BRIEF SUMMARIES OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF INTERNSHIPS?

Travellers takes great care in ascertaining your specific requirements and then ensuring that you have a placement that best suits your needs. We want to ensure you gain maximum benefit and experience from your placement. Below are brief descriptions of some of the placements currently available. Please select the country where you want to work and you'll find detailed descriptions of all aspects of the project you'd like to do. Please remember that if you don’t see one that suits you, email or call us (+44 (0)1903 502595) and we can probably arrange one for you:

“You don't have to be extremely outgoing and confident [to go on a Travellers project]. Naively my preconceptions of the type of person you had to be to do something like this were of a superhuman, uber confident, go-getter so I was a bit dubious before coming here as I was fully aware I was a bit lazy and a little shy. But in my opinion I have gotten more out of this trip than some of the really confident people. I would recommend this placement to everyone and anyone - its easily the best move I have ever made. The experience I am gaining while in China is beyond invaluable.” – Louis Potter

ARCHITECTURE and INTERIOR DESIGN
Work with an excellent firm of Architects and Interior Designers in Cape Town - an excellent placement in a beautiful setting, with hands-on experience across the board. "I was asked to sit in a meeting with a client and show my proposed ideas for a kitchen ... This was the first time I have ever had the opportunity to sit in a meeting and talk to a client, and to receive feedback.". Thomas Wilson on his Interior Design Work Experience Placement.

HOTEL & CATERING and GENERAL HOSPITALITY
You'll gain worthwhile experience in all areas of the hotel and catering industry, ranging from reception to human resources, and from marketing to customer relations. Find out what goes on behind the smiling face presented to the outside world!

"As I write this letter from my hotel room, I can't believe that already a month has passed. This experience has been so highly rewarding and fulfilling that I have decided I should forever incorporate it into my life. I have met a lot of people, all from different cultures and backgrounds ... each and every one of them have marked my life forever. They have all, in different ways, taught me that success in service is rooted in your ability to overcome adversity by giving the best you have to others with an open mind that will allow you to understand their needs." Myrella A. García Vélez

JOURNALISM
Work in Radio or TV or on a magazine or newspaper (for example the Daily News or Sunday Observer in Colombo in Sri Lanka, or First City Magazine in India). Your experience will including accompanying reporters when they investigate breaking stories or do interviews with local celebrities, and you may even be asked to conduct the interviews and prepare the story for print yourself. A unique opportunity to see how newspaper articles and radio and TV broadcasts are prepared and presented and to do behind-the-scenes research for publication. You'll also have the opportunity to put together an unusual portfolio with experience in a foreign country. 

"I get to go out with my own camera crew to the locations and get visuals and interviews [then] it's back to the office to do the write-up." Helena Rea working at TV3 in Ghana

"Heading out to Cape Town was a gamble for me. I'd just finished a summer as a freelance journalist covering cricket and didn't have much work for the winter. I found out about the Travellers scheme and it seemed ideal – a month on a sports desk to build by experience and make contacts. It couldn't really have gone any better. The team at the Cape Argus were brilliant. I perhaps had a little more experience than some of the other people who'd joined them so when they realised cricket was my passion they gave me plenty of freedom. I wrote a couple of features over the Christmas period and helped to cover the South Africa-England Test at Newlands. During the Test I met a Cricinfo journalist – a month later I was offered a job on the website where I have been Editorial Assistant for 18 months and was part of the team that covered England winning the Ashes last summer. It was thanks to the Travellers placement that I'm now in my dream job." Andrew McGlashan

LAW
Work in a firm of solicitors, getting experience in the day-to-day running of a law practice. We will endeavour to place you with a company that specialises in, or has a reasonable sized department that deals with the area of law that you're particularly interested in, ranging from civil and criminal law to conveyancing, probate and property law. "I enjoyed it so much that I'm hoping to go back there to live." Nana Oteng on her Law Work Experience placement.

