Explorica UK Ltd

Placement organization

Name of organization: Explorica UK Ltd
Town/city: London
Country: Groot-Brittannië
Website: http://www.explorica.com

Student

Name of student: Samantha Duffy

Specialist area: ITTI
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Tour operator
Target group of the organization: High school and students from USA or Canada
Company culture: Colleagues and management interact quite casual with one another. The company is quite informal.
Number of employees: 12
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? At the London office there are only 2 department, Tour Director and Operations Department. At other offices around the world, the other departments as sales and product management are located.
I worked in the Operations department.
Brief description of your daily activities: Booking services, calling suppliers, updating spreadsheets, booking invoices
Brief description of your company assignment: Product Development plan. Creating a new product
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Generally the supervision was good. They expect you to show initiative and ask why you are doing certain things. Therefore don’t be shy and ask questions.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Team player, sociable person, stress-proof, good concentration, presentable and polite.
Additional company requirements for this placement? Word, Excel, Internet
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German:
Italian:
Other languages: Other languages as mentioned above are a bonus, but not necessary.

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Car, but also possible by bus, train and airplane.

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? Website spareroom.com
How did you go to work every day? Public Transport or walking takes 25 minutes to walk

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

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? n/a

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 3,50
Accommodation (monthly): € 720,00
Local transport (monthly): € 100,00
General costs of living (monthly): € 300,00
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? € 350.00 ,- per month
Please note that if you do not start on the 1st of the month you have not worked the entire month and money will be deducted from your financial compensation. This is due to the fact that you have not worked the entire month.

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
I did not.
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? No it did not, but it is hard for me to judge the culture as I am a mixture of the Dutch and English culture

Future students on placement

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

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Take initiative; don’t be afraid to ask questions. Also try to socialize with your colleagues. They are willing to tell you a lot about London and will share nice places to go which might not be obvious for you.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Cheap gym with unlimited access 24/7

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link