Working Holiday Program (Revised)

    Do you want to experience something different in your life when you are young? Do you want to travel to other countries by spending a little money? Do you want to earn the money for traveling by yourself? Ask yourself these questions and if your final answer is yes, then you must be curious about the possibility to realize your ideal dream. Indeed, it seems like a “mission impossible” if combining all these criteria together. Nonetheless, when taking money, age, and traveling into consideration, actually, there is a fabulous way that you can make your dream come true and that is --- the prevailing Working Holiday trend over this decade!    

    Working Holiday has been popular among the western countries. In Europe, there is even a so-called “Gap Year” for graduates. Most of the time, after graduating from senior high school, graduates will work or travel before receiving an advanced education. What for? By grand-touring or being interns in this year, they could figure out what they want to achieve for. Thus, it is important for them to give themselves a chance to expose themselves to the real world, instead of sitting in the classroom taking loads of exams. In Taiwan, we do not have the opportunities to explore what we really want by having a gap year. However, thanks to globalization, we catch up with the trend of working holiday. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan, we have signed contracts with ten countries until 2013--- New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Canada, the United States, Germany, Korea, England, Ireland and Belgium, for civilians under thirty years old to work and travel overseas. This program helps us broaden our horizons and generate different perspectives towards the whole world. If you are eager to explore the outer world when you are a youngster, you must be exhilarated after this brief introduction about the Working Holiday program and so now, we are going to teach you some tips and the processes to apply for this program.

     Firstly, you have to decide which country you are heading for. With so many countries to choose, which one is your priority? If you have difficulty making up your mind, you should list all the eligible countries and find out the jobs you would like to take. For instance, jobs in New Zealand and Australia are mostly related to farms, while jobs in United States are related to house-keeping or kitchen work. Hence, you need to decide the country you would like to stay for a couple of months or even a year. By the time you pick out the country, find an agency. The only channel to get the job is to contact agencies like IEE or CIEE that cope with the working holiday affairs. The agents will provide you with a bunch of information so that you can save much time.

     Speaking of work and travel program, the very basic thing is your English ability. Without language skill, you could go to nowhere; therefore, your English proficiency will be tested. there will be a test for you to ensure that you are qualified for the job. Meanwhile, you would ask, “What if my English is not that good? Does that mean I will not get the chance?” Do not worry so much! In fact, the test is not that hard! After all, the purpose of this program is not to test how good your English is but to test your courage to step outside of your comfort zone! An interviewer will talk to you and let you know your score. Every job requires a different score so you have to get a certain score if you want to apply for a certain job. After finishing the test, you have to attend a “job fair.” You need to be prepared because you might be asked every kind of question. Those sponsors may ask you, “Why do you want to join this program?”, “What can you do?” or “What do you want to do?” If you are well-prepared, you could answer with confidence. Another important thing is to remember to smile at most of the time in that the interviewer will be impressed. Thereafter, you will still have another interview--- the visa interview. The interviewer will ask you the purpose for a long-stay. When you get your visa permission, you have already come to the last step--- the plane ticket. Booking flight ticket is as easy as a pie. To be frank, you just need to check the time and the place then all is settled. Finally, when you go through these processes, all you need is to do is pack your luggage, enjoy the upcoming Working Holiday program in summer and bring a lot of precious memories and unforgettable experience when you come back! Congratulations!