Work & Travel; What to Look For in a Company

                Autumn is the time when students return to the university and other students return from their summer participating in the Work & Travel program. Some of you are also thinking about participating in the program during the summer of 2011, which is a decision that requires a lot of thought and comparison between what is offered. I hope that I can offer you some helpful advice to keep in mind while making this decision.

                Choosing a Work & Travel company based solely on the fact that your friend is using this company is not the best approach. If you were thinking of purchasing a new car, you would research everything you could about this before purchasing and not just buy whatever your friend bought. Just as buying a car is a big financial investment, so is the summer program.

                You need to know what questions to ask the company. You are the consumer and it’s up to the company to please you, not the other way around. If you have friends that have used this company, ask them about their experience, especially if they had problems or questions while they were in America; did their company in Chelyabinsk help them and answer their questions to their satisfaction? Last year there were many students using different companies that found out just before they left for America, that their job was no longer there waiting for them. I had a lot of students from other companies approach me in late April and early May that suddenly discovered that they had no job and no place to live when they arrived in America. This is a really stressful way for you to start your adventure and also for your parents. I had 4 of my students whose job was cancelled as they were flying to America; they were to work on the gulf coast of Florida and the BP oil spill killed their jobs. Before the girls even arrived in Florida, we had already worked with the sponsor to have the girls met at the airport and transported to a different state, free of charge, where we had 4 new jobs waiting for them.

                It’s a company’s job to properly service their customers; anyone can take the money and forget about them; it takes a company with superior service to make sure that any adverse situations are taken care of before the student even realizes that there is a problem. How often does the company contact the student while they are in America in order to see how they are doing and if there is anything that the company can help with? This is important for both students and their parents. A company’s responsibility to their customer shouldn’t end when the student boards the plane to go to America. A company should offer timely and good advice throughout the time that you are in America.

                When you see a ridiculously low advertised price for this program you need to ask yourself, “if the company can’t be honest about the price, what else will they be dishonest about?” A price should not be hidden and it should not take a lawyer to find the full price hidden throughout the contract. An agency should tell you the total cost of the program including everything before you listen to anything more. Just because you are students, don’t let the company treat you as if you are stupid. Often these advertised prices include almost nothing and certainly nobody will go to America for this price. You should not shop based on price alone, but also on reputation, service, preparation and honesty.

As the manager of the English Club Work & Travel program, I pay special attention to the economic situation in the US through my friends, family and connections who live in various states throughout the country. In addition we also conduct a thorough interview with our returning students in order to hear from them just how the economic situation was in the area in which they worked. From this information we are able to offer educated and pertinent advice to our 2011 students during the job selection process. Getting this information from your friends who have recently returned is a good idea, but really isn’t enough. Are your friends able to understand the potential effects of current and near future economic trends in the area where they worked? Probably not, and although we also don’t have the ability to predict the future, we do have access to information that has a bearing on this.

                How well does the company prepare you before you go to America? This is especially important for 1^st time participants. The preparation will determine whether you can find your own way and know what to do and when,  or whether you will have to be a follower and have a stressful time after you arrive. Don’t underestimate careful preparation. Preparation should also extend to preparing the students for their interview. Handing them a list of potential questions is not preparation, and can actually make the interview more difficult. What about language preparation for the students that need this? Does the agency require that you attend courses offered by them? If so, walk away from this company. In addition to offering Work & Travel, we are also the largest private English language school in the Chelyabinsk oblast. We certainly offer our students who need language help lessons, but we never require that they take these lessons only from us.

                For the past few years the Consulate has allowed university students from the 1^st through the 5^th course to participate in the Summer Work & Travel program. If you are a 1^st year student, your English knowledge should be quite good in order to get a visa, even better than the average 2^nd year student. You also need to ask yourself if you have the maturity to live in a different country for 3 to 4 months. There are additional requirements for 5^th year students and your company should be able to explain these to you and also help you meet these requirements.

                Make sure that the company allows you to choose your own job, but is also willing and able to give you helpful advice if you need it. Determine what you expect to get out of the program. For some of you this might be the opportunity to improve your English language skills. If this is so, it’s important for you to work in an area where there are not too many other Russian students, otherwise you will spend your summer communicating only in Russian and you won’t improve your skills.

                We welcome you to come and visit us at our office where we can discuss any of these things and more, in order to help you to realize your goal of a fun and profitable summer of 2011.

Mark Kelleher

Head of the International Department

The English Club