Education First – EF

Placement organization

Name of organization: Education First – EF
Town/city: Sydney
Country: Australië
Website:

Student

Name of student: Niels Nieuwenhuize

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2017-2018

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: International Language School
Organization’s activities: Planning, scheduling, revising old systems (digitize certain forms and vouchers), supplier meetings, confirming activities – bus charters – accommodations and more, etc.
Target group of the organization: Everybody who wants to improve their English
Company culture: Hierarchy, but in my opinion in a very laid back kind of way.
Number of employees: 25+
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

I am the Operations Coordinator of the EF Language Travel Department alongside the Operations Manager Paulo.

Currently working at the Language Travel department of EF, also known as the Legacy Product of EF. (With this product EF was basically build).

#LT4Ever

Brief description of your daily activities: Planning, scheduling, revising old systems (digitize certain forms and vouchers), supplier meetings, confirming activities – bus charters – accommodations and more, etc.
Brief description of your company assignment: Digitizing certain forms and vouchers, trying to make everything more automatic instead of it having to be done by hand every single time.

Assisting the Operations Manager in every way possible.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision during my internship has been great, Paulo, who knows a lot about different business, branches and departments has a wide variety of knowledge. Meaning that whenever i have a question i can ask him.

He does also challenge me to come up with answers, without having Paulo telling me the answer first, which is rather good.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? stress-proof, flexible, sociable, team player, adaptiveness
Additional company requirements for this placement? MS Office
English: Mother tongue
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane and train

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Company helped, then found myself a place via Flatmates
How did you go to work every day? by foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, a working-holiday visa (but it varies)
Do you need a work permit? No
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Did everything myself, online embassy
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? 30 minutes maximum
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? Not a language course, but a general understanding of the English Language is necessary

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 2500
Accommodation (monthly): € 400+
Local transport (monthly): € 100+
General costs of living (monthly): € 250+
Costs of visa: € 300
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Accommodation for a certain period (in agreement)
Flight tickets (as financial compensation)

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
A lot of reading, listening to Australian radio, movies and music and talking to some of my Australian friends/Friends who have been to Australia
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Perhaps a little bit, the Australians are in certain points a little bit more laid back. Me being a Dutch guy, it sometimes meant i needed to ‘adapt’

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: niels_sie@live.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Be relaxed, enjoy the time you are there, try not be over confident in what you do but try to learn for the others in the department and in the office.

Be mindful of the fact that you are in a different country now and the corporate life here is different than what you are used to!
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: A ton, just check out ‘what to do in Sydney’ and you get heaps and heaps of information.

Go for a stroll in the Botanical Gardens, take a picture with the Opera House in the background, walk along the Harbour Bridge (also known as the Coat Hanger) and travel around Australia whilst you are on holiday (during the internship).

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link