|
USA
Students wishing to find work experience in the USA can choose from a wide range of placements, from unpaid internships to paid work. What is more, the paid placements on offer vary quite widely. Tia Shin, Executive Director at the Learnet Academy, Los Angeles, CA, says that they offer paid placements "in the fields of computing, real estate, and construction management", providing the student has a good level of English language skills.
At InterExchange, Inc. in New York, NY, Paul Christianson explains some of the work experience programmes that are on offer at his company. These include the Summer Student Work Travel Programme, which offers paid work opportunities. There are also internships available, high quality and possibly unpaid, aimed at university students wishing to undertake some work experience relevant to their area of study for up to four months. These two programmes both need applicants to apply for the J-1 visa category.
Another option available at InterExchange is the H-2B programme, which uses the H-2B visa and enables students to undertake paid menial seasonal jobs. Placements are for six to eight months typically, although placements can be extended once in the country. Jobs at ski or holiday resorts are usual for this programme. Finally, the camp counsellor programme offers a low wage for working with American children at camps throughout the USA and possibly specialising in music, arts or sports instruction.
The J-1 visa covers most cultural exchange and training programmes and allows the holder up to 18 months' work in the USA. As always, the ease with which this visa can be obtained depends on the student's country of origin. However, as the USA has no Working Holiday arrangements with any country, and student visas in the USA do not permit paid work alongside study, the J-1 visa or H-2B visa are the only options for students wanting to work.
Christianson relates that he works with companies in more than 50 countries, so student intake in all programmes is varied, but he notes that one growth area has been Eastern Europe in the last few years.
UK
Placements on offer to European Union (EU) candidates in the UK are many and varied, from unpaid professional internships to paid placements, usually within the hospitality sector. Jayne de Ville at ETCI in London says that their company offers placements in the hospitality/catering industry that "are paid at or above the national minimum wage". Or, she continues, students can take up unpaid internships in which "the candidate is placed with a professional company within their area of expertise for a period of four-to-12 weeks". This programme also includes accommodation with a host family.
Students from EU-member countries have no real employment restrictions, although if they take up full-time employment they must register with the Worker Registration Scheme. For non-EU applicants, the choice of placements in the UK can be more limited. At present, for example, ETCI only offers non-EU candidates the "SBS [Sector Based Scheme] Food Manufacturing programme allowing them to come to the UK for six-to-12 months and work for food manufacturers", de Ville explains.
The issue is visas. Visa regulations become much more complicated for applicants outside the EU, meaning that it can be easier for some providers to focus on European applicants. However, it is possible for non-EU applicants to apply for a student visa, allowing them to work for 20 hours a week as long as they are studying for over 15 hours per week, or to enrol on an appropriate sandwich course. This means that there are many Work & Study programmes available.
ETCI is planning to offer non-EU students a sandwich course later in 2006 that will involve a placement combined with a language course at the beginning and end of the placement. Duncan Cameron at longstanding UK work experience provider, LAF, says that placing non-EU applicants is no problem, "as long as non-EU residents have successfully applied for a student visa [themselves]". He adds that in fact "unpaid internships are proving most popular with students from East Asia".
There is also the option of a Working Holiday visa for certain nationalities, permitting paid employment for up to 12 months. Another alternative that some students, who cannot gain a Working Holiday visa, may be eligible for is a work experience permit, which also allows paid employment while in the UK. More information can be found at www.ukvisas.gov.uk.
AUSTRALIA
Students looking for a placement in Australia can take part in voluntary work, unpaid internships or apply for a paid position. AIFS Australia brings over 3,000 participants annually from 12 countries into Australia to engage in paid work. Managing Director, Wendi Aylward, says that "jobs range from working outback cattle stations to serving drinks at the Grand Prix. Most work is available in hospitality, fruit picking, labour and retail".
Students looking for a placement more relevant to their field of study are also not short of options; Alison Warburton at Australian Internships specialises in placing students in "unpaid professional internships...in the client's chosen career". Across the board, schools require applicants to have an intermediate level of English prior to placement.
There are several visa options available: the Working Holiday Visa allows participants from approved countries to work for up to 12 weeks at a time in a paid position. The student visa allows 20 hours of paid work per week to supplement full-time study and is often favoured by students on placements where work experience and a language course are combined. Some programmes may render the applicant eligible for the Special Program Visa 416, allowing them to work for up to 12 months.
Australia's system of assigning countries visa assessment levels (1-4) per study sector can make it easier to predict the liklihood of applicants being granted a visa. However, the system currently restricts some nationalities, according to Wayne Parry of Access Language Centre in Sydney, NSW – which offers paid work & study, volunteer, demi-pair (au pair and study) and internship opportunities. "We have very few students from countries that are assessed as level 3 or 4," he says. "These countries include China, Vietnam, Pakistan, Cambodia, Lebanon and Jordan." More specific visa information can be found at www.immi.gov.au.
