Eliza Was Here

Placement organization

Name of organization: Eliza Was Here
Town/city: Rotterdam
Country: NL – Zuid-Holland
Website: https://www.elizawashere.nl/

Student

Name of student: Annemiek Zimmerman

Specialist area: Tourism Management (EN)
Placement period: 2019-2020

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Tour operator
Organization’s activities: Offering and creating holidays including accommodation, flights and rental car.
Target group of the organization: Couples, Families, elderly people
Company culture: Eliza Was Here is an informal company, where everyone can ask anyone if they have any questions or tell when there are any concerns. All departments are working close together (customer care, customer support, marketing, product) and have daily contact with each other. It is a very nice atmosphere/ ambiance to work in.
Number of employees: 38
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 working at the Customer Care department (Formerly known as: Sales and Service). This department receives all calls and emails from the customers/ potential customers and takes action on this.

Brief description of your daily activities:
– Calling with customers
– Emailing with customers
– Creating/making holiday offers and communicating these to the customers
– Handling customer complaints (solutions for this will be discussed and handled at the department of Customer Support, so we don’t do this at the customer care department)

Brief description of your company assignment: I am doing research on the subject ‘knowledge/ expertise of the employees’. I notice that some customers/people have the feeling that the employees don’t have sufficient knowledge and or expertise about certain things such as the destinations we offer, climate and weather information of our destinations, activities on the destination and more general information I think all employees should know something about. I am researching why this problem occurs and I am also coming up with an advise/solution to solve this problem.

Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: The supervision went a bit chaotic during the first weeks/months. First I had one supervisor, but than I had someone else. The first supervisor would than only be responsible for my company assignment, however also this is done by someone else now. So make sure you have this clear for yourself and ask when anything is unclear, because for me it was very unclear when started working at the company.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Team player, independent, stress-proof, communicative/social
Additional company requirements for this placement? None
English: Advanced
Spanish: Intermediate
French: Intermediate
German: Intermediate

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: I am doing my internship in the Netherlands and also live here.

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I am renting a student room nearby the internship office, however you can reach the office easily by public transport or car as well.
How did you go to work every day? Bicycle

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Not applicable
Do you need a work permit? Not applicable
How did you arrange the necessary documents: Not applicable
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? Not applicable
Did you need certain vaccinations? No
How long in advance? Not applicable

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 applicable

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € Not applicable
Accommodation (monthly): € 530
Local transport (monthly): € 13,50 for renting my bike
General costs of living (monthly): € No idea
Costs of visa: € Not applicable
Costs of work permit: € Not applicable
What did the company pay for/to you? I receive 270,- euro salary on a monthly basis

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
Not applicable
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? Not applicable

Future students on placement

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

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do:
– Make sure you make clear arrangements (think about company supervision, the company assignment, days off etc.)
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place:
– Rotterdam is a very nice place for shopping, cultural activities and for partying.

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