Working Holidays - for 18 year olds

[james_TW]

My daughter is only 16, but she wants to broaden her horizons (and get away from Shorpe which I support) and one of the things she wants to do is a working holiday sort of thing. I have zero knowledge and experience of these things and can only go on what I read.

Obviously I want to make sure I do the appropriate research and make sure the relevant things are covered, but can anyone give me a steer on what to think about, what/where to avoid, insurance that will cover her, and all the rest of it.

She's found this: https://www.globalworkandtravel.com/working-holida... - which on the face of it, looks decent, but my obvious concern is how to make sure she's safe, employed, etc.

Any input would be gratefully received

Thanks, JTW

[Terzo123]

I know a few folk who have done Camp America in the past and loved it. A colleague's daughter is away doing it just now.

9 weeks of work and play earning some cash,followed by 3 or 4 weeks of touring the states.

https://www.campamerica.co.uk/

[Saleen836]

I have a friend in Mexico City who I met when she was working locally around 6 years ago, she used this company to arrange everything https://www.workaway.info/

As a side not said friend is coming to stay with me for a month in August, (she can work remotely)

[james_TW]

Thanks both, I'd heard of Camp America but not the other. The main thing I want to find out about is how to ensure that she gets a job and the logistics of everything else

There's 2 years to plan and part of that is going to be her getting a job and part funding it and not relying on the bank of Dad

[Ganglandboss]

If she's by the sea, scuba diving is an option. If she can get up to PADI* Rescue Diver (3 courses) and 40 logged dives, she can train as Divemaster. A lot of shops will run this as an internship. After qualifying you can start instructor training and be qualified after passing the exam and completing 100 dives.

Different dive shops run internships differently, and there are a lot of them that are ready to exploit cheap or free labour. One guy I know charges Divemasters for training and does not pay them, but he puts them through the instructor course at the end of the season. It varies centre to centre and resort to resort.

The money is not great, but many seem to get by if they share digs etc, and it can be a good lifestyle for somebody on a gap year or travelling.

* PADI is the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. They are an American training agency. There are other agencies, and people love arguing which one is the best, but PADI have the biggest market share.

[Condi]

Aus and NZ are easy, get a visa, book a flight, find a job when you get there. Be aware that Aus will likely seem very expensive until you're earning local currency, or at least was a few years back. Hospitality work should be easy to get in any of the big cities, and farming work if she wants to go somewhere more rural. Best idea is just to get into a good hostel and have a chat with other people, in most hostels you'll find some working and some travelling through. NZ is similar, but the wages are lower and the towns are smaller.

As above, if she has any interest in scuba diving then that could be a route to go down, pretty much all dive centres speak English and a lot of the instructors are English. You'd have to check what is/isn't allowed in Europe these days, but maybe she could do a divemaster internship and get free food, accommodation and diving in return for work?

Camp America supposed to be very good, but the visa situation is very strictly enforced, you only get a certain period of time there after your working to travel. Also, obviously the job is dealing with kids, which may/may not suit.

[Burrow01]

I met lots of people from UK, Aus, NZ, Sweden etc skiiing in Canada, all on Young Peoples Working Visas. They all seemed to be having a ball. Lots of tourism based jobs availabe in the West of Canada, the only issue is cost / availability of accommodation
Most work working in the ski resorts in hotels, bars restaurants etc or on the ski hill as lift operators (which came with a free ski pass)

For the Summer most of them were off to Vancouver Island or the other tourism hot spots.

Its one of the few times I actually wished I was younger, and able to take advantage of the scheme

[Puggit]

Interesting thread - our son has just finished A levels, we've taken him away for 2 weeks and now he's job hunting. No idea what he wants to do, so I've sent him the links

[LimaDelta]

Has she considered Superyachts? Pretty easy to do a year or two and come home with a house deposit or uni funds.

[james_TW]

These are all great - the Yacht one is one I've never heard of before though

[LimaDelta]

james_TW said:

These are all great - the Yacht one is one I've never heard of before though

PM me if you want for a no-BS guide. It is a bit of a minefield these days.

[Condi]

LimaDelta said:

Has she considered Superyachts? Pretty easy to do a year or two and come home with a house deposit or uni funds.

