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 options, it appears that there are 3 really great contenders. Charity/Volunteer Work, Internships, & Foreign Language Courses.
option 1:volunteering or working for a charity
The first option is to get involved with some kind of charity or volunteer work. This may be anything from working at an elephant rehabilitation centre in Africa to helping children learn to read in Ecuador.
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.
Big organizations such as GVI have a good selection of programmes around the world. This is very nice and convenient but you will pay a high price for very, very basic living conditions.
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.
Watch out for great projects at a webpage called www.volunteermatch.org. This allows you to be matched (without any cost to you or the organization) to the right volunteer experience based on your skills and knowledge.
Option 2: International Internships
Another option is to try and do an internship abroad. Its a great option to enhance your CV while going on a holiday.
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 directly to the organization, while it could take a little bit more time is generally more affordable because you cut out the middle man. Frequently providers also appreciate this because it shows you have initiative. A good place to look for both agencies and individual companies who have internship opportunities are websites such as goabroad.com
Option 3: Foreign language courses
The next opportunity, which is quite cost effective in many cases, is doing a language course abroad. It looks great on your CV if you're able to speak another language and when you pick a great school you will have a blast.
A good idea is to choose schools with great activity programs & an emphasis on fun as well as education.
An excellent place to begin your research is by using a site just like www.traveledventures.com. They are known for picking the best language schools with a great social as well as cultural activity program and their staff is usually very helpful in terms of organizing your trip from beginning to end which includes arranging accommodation & programs and even solving any sort of concerns you have got while you are away for your big experience.
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.
Take a gap year to discover the planet, find what you really want to do and gain experience in an area you have love for. So what are you waiting for? Get on the road and enjoy!
After searching through the options, it appears that there are 3 really great contenders. Charity/Volunteer Work, Internships, & Foreign Language Courses.
option 1:volunteering or working for a charity
The first option is to get involved with some kind of charity or volunteer work. This may be anything from working at an elephant rehabilitation centre in Africa to helping children learn to read in Ecuador.
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.
Big organizations such as GVI have a good selection of programmes around the world. This is very nice and convenient but you will pay a high price for very, very basic living conditions.
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.
Watch out for great projects at a webpage called www.volunteermatch.org. This allows you to be matched (without any cost to you or the organization) to the right volunteer experience based on your skills and knowledge.
Option 2: International Internships
Another option is to try and do an internship abroad. Its a great option to enhance your CV while going on a holiday.
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 directly to the organization, while it could take a little bit more time is generally more affordable because you cut out the middle man. Frequently providers also appreciate this because it shows you have initiative. A good place to look for both agencies and individual companies who have internship opportunities are websites such as goabroad.com
Option 3: Foreign language courses
The next opportunity, which is quite cost effective in many cases, is doing a language course abroad. It looks great on your CV if you're able to speak another language and when you pick a great school you will have a blast.
A good idea is to choose schools with great activity programs & an emphasis on fun as well as education.
An excellent place to begin your research is by using a site just like www.traveledventures.com. They are known for picking the best language schools with a great social as well as cultural activity program and their staff is usually very helpful in terms of organizing your trip from beginning to end which includes arranging accommodation & programs and even solving any sort of concerns you have got while you are away for your big experience.
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.
Take a gap year to discover the planet, find what you really want to do and gain experience in an area you have love for. So what are you waiting for? Get on the road and enjoy!
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For more information about language travel programs or internship possibilities please visit www.traveledventures.com