| Product: |
Hints on organising your gap year |
| Date: |
04/08/04 (178 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Great well-paid jobs are available
Disadvantages: You have to look, You need to plan carefully for full success
Gap years generally occur during a university degree or immediately precede or follow such a course. They can take place in the UK or abroad, and be longer or shorter in duration than the name would suggest. I've had a few of these, one which lasted 12 months and some that were a bit shorter. All have involved work placements abroad, so this is what I'll be talking about here. The biggest, most important point I can stress is: RESEARCH
RESEARCH YOUR OPTIONS: To start off, you need to know exactly what is expected of you. For my placement year I had to have a job, but whether I did that at home or abroad was up to me. I had to stay for at least 10 months, but could stay longer. I had to have a position somewhat related to my degree, but could choose exactly what that was. I know people who study 2 languages and had to spend time in both countries during their year, and others who only had to go to one. I know people who could do whatever they wanted as long as it was in the right geographical area, and others who could do whatever they wanted as long as it was in the right employment area. There are a ton of different options, so you need to know what your company or university are expecting before you start looking.
RESEARCH WHAT'S OUT THERE: Before you can begin your placement year, you need a placement. Though some universities and companies have ties to organizations who might guarantee you a place, this is more often than not not the case. Though your heart might be set on one position, if there are no openings there then you're stuck. Often the hardest thing is finding perfect jobs but not being eligible because they want permanent employees, not someone just there for a season or a year. I always found the best thing was to target companies who frequently have interns or placement students with them, as they know what to expect, and have the jobs on offer. Planning in advance is key: I started my search for this placement las
t September on returning from Germany, and had secured the internship by October. Sometimes it takes much longer - with my German position I didn't find out for certain I had the job until April time - so you have to start early to give them time to hum and haw before taking you on. The internet is a great place to start: I like to put words like "internship", "work placement", "foreign students", "international work experience" and so on into Google and see what it throws up. Several organizations will sort out your placement for a fee - my company here paid several thousand dollars on top of my salary and rent for the privilege of having me work for them. These organizations are not the cheapest option, but are great if you're lazy or pressed for time as they do it all for you: all you or your company do is write out the cheque. (Sponsors are also pretty much required in order for you to get a valid visa to work over here: AIPT, BUNAC, CCUSA and similar are all the technical sponsors of your visa)
RESEARCH YOUR COMPANY: It never hurts to know a bit about your company before you arrive on your first day, though in all the placements I've had thus far (and there have been a fair few) my first few days have invariably been spent in lectures and meetings about the company, my department and my actual role there. This stuff tends to stick with you (anyone else know what JMC stands for? Anyone care?) but can come in useful later on, so it's worth paying attention. Also, research your position - what you'll be doing, who you'll be reporting to and so on.
RESEARCH YOUR COUNTRY: If you're going abroad, as well as everything mentioned above, you need to take some time to look at the place you're going if you're not already familiar with it. A big thing to consider is the weather as it dictates what clothes to pack, for although you can buy things almost everywhere, there's no
point in having two of something you don't need multiple versions on. Though no tourist, I generally travel to placements with a guide book so I can read up on the sort of stuff they expect non-natives to need to know: bank and shop opening times, customs, traffic laws and so on.
RESEARCH THE LIVING SITUATION: Many placements occur away from home, and so you need to find somewhere to live. This could be with a family (not recommended by me), with other placement students, in a hotel or guesthouse, or in your own place. If they've not brought it up, mention the housing situation to the company for whom you will soon be working, as many offer financial or physical help to new employees, especially those come from abroad. On some of my placements my bosses have found me apartments or other accommodations before I arrived. Other people I know have been given names of local renting agents or landlords. When moving abroad, it is a lot less hassle for you if you can find somewhere furnished and don't have to see about renting furniture for the duration of your stay. Ditto having places to live where bills are included, so you don't have to deal with the electricity company and water company and so on. In two of my placements I have had my rent paid for me by companies who only pay this expense for foreign interns: the native ones at both companies got salaries only (thus making foreign interns much more highly paid than local ones. Hmmmm).
RESEARCH THE HEALTH AND FINANCIALS: First of all, how much you'll be getting paid (and how many hours you have to work for that), how frequently (here payday is bi-weekly) and by what method (cheque, direct deposit, cash). This helps you work out how much money you'll have to take with you. Then look into what you'll need to open a bank account - something you can usually find out in advance by going onto the website of a relevant institution in your target destination. It was over a month be
fore I could open an account here, but the dear Austrians let me open one my first day. For each I needed different documents - and different ones from those I'd need back home - so it's useful to know the requirements in advance.
For Europe, an E111 is only meant for short-term trips - for longer stays you need a different form (an E128 I think) which acts in the same way. However this should be taken to a local health office (? A Krankenkasse in Germany anyway) and swapped for a temporary health insurance card before you get ill and need treatment. This may not be true for all EU countries, but it certainly is in Germany and France. For placements outside the EU health insurance is recommended. I am yet to be ill abroad, but I've always had some sort of arrangement just in case I were to be. Here I get free health care though my placement organization, but not all people apply in this way, so you may need to make your own arrangements.
RESEARCH THE LOCAL PAPERWORK REQUIREMENTS: In Germany you have to register at the town hall of the place you're moving to on arrival. For this you need your employment contract, proof of your address (such as your rental agreement), proof of identity and so on. Unfortunately, you can't be added to your company's payroll until you have the document that they then give you, so this does have to be done pretty soon after you arrive. When you leave you also have to un-register, and my bank wouldn't even let me close my account until I gave them a copy of this form. But I know it's not personal: officially Germans are supposed to do this too, and get a day or half day off work every time they move house for the express purpose of sorting out their paperwork. In America they pay me in a very odd way, so I got paid as soon a pay day rolled around, but I still had to apply for a Social Security number on my arrival, furnishing them with the same sort of documents given above, plus cop
ies of my visa and related forms. Different countries have different requirements, so you do need to research them in advance if you want things to go smoothly. I've heard that in France you need translated copies of your birth certificate, and I know for a fact that in Spain you need residence permits. Even though these are EU countries and you have the right to work their as an EU citizen, you have to abide by their rules which in many cases means hours spent in local government offices sorting stuff out.
We have NI numbers at home, but these are country specific. For reasonably long-term positions you need a local tax / social security number, and this is something else you need to apply for on arrival. The company I worked for in Vienna faked this (it was my date of birth and my initials I think) but I had actual ones for Germany and the USA. Some things are almost a prerequisite for placements: passport photos, copies of your passport and birth certificate, visa paperwork is appropriate, your bank details, contact details for your next of kin and university (if applicable), transcripts of your grades from previous semesters and so on. Taking copies of these saves the time and effort (and costs) involved of finding a copier when you get there, and if they don't come in handy this time, they almost certainly will at some point in the future.
RESEARCH WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU LEAVE: Placements don't last forever, and the time will eventually come for you to leave and return to your old life, or move on to somewhere new. Before you go, find out what is required when you leave - a written statement by your boss, an attendance record for HR and so on. Then when you're in the last few weeks there, start nagging them for this. In my experience people manage to put these things off again and again, until suddenly you've left and you don't have the documents you need. I asked HR about a written reference last week even though I'
;ve a month left here. By starting my nagging early I figured they might possibly get round to doing me one by the time I leave the company and the country behind. Put it this way: I'm still waiting for one from my September 2002 - August 2003 placement...
Placement years are a lot of fun and great at improving your career prospects by giving you experience in your field that other students on your course might not have, but they can be troublesome to deal with both before you arrive and during your stay, unless you do that oh-so-important research.
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