"After graduating with a law degree in 2005 I did a Travellers Worldwide voluntary placement with a commercial law firm in Argentina in order to gain more legal work experience.  As a volunteer legal assistant I researched legal issues, drafted contracts and attended client meetings.  I had to work both on my own initiative and in a team. The placement allowed me to make an informed decision about my career.  I decided that I wanted to work in the public legal sector, rather than for a private law firm.  Next week I will start my new job in the Legal Services section of a successful County Council.  I genuinely believe that my gap year experience helped to make me a more attractive candidate because of the transferable skills I developed, such as being adaptable, problem solving and vital communication skills." Lucy Keenan

"Alex has spent the last 3 months in Ghana working for Metro TV and has enjoyed the most rewarding placement. We flew out for 2 weeks to holiday there and had a fabulous time. The people are so welcoming and I can fully appreciate why she has fallen in love with this country. Thank you for arranging this and her previous placements (India and China). She has had the most amazing 12 months and has earned her place at Journalism School thanks to the work experience she's had. I believe that this last venue has been really rewarding for the opportunities they have given her...even to the point of making her own mini-doc that has been broadcast. She will tell you all about it on her return. Many thanks again Travellers." Lesley Phillips (Mother of Alex Phillips)

MEDICINE
We have a variety of Medical placements available - you could work in a hospital, clinic or teaching hospital, in any one of a number of departments. If you plan on specialising, we can arrange to place you in a relevant department, to give you maximum experience in your chosen field. If your interest is nursing, we have a number of institutions who would appreciate your help. This is an excellent opportunity to gain valuable experience in your field in a different culture where practices may differ considerably to what you're used to.

"The project far surpassed my expectations and I was able to gain hands-on experience in all areas of the Hospital. The staff were very friendly and accommodating, and I was given access to stuff I just would not have managed in the UK." Andrew Hamilton

 TOURISM
The opportunity to gain experience on how cultures present themselves to the world of tourists. In South Africa, for example, the tourist industry is sophisticated and continually growing. Cape Town in particular is now the third most popular holiday destination in the world.

VETERINARY MEDICINE
Work with vets in private practice or in a clinic, or in a Zoo with a variety of species, or venture out with vets who minister to and specialise in farm animals.  You could also have the opportunity to work with specialists who tend to wild animals in sanctuaries and game parks. You will have opportunities to work hands-on and observe the reality of day-to-day care of animals.

"Hello! Just a quick note to say have just come back from Mt. Kenya where I have been on a Rhino Translocation. It was brilliant and I can't wait for the next project! [Also] went down to Tsavo East, then West and then to the Amboselli for a day. We have been darting buffalo with the Vet team to get blood samples to test for Rinderpest disease. We start at 4am and finish at 6pm so it’s a long day but brilliant fun. We also had to dart a 60 year old elephant at the Amboselli as it was in need of veterinary attention. On Monday am flying to Eldoret to capture antelope and translocate them to Meru ... Am loving it here!!!! Speak to you soon. Lisa." Lisa Adams, Kenya

These are just some of the many types placements you can participate in, and all are exciting and fulfilling. 

"With retrospect, my decision to travel to Sri Lanka as a Travellers Worldwide Volunteer has proved to be amongst the most critical and rewarding choices of my life to date, allowing me to travel in safety with complete confidence, and to progress both professionally and personally.”  Andrew Pierce

An overview of all our Programmes

“The English media is notoriously difficult to enter, with the number of applicants and dreamers vastly exceeding the number of success stories. My Travellers Worldwide placement provided the ideal opportunity to gain a truly unique international experience, setting me apart from my peers when applying for both jobs and university places. My portfolio of work, dominated by work published in the Sri Lankan Daily Mirror, was the primary reason for my successful entry onto the prestigious Postgraduate Diploma in Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University." Andrew Pierce on his placement in Sri Lanka

"I was instantly part of the team and I was given a variety of interesting jobs to do right from the beginning. I was extremely pleased to be able to contribute to much of the writing for the Magazine, even to the point of writing one of the lead articles.”
Lisa Batchelor on her work with First City Magazine.

"Outside of work I have joined a gym/sports club which is directly opposite our office. On weekends I socialise with my workmates and I have plans to go surfing too ... I am really enjoying my stay." Jennie Hopkins, Big Issue, South Africa