assistance or need more information please do not hesitate to contact me!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: madrid is full of leisure possibilities! You will never be bored in Madrid, believe me!

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link