Placement overview
Name: Alice
Vocational area: Travel & Tourism
Duration: 4 weeks
Location: Barcelona, Spain
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"I now have international work experience with a good reference from my employer for my CV, which will help me to get a job in the future in the industry."
The motivation
I have always wanted to work abroad and thought this would be a good opportunity to see if working abroad was for me. I knew I would be going with college and people my age and so I would be safe and in good company. I thought it would be a good opportunity to challenge myself and learn new skills in the work place as well as new life skills and I wanted to gain work experience for my CV.
The placement
My work placement was amazing. The hotel was lovely and the staff were very friendly and trained me well, so that I was an independent worker in the hotel by the time I left.
I worked on reception: My job was to check people in and out and make bookings and cancellations. I also booked taxis, changed room keys if they didn’t work, answered the phone, helped with storing customer luggage after they checked out. I also helped with marketing in English to rephrase sentences so they made more sense to British people.
The location
I liked that I was in a city, because there were lots of shops on every corner so you didn’t have to walk far to get whatever it is you wanted. I also loved the fake bag markets and the nightlife.
The impact
My biggest learning experience was learning the hotels software as it was in Spanish so I had to learn the Spanish on the system as well as how to programme things in and use it. When I had managed to learn it in the second week of my placement, I was able to work on reception independently and it gave me a sense of achievement.
My other big achievement was being offered a job mid-way through my placement which was amazing.
I now have international work experience with a good reference from my employer for my CV, which will help me to get a job in the future in that industry.
Outcomes
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Improved language skills
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Exposure to cultural experience
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Confidence building
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Improved people skills
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