WORK EXPERIENCE ABROAD: The Big Adventure - Why, Where & How You Do It

Last year I spent four weeks abroad near Brighton, England, doing work experience at a company that focuses on school trip tourism. During these four weeks I did not only manage to learn a lot about that job and what working in a country that speaks a different language is like, but I also got to know a culture that I have adored for years a lot better, live in a country that I have always been interested in, meet new people, find more confidence both in speaking and working and whilst doing that explore many new places and have the time of my life. I've found work experience abroad to really be a blessing for myself and my future, and whether you are here because you are already planning an internship abroad or are just interested in it, I hope this blog post is going to help you in some way. There are many things to consider, but there are also many reasons why doing work experience abroad is an amazing thing one can do in their life.

WHY

Work experience is something that is crucial for your future, particularly if you are younger and not yet qualified in a certain job field. In Germany, it is common to do a few work experiences during your school time - three in my case. It helps you broaden your knowledge and understanding of the job world and at the same time help you in finding out what you would like to do in the future. Doing work experience where you live is a good thing, and you should definitely make use of that, but if that's not enough for you, or if you want to try something different and challenge yourself even further - a work experience abroad might be for you. 

When I found out that my school would give me the chance to do my work experience abroad, if I wanted to, I think I might have screamed a little because I got so exited. Especially if you are interested in other cultures, other countries, travelling and/or languages, doing work experience in a different country is definitely the way to go.

Although, I definitely want to mention, that you do NOT have to speak a language well in order to do work experience in a certain country. The thought behind giving people the chance to work abroad for a while, is not only to gain work experience, but also, to be able to improve your language skills.

And on the other hand - even if you already speak that language perfectly fine, you should definitely still keep in mind all the other great opportunities that come with doing work experience abroad. You get to know a job in a different country, which might have different ways of doing things than in your own country and will possibly be faced with new challenges. You will be able to get to know a different culture and explore a whole new area during your stay. You will meet new people, learn many new things and have the time of your life, all whilst working. It will also help you become more independent, particularly if you still live at home in your own country.

WHERE

This is obviously a personal choice, but there are some aspects you should consider, when choosing where to do your work experience. First one would be language. As I said, speaking a language perfectly well is not what you should base your country of choice on, but in order to be able to work in a different country, you need to at least have basic knowledge of the language.

In general, take into consideration, that the better your language skills are, the more challenging and "difficult" jobs you will be able to get. If you are going somewhere to better your language skills, working as a waiter in a restaurant might work perfectly fine for you, but if your focus is on the actual work experience in a "more skilled" job, i.e. in the tourism or business sector, then you are better off choosing a country which's language you are more aware and in power of.

A different aspect one should put into consideration, is money. Work experience abroad itself isn't very cheap, so choose wisely, depending on your financial situation. For example, doing work experience in Australia will be much more expensive for you if you live in Europe, than doing it in England for example, particularly because of flight prices etc. But obviously if that's what you want to do, that is totally your choice.

Go somewhere, where you are both interested in and somewhere that will help you most at achieving what you are expecting from this work experience. I personally chose England. Not because I particularly wanted to improve my language skills, but mainly because I am really interested in the country, culture and its people, as well as always being interested to see whether I would be able to work in an English speaking company. Choose what feels right for you. It makes no sense going somewhere that you don't like or don't have any interest in whatsoever. 

 HOW

Now, there are two ways of doing this. Either, you go and contact companies yourself, or you decide to pay an organisation to do it for you. Both has it's pros and cons.

Pros of doing it all yourself are definitely that you have much more of a choice as in where you want to work, and if you have any contacts, you can make use of that. And you also save the money that you will otherwise pay to a company to help you with finding your spot. But the cons are definitely that you have to do a lot more admin work, and it will possibly take you longer to find a company that will want to work with you, as they might not usually choose people from abroad for their work experience spots. If you don't have a place to stay where you are going, you will also have to find a hotel, a room or a host family yourself. If you are fine with all of that, definitely go for it.

The pros of choosing an organisation to help you with finding work experience are definitely that you have to do a lot less work yourself in trying to find a spot, which can take off a lot of pressure. They will also be able to help you find a work experience spot that is perfect for the level of your language skills, as well as considering your own interests in what field you want to work in. They can also help you finding a host family or a hotel for your stay. The cons however are, that you will also have to pay the organisation a certain amount of money for their work, and you also might get a little less choice in where you are going to be able to work (i.e. you will get a list of 10 or so different job fields that you can choose to work in, which might not always cover your interests). 

Another tip I can definitely give you, is to do a lot of googling. Find out about other people's experiences and what organisations they went with. If you decide to do it all yourself, start by deciding on what cities and jobs you are looking for, look out for companies that cover these fields and start contacting them about whether they would be willing to offer you a spot for work experience, should they approve of your CV. If you decide to go with an organisation however, go on google and find out about all the different organisations that offer to help you with work experience in the country of your choice. Compare them, price, performance and interest wise, and also - find out about fairs and conferences in your area. Where I live there a student exchange fair happening every few months or so, where many companies are invited, covering every field from work experience, to Au Pair and language courses or High School Years Abroad. It can be a great help chatting to the people in person that organise these work experiences, and might help you answer the questions you might have. Even if you don't want to choose an organisation, and do it all yourself, this might be helpful, as they might be able to give you some tips. 

