Authentic Scandinavia

Placement organization

Name of organization: Authentic Scandinavia
Town/city: Oslo
Country: Noorwegen
Website: http://www.authentic-scandinavia.com

Student

Name of student: Yanou Sormani

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2017-2018

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Online Tour Operator
Organization’s activities: The company sells pre-made tours online for Scandinavia, the Baltics, Finland & Iceland. Their customers are mainly from the USA and Asia.
Target group of the organization: FIT (mainly seniors)
Company culture: The atmosphere in the office is very casual and informal. There is no dress-code and you can address everyone with their first name. There is a hierarchy, but you don’t really notice the difference as everyone treats each other equally.
Number of employees: 7 employees & 3 interns
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working?

In the booking department for FIT, which is the only type there is.

Brief description of your daily activities: The main daily task is to make bookings for clients. You receive bookings via the website and you will need to contact suppliers in order to confirm the reservation back to the customer. Furthermore there is client contact (mainly via email), supplier contact (via phone and email), booking additional services, registering payments, tax invoices, filling bookings and work on the new website.
Brief description of your company assignment: I made a market analysis about the largest travelling generation called the millennials. The company is not focusing on this audience at all and by creating this analysis I want to make Authentic Scandinavia aware that they are missing out on a lot of bookings by not focusing on this market and give them recommendations in order to improve this.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: As there were 3 interns, we all got assigned our own personal supervisor. My supervisor was Jessica and she was great to work with. She was always happy to help and I learned a lot from her.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Team player, sociable, stress-proof, independent, initiative
Additional company requirements for this placement? Office & basic knowledge of Excel
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German: Basic
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: By airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Via Facebook, Finn.no or Hybel.no
How did you go to work every day? By bus (the company pays your monthly transport card)

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? No
Do you need a work permit? No, not if from the EU. However, a tax number and Norwegian bank account is needed.
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Via the company (bank and tax office)
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? No, English is the company’s language

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € €100/200
Accommodation (monthly): € €500-700 (expensive)
Local transport (monthly): € €70, however the company will pay for this.
General costs of living (monthly): € €1000 (including accommodation)
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? The company pays you a salary of NOK 550 each month, which is about 580 euro. They also pay for you monthly transport card. There is free fruit and coffee/tea and the basics to make a lunch like crackers and cheese.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I didn’t really prepare, as the culture here is quite similar to the Dutch culture. Also, in the company all employees are either Norwegian, French or German.
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: 151041@edu.nhtv.nl

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Bring your hiking shoes and explore the beautiful Norwegian nature; if you are going before April, bring your winter clothes as the snow lasts till at least then; Norway is damn expensive, so make your you have enough money on your bank account before coming here; Fitness24Seven is the cheapest gym and you can break your contract whenever you want.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Norway is beautiful. The nature here is breathtaking and it is everywhere. There is a lot of forest & many lakes surrounding the city, which is great for hikes. In the summer there are a lot of nice beaches and all Norwegians can be found outside. I would recommend to go to the Vettakollen viewpoint, chill & bbq at Sorenga, Vigelanden park or one of the lovely islands. I would also recommend to do the Norway in a Nutshell tour, which is spectacular.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link