Education First – EF

Placement organization

Name of organization: Education First – EF
Town/city: Rome
Country: Italië
Website:

Name of student: Sarah van Bladel

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2017-2018

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: EF Educational Tours provides educational experiences for High School students from North America and Canada. Their main mission is to provide tours that specialize in the discovering parts of the world though education, and to make sure the students gain cultural knowledge and languages through travel. The regional office in Rome assigns tours to Tour Directors who have the Rome office as their home base. They also provide help, assistance and support for Tour Directors.
Target group of the organization: North American and Canadian High School students
Company culture: Informal
Number of employees: 6
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’m working on the Educational Tours department in the regional office in Rome.

Brief description of your daily activities: – Preparing the tour information for the tour directors
– Managing metro tickets
– Distributing DHL packages
– Preparing TDLink, the tablet that the tour director brings on tour
– Checking arrival information
Brief description of your company assignment: A vcompetitor analysis of the North American market
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: When working in the regional office, they expect that you work on your assigned tasks independently. If there is anything you need or when you have questions, you can ask them and they will help you with anything.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Sociable, independence, enthusiastic, take the initiative, easy-going
Additional company requirements for this placement? Basic knowledge of MS Office (Excel)
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian: Basic
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Via the previous intern
How did you go to work every day? By bus 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? Arrange your Erasmus as soon as possible
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? English is sufficient for in the office. However, basic or intermediate Italian would be nice, especially for your social life outside the internship.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 250
Accommodation (monthly): € 550
Local transport (monthly): € 35
General costs of living (monthly): € Depends, but approximately 400
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Airplane ticket, 5 euro lunch per day and a monthly transportation card.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not but it would have been nice to look into the mentality etc. The working pace is much more relaxed and lay-back. There is no hurry or stress, except in traffic. Before arranging a room, I recommend finding a room close to the office. Transportation, especially the bus, is very unreliable and very busy in the morning and afternoon.
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: 150394@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Do:
– Try to learn or speak Italian as much as you can. They really appreciate it and they are willing to help you with learning the language.
– Go to the small allies instead and definitely go to Trastevere. It is a super nice neighborhood with a lot of restaurants and bars.
– Discover the outer parts of Rome. There is way more to see than the cultural sights in the city center. Also, take the train to Naples and Tuscany. It does not cost much and also the travel time isn't that long. You can also take the train to Ostia and go to the beach to escape the boiling city (in summertime).

Don't:
– Rely on the public transport too much. Tram and metro works well, bus is horrible and packed with people.
– Avoid the restaurants which are on popular squares or next to cultural sights. These restaurants are most of the time super expensive and the food isn't even that good.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Ombre Rosse in Trastevere is a really nice place with good food and drinks. Also Monti and the streets around Piazza Navona are good areas for food and drinks. For going out, Ex Dogana and Circolo degli Illuminati are cool places with nice music.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link