Work n Holiday

Placement organization

Name of organization: Work n Holiday
Town/city: Auckland
Country: Nieuw Zeeland
Website: http://www.worknholiday.com

Student

Name of student: Shanna van Vegten

Specialist area: ITMC
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Inbound travel services
Organization’s activities: Work n holiday acts as a job agency and a travel agency at the same time.
Target group of the organization: 18-30 year-olds (backpackers) from all over the world that want to do a working holiday
Company culture: Very relaxed atmosphere. They really try to make you part of the team.
Number of employees: 3 (including intern) at the Auckland office
Dress code: (smart) casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? No, not completely because I never got the money back that I paid for the first week in my hostel. This was supposed to be for free.

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? No real departments
Brief description of your daily activities: Handling and forwarding mail, answering the phone, replying to emails, picking up participants from the airport, updating database, preparing starter packages for new participants, giving welcome presentations, helping participants who come to the office, looking for jobs for the database, correcting CV’s and other documents of participants
Brief description of your company assignment: Research paper on social media strategy to increase awareness and activity of the Facebook page and then implementing the results.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Company supervisor is really helpful and explains you everything and you can always ask questions. Open to your suggestions as well. After two months change of supervisor; even better communication now. However, it was very unclear what they actually wanted me to do as company assignment.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Flexible (many different tasks), sociable (informal workplace, lots of contact with participants), independent (to work on your tasks)
Additional company requirements for this placement? Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Internet, Facebook
English: Advanced
Spanish:
French:
German: not required, but would be very helpful though!
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane and then airbus into the city centre.

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I arranged my accommodation myself via the internet. I eventually found my room on www.trademe.co.nz. You officially have to be a New Zealand or Australian citizen to register but it is easy to get around this. Other helpful websites are www.nzflatmates.co.nz , www.easyroommate.co.nz and www.gumtree.co.nz. Post your own ads as well, this is really effective and you will get many replies, especially when you already have a NZ phone number.
How did you go to work every day? By foot. I found a room about 10-15 minutes from the office.

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? Yes, a work visa (special category Student and Trainee).
Do you need a work permit? No. This is included in the visa
How did you arrange the necessary documents: It is really hard to find out what exactly needs to be send. You need to send your passport, as well as your job offer, confirmation from both school and the organization, an application form with to new passport photos and an envelope with your address so they can return your passport to you. It took a very long time and I got my visa the day before I left so I advise to really start at least 45 days in advance.
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents? About 2 months
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): € 1300,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 462,50 (rent is high than in the Netherlands and you pay weekly)
Local transport (monthly): € 20,00 (public transport is cheap)
General costs of living (monthly): € 300,00 (prices in shops are higher)
How long in advance did you apply for visa
Costs of visa: € 135 GBP + 24 GBP service fee
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? Nothing

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? Yes, as New Zealanders are often laid back it sometimes feels like they do not really care or do not see the urgency of something, which makes it hard to arrange important things sometimes.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: evita349@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: Do not get yourself a room when you are still in your home country. You really do not what it is going to look like.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Endless! Jet boat rides in the harbour, bungee jumping of sky tower and harbour bridge. Going out in the Britomart area or one of the central suburbs. Relax or surf on beautiful Karekare and Piha beach. Auckland zoo or marine wildlife park. Walking through beautiful nature that everybody will be amazed by.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link