NEW ZEALAND
It is possible to embark on all types of placements in New Zealand, nevertheless, working holidays and paid work to supplement full-time study are the two most common. The Working Holiday Visa allows casual work for between one and two years. Only countries that have reciprocal agreements with New Zealand, such as Argentina, France, Japan and the UK, are able to obtain such visas and, within the scheme, the requirements for obtaining a Working Holiday Visa differ for each country. Typical work can be on one of New Zealand's many farms or labouring, which can help fund students' travel around the country.
Meanwhile, a student visa allows 15 hours of work per week, or 20 hours if students are staying in the country for more than a year.
Nicola Mac Allan at the Queenstown Resort College in Queenstown says that the school provides "a range of hospitality and tourism courses and edu-tourism courses targeted towards visitors to Queenstown and those interested in working within the hospitality and tourism industry".
Internship opportunities are also available. Languages International in Christchurch, for example, has teamed up with schools in Auckland and Rotorua to promote the ARC programme. Peter Chapple at Languages International explains, "The programme specialises in preparing people for serious, professional work, on the basis either of a working holiday permit or a standard work permit. With an unemployment rate of less than four per cent, New Zealand is a very attractive destination for people seeking serious professional experience."
CANADA
The placement options on offer in Canada are pretty much across the board. Tamsin Plaxton at Tamwood International College in Vancouver, BC, says that they offer, "Internships, work & study and working holiday/summer work placements". Plaxton explains that the English language study requirement varies depending on the type of placement applied for; language schools usually combine an internship with a preliminary study period.
"For our work & study programme, the requirement is 50/50, English [language study] and work. For the working holiday programme, there is no English class requirement but applicants must have a low intermediate level of English for the programme," relates Plaxton. "Interns must have a high intermediate to advanced level of English [for the internship programme]."
The Working Holiday Visa that Canada offers allows residents of certain countries up to 12 months paid work. For other types of programme, students will enter on a study permit that allows a work term as part of their study experience (the work permit is issued for free if applied for with a study permit, as long as the student proves it is an essential element of their programme). Plaxton says that the limited issue of Working Holiday Visas in some participating countries can be a problem. Their main nationalities enrolling on work experience programmes in general are "Europeans and Brazilians", but all nationalities can apply for programmes, depending on reciprocal visa conditions.
IRELAND
Students can find paid work experience in Ireland if they wish, but many providers seem to focus on unpaid internships. Jean-Paul Barsoum at the Alpha College of English in Dublin says that they only offer professional work experience placements and tailor each placement towards the individual student's interests. He adds, "The most popular areas tend to be areas such as marketing, public relations, human resources, education & training and accounts". The placements are unpaid but Barsoum estimates that "about 50-to-60 per cent of companies try to make some contribution to expenses".
The level of English proficiency required varies depending on the job, but the standard expected tends to be high as students need to be able to hold their own in a professional environment. Alpha College requires students to have an upper intermediate level of English and to undergo at least four weeks' full-time language classes prior to their placement. Non-EU nationals are expected to spend three months studying English, followed by three months' exam preparation, and then undertake three months' work experience. As with the UK, EU residents do not require a visa, but for applicants outside the EU, the situation gets more complicated and enquiries should be addressed to the work experience provider.
Barsoum is confident of the benefit of offering internships. "Generally the programme works very well and all parties are enriched by the experience," he notes.
REST OF EUROPE
Placements in European countries outside the UK and Ireland are becoming increasingly popular, and as demand increases, so do the available options. As is the general trend, paid placements tend to be within the hospitality sector, whereas internships are in an office-based environment. There are plenty of companies willing to accept candidates from all over the world who are keen to undertake a professional internship.
Camilla Prado at Eurointerns in Madrid, Spain, offers internships in an ever-growing selection of industries. "We have had requests for everything from funeral parlours to sleep disorder clinics...[although] the most popular internships are in marketing, international relations, graphic arts, teaching and translations," she recounts. "At this time we have students [placed] from Iran, Malawi, Korea, North America, the Philippines, Great Britain, Netherlands, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Japan."
Jill-Arcaro Gordon at Best Programs, also in Madrid, places students in various European countries. She explains, "Depending on the location there seems to be preference for certain types of internship. For example, Barcelona is very popular for any type of design internship... Brussels is very popular for international relations and non-governmental organisations".
William Rubinstein at International House Nice in France offers internships in anything from hotels to international magazines, but he warns that students should be aware that the "emphasis is so far not professional but purely linguistic and cultural". He notes that the internship "has to be part of a language course" at his school.
As always, visa requirements vary depending on the country. Prado at Eurointerns states that in Spain "for Schengen [nationals] and North Americans there is no visa requirement for three months or less". In France, EU citizens as well as residents from some non-EU countries such as Brazil, Australia and Japan do not require a visa to work for up to 90 days. Other nationalities must apply for a visa.
|