I met plenty of strippers working abroad coming home with house deposits, One girl did somewhat more than just stripping but also owned her own place at 21, doubly impressive given the amount of disposable income she spent on drugs.

[LimaDelta]

Condi said:

LimaDelta said:

Has she considered Superyachts? Pretty easy to do a year or two and come home with a house deposit or uni funds.

I met plenty of strippers working abroad coming home with house deposits, One girl did somewhat more than just stripping but also owned her own place at 21, doubly impressive given the amount of disposable income she spent on drugs.

Not sure how keen the OP will be for his daughter to take up stripping, and the parallels with Superyachts is not really valid (other than perhaps the earning potential).

[james_TW]

LimaDelta said:

Not sure how keen the OP will be for his daughter to take up stripping

Well. No

[crofty1984]

Terzo123 said:

I know a few folk who have done Camp America in the past and loved it. A colleague's daughter is away doing it just now.

9 weeks of work and play earning some cash,followed by 3 or 4 weeks of touring the states.

https://www.campamerica.co.uk/

I did the same with Camp Counselors USA www.CCUSA.com

Same thing, they're just agencies, you'll find that a summer camp will have staff from both and presumably others

I'm going back to 2002/2003 (Jaysus feck where does the time go, etc, etc). and had a blast. You make friends easily in that sort of situation at that age, and afterwards we stayed in the USA for a month afterwards exploring, doing Trek America, drove to Miami for a cheap Carribean cruise, got a last minute flight to NYC.

Pay at the time was room and board while you're at the camp - 2 month placement, one group of kids per month. then at the end we got about $600 plus another couple in tips from parents. That plus a student overdraft for a course I'd not even started yet paid for the post-camp travels.

The agency sorts it all. Helps get your visa (there's a specific one for "summer camp work plus a bit of travelling" - J1 I think), gets you a placement at a camp based on your skills and preferences, sorts flights and transport to/from the camp.

The one I was at was about 12 kids, 3 counselors per cabin. Probably a total of 150-200 or so kids at any one time. Food in the big mess hall, you would run "your" activities, but then would help out on another one. So I would run the go-karts for some sessions, then be a gopher for whoever's doing archery/woodcraft in others, or help tidy up. We had one day and a couple of evenings off per week, from memory. You're not so much there as a teacher, more of a bigger Brother/Sister role. I can still remember a couple of times when the kids went out of their way to ask me to help them out with things they were worried about, it's very rewarding, if full-on.

[james_TW]

crofty1984 said:

Terzo123 said:

I know a few folk who have done Camp America in the past and loved it. A colleague's daughter is away doing it just now.

9 weeks of work and play earning some cash,followed by 3 or 4 weeks of touring the states.

https://www.campamerica.co.uk/

I did the same with Camp Counselors USA www.CCUSA.com

Same thing, they're just agencies, you'll find that a summer camp will have staff from both and presumably others

I'm going back to 2002/2003 (Jaysus feck where does the time go, etc, etc). and had a blast. You make friends easily in that sort of situation at that age, and afterwards we stayed in the USA for a month afterwards exploring, doing Trek America, drove to Miami for a cheap Carribean cruise, got a last minute flight to NYC.

Pay at the time was room and board while you're at the camp - 2 month placement, one group of kids per month. then at the end we got about $600 plus another couple in tips from parents. That plus a student overdraft for a course I'd not even started yet paid for the post-camp travels.

The agency sorts it all. Helps get your visa (there's a specific one for "summer camp work plus a bit of travelling" - J1 I think), gets you a placement at a camp based on your skills and preferences, sorts flights and transport to/from the camp.

The one I was at was about 12 kids, 3 counselors per cabin. Probably a total of 150-200 or so kids at any one time. Food in the big mess hall, you would run "your" activities, but then would help out on another one. So I would run the go-karts for some sessions, then be a gopher for whoever's doing archery/woodcraft in others, or help tidy up. We had one day and a couple of evenings off per week, from memory. You're not so much there as a teacher, more of a bigger Brother/Sister role. I can still remember a couple of times when the kids went out of their way to ask me to help them out with things they were worried about, it's very rewarding, if full-on.

I do like the sound of that, I'll see what she thinks of that