December 2016 No. 14
Work Placements and Summer Jobs Work placement in Eastbourne 19 June – 2 July
Inside this issue: Work placement in Eastbourne
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Work placements BG
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Holiday working in Ukraine
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Practical Vocational Skills
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Pápa VC Jókai Mór
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A Week I will never forget
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International Learning Mobility
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Summer Job? Why not!
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Summer Jobs in Slovakia
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All partners’ contribution Work placement reports Holiday working perspectives
Our work placements in England already have a long tradition, they have been carried out for several years now, first in Shrewsbury and now it takes place in the coastal city of Eastbourne. The idea is to give students from the third forms the chance to gain 2 weeks of unpaid work experience, stay with an English family and get to know the English culture. Staying in a family was a very varied experience for our students because they were housed in many different circumstances and the time parents devoted to their paying guests also differed considerably. Placements include charity shops, cafes and shopping outlets like Primark. The students were given a Europass for documentation of their stay, and the whole programme is
with their jobs, on top of the experience of being part of a team in a company, also the contribution to language learning and intercultural experiences were of important value.
All in all, 20 students set out for England and gained a lot of experience. Alongside work common activities like a trip to London or a walk to Beachy Head were also part of the programme. Austrian team
40% funded by the Erasmusplus programme of the European Union. Most of the students were content
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Work placements reports of Bulgarian students
„The best part of the practice was that I learned how to work in a real environment”
In August 2016 a group of 15 students, from Vocational school “Professor doctor Asen Zlatarov” Vidin, Bulgaria, participated in Erasmus+ project “Working with customers and citizens” in England, Portsmouth. My workplace was Insight4life. I worked there with two boys from our group Robert and Radoslav. The main goal of the company is to help children from different schools with their problems and to make them happy. Our job was to create video and audio files, edit them and when they were finished we had to upload them into their website Zumos. At the time we were there, Insight4life started an event in the town and we had to make a list with all businesses in the town and then invite them to the event. We also worked with their database inserting different type of information. It was both useful and a lot of fun! (Denis) I went in Tenerife with some of my classmates to work for 3 weeks in July. It was a school project called “Practice in real working environment”. We worked as waiters and cooks in restaurants around the island. I was a waitress. The work was hard and exhausting, but I always worked without complaining because I was there for that. This work taughed me a lot about this profesion and I`m very happy that I learned everything about this job. The staff at my working place were very energetic and even if I didn`t do something right they didn`t get mad but taught me how to do it right next time. It was a great experience and I`m very happy that I went there. Also, in our days off we went to an aquapark, the zoo and we rode camels. It was an unforgettable experience. (Natalie) My practice in Rimni, Italy was a really memorable experience which I enjoyed for
3 weeks. Working in the office of the teachers' sindicate was a way to show my abilities and at the same time to learn new things which will be useful for me in the future. Also, I am grateful that I had the oppurtunity to visit San Marino, Rome and Venice. The most inspiring landmarks were the Colloseum, the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain in Rome; the Bridge of sights, the Piazza San Marco and all tiny canals in Venice. Despite the short three weeks I felt Rimini like my second home. If I had the chance I would turn back time to repeat that experience. (Loreta) I worked at a tourist agency, where I processed information and I used a printer and a scanner. Also, I prepared project documents. I believe the job and the participation will be useful for me in the future. (Gabriela) We worked at a three-star hotel and I really enjoyed it! We met interesting people and made new friendships. It was a pleasure for us to see the beautiful sights in Rimini, Italy with some of my classmates and other students from our school. It was a great opportunity to learn from the helpful stuff about our future job. It wasn’t easy but we didn’t give up. Also, we met some interesting people and made new friends. It was great to visit and work in Italy. (Tsvetina, Marian) I worked in Consorzio Logica. I learned to sort different information relates to the company.I also worked with their special software. The best part of the practice was that I learned how to work in a real environment. (Iliyana) Bulgarian Team
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Holiday working for young people in Ukraine Beside all the difficulties with youth employment in Ukraine, there are some opportunities for young people who search for temporary jobs on holidays. Most of them are provided in big cities and holiday resorts. Young can find work at numerous cafes, restaurants and hotels as waiters, barmen or service staff. This is mostly suitable for college, institute and university students. High school students cannot avail themselves of such employment because of law restrictions due to their age (they are under 18). If we speak about winter vacations, many ski resorts as Bukovel, Dorobrat, Shayan, Svalyava, Skole and Slavsko propose vacancies of ski instructors, equipment managers, waiters, room maids, and barmen and so on. These resorts even organize ad campaigns to succeed in recruitment.