In the end, you will have to choose which way will be the right one for you. I personally went with an organisation. If you want to find out what I thought of that, and what my personal experiences during the general work experience where, I am going to be uploading a blogpost on that very soon, and link this HERE, as soon as it is available.

DON'T FORGET

As fun as it sounds to go abroad for a while and explore somewhere new whilst also gaining work experience, there are some things you must consider.

Money is definitely a factor that could possibly limit a lot of people from doing this. However, if that's the case for you, don't give up straight away. There are always ways of making it work. Making compromises and possibly working to gain some more money for the trip can turn things around easily. Work experience abroad is an expensive thing to do, but it can be so fulfilling and you might have the time of your life. It can and very likely will be absolutely worth it to work your butt off in order to make this trip possible.

When calculating the cost of your trip, take into consideration that you will have to pay for flights or trains to get there and get back home, possibly pay an organisation, pay a host family, hotel or room for the length of your stay, and also that you will have all sorts of expenses for food, transport to work and around where you live, possible trips to explore the area and anything else that you might want to buy whilst there.

Also, don't forget to get a travel insurance for the duration of your stay, just in case anything happens to you, because otherwise any accident might become really expensive for you afterwards. 

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So, what do you think? Are you ready to take on the world of working abroad? What are you thinking? If you have any thoughts or possible questions you might want to share, feel free to do so below or give me a shout via e-mail! :)

Love, Jacqueline Xx

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"We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. 
There is no end to the adventures we can have if we only we 
seek them with our eyes open."

- Unknown

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi #BOOKREVIEWS

School is done, which means Summer is finally here and I am finally back to blogging! Get prepared for hopefully a big load of blog posts within the following weeks, as I am finally able to put time back into the things that I enjoy doing, whilst preparing for my gap year and uni! Get ready!!! 😊

What I expected was a beautiful novel about a middle-aged man who gets cancer but that is also a neurosurgeon. (I mean, as beautiful as that can be.) Stupid me should have definitely read the description properly, because what I had in my hands was not just another cancer novel, but the real life story and thoughts of a real neurosurgeon who gets lung cancer, written in a sort of autobiographical way. I was actually genuinely excited to read a fiction work about someone with cancer, so I have to admit that I did feel a little bit let down when I read the first few pages of the first chapter and had to come to a different realization: that this book was going to be very different from what I had expected it to be. Nevertheless, I decided to read the rest of the book with an open mind and forget about what I had anticipated it to be about, and that turned out to a very good idea.

But before I tell you what I thought of Paul Kalanithi's work, here's a better overview of what the novel is actually about:

“At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity – the brain – and finally into a patient and a new father. What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when when life is catastrophically interrupted? What does it mean to have a child as your own life fades away? Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.”  

(- Source: Amazon U.K.)

It's not a long book itself with only about 220 pages, but the first few pages did seem a little tiring. I found it a little hard to get into the novel, particularly because I felt like some scenes about his youth didn't really seem to add up to the story that the actual novel was about.

The beginning of the novel to me seemed a little too slow and too little thought-through, but throughout the following pages Paul's words and story seem to be getting stronger and more interesting, the further his story and illness progresses. He manages to give both a wonderful insight into the hard work that neurosurgeons all over the world are facing every day, whilst also showing what cancer can do to your mind and life, and how he tried to work and deal with it.

At times it did feel like the focus was set more on his life and story as a neurosurgeon, rather than his actual dealings with cancer. whether that's a problem for you I guess depends on what you're looking for in a book like that. If you only want to get an insight into someone's cancer story, then maybe it is not “the” novel you're looking for. 

Personally I found it really interesting to get an insight into the work of a neurosurgeon, how he has to and does deal with certain things most of us don't even think about when we see these people working. It's very eye-opening in that case, probably because it is written from such a personal angle, because I feel like, way too often, doctors are not really given full acknowledgement for what they do and what they have to deal with in their personal life in order to pursue their work.

If you want to read this book, I definitely recommend at least a slight interest in medicine/neurology, because otherwise, I am not sure how much of a pleasure it will be for you to read.

But please don't get me wrong here – I am not trying to tell you that this is a bad novel or that you shouldn't read it! Definitely not! Yes the beginning is a little slow, yes it's not a perfect piece of written art, but Paul Kalanithi has done a great job at opening eyes. And he does tell it kind of like a story, it's not written like it's just a long article about his life events, and I think that's also what makes it really interesting.

All in all, I'd probably give this book a 3,5 out of 5 stars. It's a little slow at times, and probably not something for someone that isn't at least in the slightest interested in neurology or working in medicine, but it is definitely worth a read. With a beautiful style of writing, Paul Kalanithi tells the reader about his work and life threatening terminal cancer, his experiences, struggles and dealing with both and therefore gives a wonderful insight into what it is like to be both a neuroscientist and a cancer patient, which is really eye-opening. If that sounds like it could be something you're interested in, definitely give it a read. It's not the best book on earth, but it's definitely a good one! 

Have a wonderful week everyone ♥