Rent the Sun

Placement organization

Name of organization: Rent the Sun
Town/city: Barcelona
Country: Spanje
Website: http://www.rentthesun.com

Student

Name of student: Marjolein Schiphouwer

Specialist area: MTT
Placement period: 2012-2013

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: Apartment rental
Organization’s activities: Apartment rental in Barcelona, Madrid, Costa Brava, Lisbon, Florence, Venice and Rome.
Target group of the organization: Tourists from several countries, for example: Denmark, United Kingdom, Canada, France, The Netherlands, Spain and Italy.
Company culture: The company works with many interns, so everybody is on the same level. The working ambiance is relaxed. Everybody is friendly and helpful.
Number of employees: 8 (interns included)
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? Yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Small company, no different departments
Brief description of your daily activities: Check ins/outs, doing emails, small marketing projects, translating, improve the Dutch part of the website.
Brief description of your company assignment: Marketing plan
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: Most of the time you have to take initiative and work by yourself. But with problems or questions my supervisor was always there to help me.

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? Flexible, initiative, teamplayer, independent, sociable, representable
Additional company requirements for this placement? Internet, (excel)
English: Advanced
Spanish: Not required, but useful
French: Not required, but useful
German:
Italian:
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: Airplane

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? I arranged my accommodation by an agency. I arranged my accommodation when I arrived in Barcelona, not before.
How did you go to work every day? Public transport (metro).

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): € 100,00
Accommodation (monthly): € 350,00
Local transport (monthly): € 40,00
General costs of living (monthly): € 300,00 (hard to say)
How long in advance did you apply for visa
Costs of visa: €
Costs of work permit: €
What did the company pay for/to you? EUR 150,00 per 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 before I came to Barcelona, I thought that there wouldn’t be many cultural differences. But after a while I found out that there are cultural differences. I think that the corporate culture really differs from the Netherlands.

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: xmarjolein82@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: The only thing I can say is: Enjoy your internship period abroad! Time goes so fast, so enjoy every single moment.
Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: Barcelona is a beautiful city that has so much to offer. A lot of cultural sights like: Sagrada Familia, Parc Güell, Montjuïc mountain, Tibidabo, museums, cathedral and much more.

Besides cultural, Barcelona has more: the beach, fantastic nightlife, lovely weather, relaxing parks, lot of other students and delicious Spanish food.

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link