find it useful as they can combine both additional earnings and good
rest doing the things they enjoy. Girls can find themselves as animators, kids’ care, room or kitchen staff, waitresses. Old cities like Kyiv, Lviv, Odessa, C her ni vt si , Iv an o - Fr an ki vsk, Uzhgorod feel a great demand in entertainment and service industry. They mostly require waiters, hotel staff, holidaymakers, guides and so on. Holiday working gives young people opportunity to decide on their future career prospects and a good possibility to get some pocket money. Sasha Kapustin, Ukrainian team
Many young people that are good at skiing, ski jumping or snowboarding can get a job of ski instructors after some trainings. They are provided with stable earnings till late May. This job is mostly for boys. Youth
“Holiday working gives young people opportunity to decide on their future career prospects and a good possibility to get some pocket money�
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Practical Vocational Skills Trained in England and Hungary
„all participants receive a Europass Mobility Certificate which can be used as part of their future work experience portfolio.“
Obchodní akademie a VOŠE Tábor launched traineeships abroad in 2013 when first students completed their work experience in Hungary and the UK within Leonardo/Erasmus+ programmes. In Bük, Hungary, 10 students of Higher Professional School worked in tourist offices and administration of the spa for 3 weeks where they practised their skills and knowledge of business communication with customers. The place is popular mainly with clients from Austria, but the number of visitors from the Czech Republic and Slovakia is constantly growing. That´s why the students worked on websites, prepared information for Czech tourists, created invitations and leaflets, translated from English into Czech, processed questionnaires, communicated online with potential clients and visitors. Moreover, two trainees had a chance, apart from administration tasks, to run sports animating programmes for spa clients. Each year a group of our students travels to London for the period of two weeks. This work experience is possible thanks to an English intermediary agency, which arranges particular positions, monitors and ensures mentoring for participants. Trainees are offered jobs in administration of various NGOs, travel agencies, language schools, hotels or shops.
Usually one or two trainees are placed into one company. The participants stay with English families, get to work individually by public transport using Oyster Cards. We use the ECVET credit system for vocational education and training, which enables targeting the whole working stay in businesses as well as easier evaluation. The trainees in London learn a set of new skills and knowledge (a unit of learning outcomes) which becomes part of their school assessment. After completing the traineeship all participants receive a Europass Mobility Certificate which can be used as part of their future work experience portfolio. What do students enjoy most? They like getting to know the environment of a British company, working relationships, a possibility to try out different tasks and learn new skills, gaining self-confidence in communication in English and last but not least becoming familiar with the British lifestyle. Alena Jandlová, Czech Team
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Pápa VC Jókai Mór Secondary School of Economics, Hungary The students attend our school between the 9th and the 14th year of their studies. At the end of the 12th year they pass their final exams and get their general certificate of secondary education. Those students who would like to learn a trade (logistics assistant, financial assistant, administrative secretary) can stay at the school for 2 more years in one of the postsecondary classes. Students have to take part in a compulsory training to get some work experiences at the end of the 10th and 11th year. The length of the period is 4 weeks, 7 hours a day. At the postsecondary classes students are required to stay at the workplaces for 8 hours a day also for 4 weeks. Depending on the type of the class students can go to different kinds of offices, departments, multinational companies, hospitals, town halls, factories, banks etc. I am a student in the administrative class in the 14 th year. I completed the compulsory training period at the administrative department of the local hospital last summer. My duties involved typing letters, filing documents, recording data in the computer system, delivering letters to the addresses, working on the archive, distributing information
by using telephone and mail services. During the 4 weeks, I was in contact with 5 people, one of them was my classmate. The employees were very helpful, friendly, reliable and answered every question. I really enjoyed working and learning there because I could get a closer look how to work in an office. I learnt how to deal with a problem and how to help people with their things. In my opinion this period was absolutely useful and I hope, I will be more successful in it if I take my final exams at the end of the school year. Florentina Ékes, Hungarian team
„My duties involved typing letters, filing d oc u m e n t s , recording data in the computer system, delivering letters to the addresses, working on the archive, distributing infor mation by using telephone and mail services. “
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A week I will never forget
„every experience we live has a strong impact on our personality and on the way we react to specific situations“
