EF Educational Tours

Placement organization

Name of organization: EF Educational Tours
Town/city: Paris
Country: Frankrijk
Website: https://www.eftours.com

Name of student: Maureen Gribnau

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2017-2018

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour Operator
Organization’s activities: EF Educational Tours organizes educational trips for high schools and universities from the US and Canada all over the world. These trips are created in the head quarter which is located in Boston. The so called Regional Office (RO) has more executive duties such as booking the (transfer) tour directors, train and metro tickets.
Target group of the organization: United States of America and Canada
Company culture: The atmosphere in the office is rather informal but you still should be dressed formal. This means no sneakers and/or jeans. Furthermore, since there are just four people in the office (including the trainee), there is not a huge hierarchy but officially there is one boss for whom everybody is working. Since EF Educational Tours is a huge company which is situated over the whole world, there will also be communication with other parts of the world (mostly US and Canada) with which the communication is a little bit more formal.
Number of employees: Millions of employees over the world but 4 employees in the office (including you)
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 working in the Regional Office (RO) in Paris, in the ‘operations’ department. But as the RO is responsible for hiring, allocating and dealing with the tour directors – the ‘guides’ accompanying the groups, also in the ‘human resource’ department.

Brief description of your daily activities: – Send pre tour contacts and flight itineraries to the Tour Directors.
– Be responsible for the tablets which the Tour Directors use to fill in during their tour to see their itinerary and to fill in their evaluations
– Answer emails and phone calls.
– Assist Tour Directors with any questions or problems they have.
– Be responsible for local transport tickets (metro/train/Oyster/etc.)
– Work with the internal system (to allocate tour directors to tours, etc.)
– Help the service team with emergencies (f.e. lost and found items)
– Assisting your colleagues in organizing the (airport) transfers
– Keep the office organized and update the message board for the Tour Directors
Brief description of your company assignment: My company assignment exists of two parts:

Part 1: Training manual (can be used during internship)
In the training manual I have been describing all the tasks that new trainees will have to take care of and how they will be able to use the online platforms.

Part 2: Parisian booklet (can be used before and during internship)
In the Parisian booklet, I have written down all useful things that an intern might need during his/her time in Paris (room/leisure time/finance, etc).
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: All of the colleagues are very nice and friendly. We work serious but we can also have a laugh together and once in a while, we're having dinner at somebody's place.
All of your colleagues would love to help you and answer your questions. Once in a while, you will get feedback according to the interim assessment form so you know concretely on which things you will still have to work on.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Stress-resistance, organizational skills, language skills (English and French), sociable, independent
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office and Atlas (this is used during the internship but this will be explained)
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French: Intermediate
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Car and/or train

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I found it via the Facebook group called: Nederlanders in Parijs / Île-de-France
How did you go to work every day? Metro, by bike or by foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
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
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 you do not feel comfortable with speaking French, I would recommend to take a French course in advance since this is the language which will be spoken the most in the office. Although, all the colleagues speak English and the communication with the rest of the EF colleagues over the world will be in English.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 300
Accommodation (monthly): € 770
Local transport (monthly): € 75
General costs of living (monthly): € 300
Costs of visa: € 0
Costs of work permit: € 0
What did the company pay for/to you? The company gives €10 lunch allowance per day. Furthermore, they will pay for your transportation card every month and they will pay one return ticket home.
This will all be put on a card which you will receive from EF.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I have been doing my exchange in France as well the half year before my internship started so I was already quite used to the French culture. Although, the French culture is not that different than the Dutch one so no worries.
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: 150498@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Paris is a very big and expensive city so I would recommend to look for a room which is within your budget since the life outside of work also quite expensive is. Furthermore, try to look for the cheaper supermarkets (Monoprix/Carrefour) but still enjoy your time in Paris. This is a once in a life time experience!!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: There are so many things to do in Paris. Try to enjoy the weekend; when it is rainy, visit museums since there are so many in Paris and during summer, just go to the parks or the Seine and drinks some wine with baguette, super cliché but really nice!

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link