The age old question of whether or not to take a year off in between school & higher education or between university and starting your profession has often been a question of having time off to travel or trying to boost your CV. The good news is there are a few choices where you can do both.
After searching through the great number of programmes there seem to be three main options: Charity/volunteer work, internships, & foreign language programs.
option 1:volunteering or working for a charity
The first option is to get involved in some kind of charity or volunteer work. This could be anything from building a school in Africa to helping record coral decline by SCUBA diving in the Caribbean.
Most experiences are fairly adventurous and involve going to interesting and often disadvantaged countries. The trick with who to go with can really be down to how much effort you take to find the little guys vs how much you are willing to pay, as it appears to have become quite an industry.
The big companies like GVI have a lot of varied programs throughout the world but you will definitely pay for the ease of finding them! Often you can end up paying 5 star figures to live in a place with no running water or decent food.
A great solution would be to try to look for small grassroots projects in which the dollars remain with the project. One other way could be to go through universities or community internet sites to see exactly what projects are happening or join projects through small organizations. A lot of these frequently end up being fantastic value.
One other great place to start to find ideas is a webpage called www.volunteermatch.org which permits you to be matched up to the right volunteer experience based on your abilities and experience.
Option 2: International Internships
The second option is to do an internship abroad. This is a great way to enhance your CV and there are often opportunities overseas so you can combine them with a holiday. In saying that it's important to ask questions about your tasks, hours & inclusions ( i.e activities etc). You don't necessarily want to get bogged down working for someone everyday of your holiday ending up filing papers or getting coffee's for the boss rather than learning any hands on skills.
Also be aware of the foreign language requirements that can sometimes restrict your choice of destination. There are a lot of placement agencies that will find internship opportunities for you all over the world in nearly anything you like. Mostly these agencies charge quite a large placement fee but they will organize accommodation and the placement if you can't be bothered too.
Going direct to the company, while it may take a bit more time is often cheaper as you cut out the middleman. Often companies also appreciate this as it shows you have initiative.
Option 3: Foreign language courses
Our 3rd option, which is usually quite good value for money, is doing a foreign language course abroad. It looks excellent to prospective employers when you can communicate in another language and when you choose a great school it can be a really fun time.
A good idea is to choose schools with great activity programs & an emphasis on fun as well as education.
A good place to start your search is with a site like www.traveledventures.com. They specialize in language schools that have a great social and cultural activities programs and are a super helpful & friendly bunch when it comes to organizing your trip from start to finish including organizing accommodation & courses as well as solving any problems you have while your away on your big adventure.
In fact the company also run internships abroad with GAP year students combined with a language course (if your lucky enough to get in). So it's a double win for the CV! This is also a great way to be able to stay over the visa free period or gain course credits if you need to.
A GAP year is a great time to explore the world, discover what you really want to do and gain experience in an area that you have passion for. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and enjoy what can end up being a trip of a lifetime.
After searching through the great number of programmes there seem to be three main options: Charity/volunteer work, internships, & foreign language programs.
option 1:volunteering or working for a charity
The first option is to get involved in some kind of charity or volunteer work. This could be anything from building a school in Africa to helping record coral decline by SCUBA diving in the Caribbean.
Most experiences are fairly adventurous and involve going to interesting and often disadvantaged countries. The trick with who to go with can really be down to how much effort you take to find the little guys vs how much you are willing to pay, as it appears to have become quite an industry.
The big companies like GVI have a lot of varied programs throughout the world but you will definitely pay for the ease of finding them! Often you can end up paying 5 star figures to live in a place with no running water or decent food.
A great solution would be to try to look for small grassroots projects in which the dollars remain with the project. One other way could be to go through universities or community internet sites to see exactly what projects are happening or join projects through small organizations. A lot of these frequently end up being fantastic value.
One other great place to start to find ideas is a webpage called www.volunteermatch.org which permits you to be matched up to the right volunteer experience based on your abilities and experience.
Option 2: International Internships
The second option is to do an internship abroad. This is a great way to enhance your CV and there are often opportunities overseas so you can combine them with a holiday. In saying that it's important to ask questions about your tasks, hours & inclusions ( i.e activities etc). You don't necessarily want to get bogged down working for someone everyday of your holiday ending up filing papers or getting coffee's for the boss rather than learning any hands on skills.
Also be aware of the foreign language requirements that can sometimes restrict your choice of destination. There are a lot of placement agencies that will find internship opportunities for you all over the world in nearly anything you like. Mostly these agencies charge quite a large placement fee but they will organize accommodation and the placement if you can't be bothered too.
Going direct to the company, while it may take a bit more time is often cheaper as you cut out the middleman. Often companies also appreciate this as it shows you have initiative.
Option 3: Foreign language courses
Our 3rd option, which is usually quite good value for money, is doing a foreign language course abroad. It looks excellent to prospective employers when you can communicate in another language and when you choose a great school it can be a really fun time.
A good idea is to choose schools with great activity programs & an emphasis on fun as well as education.
A good place to start your search is with a site like www.traveledventures.com. They specialize in language schools that have a great social and cultural activities programs and are a super helpful & friendly bunch when it comes to organizing your trip from start to finish including organizing accommodation & courses as well as solving any problems you have while your away on your big adventure.
In fact the company also run internships abroad with GAP year students combined with a language course (if your lucky enough to get in). So it's a double win for the CV! This is also a great way to be able to stay over the visa free period or gain course credits if you need to.
A GAP year is a great time to explore the world, discover what you really want to do and gain experience in an area that you have passion for. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and enjoy what can end up being a trip of a lifetime.
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To find out more information about internship possibilitiesor language travel programsconsider digging a little bit deeper at Traveledventures.com
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