There is no doubt that every experience we live has a strong impact on our personality and on the way we react to specific situations. But, there are those experiences that really change our perspective, that move us both emotionally and intelectually and remain deep in our souls. I recently took part in such an amazing experience, a project called ”Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy 2015”, which took place in Huntsville, Alabama, at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. Its main aim was to introduce the participants to the legacy of the American Space Program and build their leadership skills by tackling current issues in science, technology, engineering and math. During the week spent there, we had the opportunity to gain considerable knowledge in terms of science. Probably the most memorable activity was the simulated astronaut training, which included a realistic shuttle mision and the chance to tumble in a space capsule, where I actually was the pilot. Apart from this, we were also involved in other science projects, such as extracting the DNA from a strawberry, building and launching a rocket, but we also tested our physical limits by climbing a 20 metre wall. In order for us to understand the importance of scientific progress nowadays, various scientists, engineers and former astronauts gave inspirational spechees, sharing their lifeexperiences and wisdom with us. Debate
and history classes were also compulsory as means of encouraging us to develop our communicative abilities and general knowledge. Beside the practical facts, we became part of a family, the ”HLCA 2015” family. Despite the time having passed by so quickly, we still keep in touch with each other, looking forward to meeting again someday. Even if we came from culturally diverse backgrounds, we felt no difference at all, having been able to communicate and work together. We learned that the most important step in achieving a task is to listen, sustain and understand our collegues. The best and effective leader is the one who is 100% part of the team, but the one that is also self-confident, as this is the main factor in leadership. For me, ”Honeywell Leadership Challenge Academy 2015” meant more than a project. It was an out of this world experience, a chance and a change at the same time. I worked on a team, met lots of international students, learned so many useful things, so I broadened my horizons. On the other hand, I evolved, I rediscovered myself and became aware of my strenghts and abilities. Andra Ioana Curutiu , Romanian team
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International Learning Mobility For the third year now, students of Ekonomska šola Ljubljana have the chance to participate in the international project Erasmus + »With international learning mobility to better qualifications and greater employability«. Ten of us went to Vienna, Austria and ten to Milano, Italy to carry out work placements abroad in several different companies. We were there for three weeks. Personally, I think I really improved my vocational and language skills, strengthened social skills, increased autonomy, responsibility, selfconfidence and have generally become more motivated at school. I worked in PHILLA DESIGN,
which is a Vienna-based design studio dealing with interior design and 3D visualization. We usually worked from 9 to 5 and because we were there during holidays, we didn't have to worry about school work. We had time to explore the city and learn about its culture as well. It was interesting to experience the lifestyle that Vienna has to offer and I this year I'm going to experience Milano, too. Sanel Alić, Slovenian team „Ten of us went to Vienna, Austria and ten to Milano,
Summer job? Why not! Last summer I got to work officially for the first time. I happened to spend a month of my holiday at a car wash and service with my two colleagues, who from strangers became close friends. Having a part time job has a lot of pluses and minuses however. One of the biggest pluses from my experience is that you get to know most of the human stereotypes by interacting with each customer. Also, once you start to work somewhere, even if you’re lazy, you have to show interest in whatever you’re doing, eventually getting to like working, even overschedule sometimes. By mentioning overschedule working, I just introduced the biggest
minus from my whole experience. Why was it? Because having only two employees by the time I arrived, my boss thought “Why not have this kid work more than he’s supposed to?”, but luckily , I bet he also thought “And I’ll also pay him more than he was supposed to be”, so in the end, I regret nothing. As you can probably tell, I enjoyed my time working with all the ups and downs I encountered. I learnt a lot from that period and can’t wait to get another job next holiday! Andrei Ioncica, Romanian team
Italy to carry out work placements abroad in several different companies”
Summer Jobs in Slovakia As we live in a small town, I think it is more difficult to find a part-time job for students as in big cities. Unemployment for adults is a problem, there is a shortage of work opportunities. Part-time jobs for students are for example delivering leaflets to homes in the nearby villages during the weekends, so it is not that timeconsuming for students, they can have enough time for their studies. It is good for them, they can earn some pocket money with doing that. Something else I can think of is working in one of the pubs in the town. I kow this is a place they employ students for the evenings or the weekends. The disadvantage is that it is a smoker place, it might be a problem if they don´t smoke. But I think
With the support of the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union
they only employ students if they are frequent quests of the place. As for the summer jobs, the biggest employer of the region is VadaĹĄ Thermal Spa, with a lot of smaller buffets , restaurants, shops owned by the local people, and they employ students for smaller jobs. It is quite a busy place in hot summer days, but workers are sent home when it is raining, as there are less customers or none at all if it is cold. To sum up, it is rather a problem if you want to have a regular income throughout the year, living in a small town, there are not too many opportunities. Adriana GĂłra, Slovak team
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