EF Educational Tours Ltd RO

Placement organization

Name of organization: EF Educational Tours Ltd RO
Town/city: London
Country: Groot-Brittannië
Website: https://www.eftours.com/

Student

Name of student: Cristina Munteanu

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2017-2018

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Educational tours for US/ Canadian students
Organization’s activities: I am currently working for the London regional office. There are several EF regional offices throughout Europe, and the head office is in Lucerne. Here we are six employees, but all London tour directors come in and out whenever they need to prepare for a tour. Every day is different and full of unexpected situations, as we handle not only the preparation related procedures, but also many of the “emergencies” that come up during tours. Each of us has a main responsibility, but we always help each other when one of us needs extra support. There is someone for local transport, airport transfers, general coordinator, manager and the trainee, who does a variety of tasks.
Target group of the organization: US and Canadian students
Company culture: Everyone in the office is very open, funny and easy-going. Since we work in a small group, it feels like a little community. We are quite informal, but with the perfect balance, both in what regards the dressing code, what and how we speak to each other. Of course, there is a clear hierarchy between the managers of the different offices, and then the main one in Lucerne (this is needed, since it is a really big company, otherwise it would be chaotic).
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?

London Regional Office, Coordinator Department

Brief description of your daily activities: -setting up tablets for tour directors
-sending out emails to tour directors with all the information needed for the preparation of their tours
-processing payments for the tour directors
-helping out with various tasks (for example, travel cards delivery in unusual cases)
-helping with tour allocation emails
-sorting and sending out all necessary materials needed for tours
-sending out cards from the post office
Brief description of your company assignment: For my company assignment I am focusing on the tour directors’ website, which has been re-developed this winter. This means a questionnaire from the main developer and various surveys sent to the tour directors, to then compare the expected results with the actual experience. This will help EF know what works about the website, and what might still be improved.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: My supervisor is actually Dutch and quite close to my age, which has made my experience really great. She very easy to talk to, encouraging, helpful even when it is really busy and all a student needs during his/her internship.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? organized, stress-proof, eye for details, proactive
Additional company requirements for this placement? Not necessarily, anything you don’t know will be taught to you, so that you will be able to fulfill your tasks.
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic
French: Basic
German: Basic
Italian: Basic
Other languages: Very good English communication skills (both written and spoken) are necessary for this internship, as it takes place in London

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Bus, due to immense luggage

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I found it myself through accommodation/ renting websites.
How did you go to work every day? Tube

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? Only if English skills are really poor, otherwise any student from an English program should be fine.

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 80
Accommodation (monthly): € 600 minimum
Local transport (monthly): € 150
General costs of living (monthly): € 150-200
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Ticket when I first moved there, monthly transport subscription, 8 GBP per working day as lunch allowance

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I explored the city during my first week in London, before starting the internship.
Since it is such an international place, this is not very difficult. However, there are still many British specifics that one needs to adapt to/ accept (food, people’s way of communicating etc.)
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No, but accepting certain people’s perceived “coldness” helps.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: cristina.munteanu@ef.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Nothing specifically.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Cinemas, restaurants with great variety of cuisines, parks, free entrance museums, famous attractions, shopping for all tastes and budgets.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link