Work and Travel Articles and Travel Advice
Become an Au Pair in New Zealand
Travelling and working is one of the most popular things you can do on your gap year. That's why we thought we'd tell you all about becoming an au pair in New Zealand.
2013 Graduate Career Planner
Coming back from a gap year in 2013? This career planner will help you understand annual graduate recruitment trends, and how to make the most of them.
How to Make Your Gap Year Work for You
When you're planning your gap year, there'll always be someone who raises the question of "what will you do afterwards?" Well, you can make your gap year work for you.
6 ‘All-in-One’ Gap Wrap Adventures
Need inspiration? Brain melting from travel research? Don't go through the hassle of planning - do an 'all-in-one' GapWrap and get the complete experience.
Interning on a Gap Year
Attitudes to the gap year are changing. No longer seen simply as a break from education or a chance to exercise one’s travel bug, a gap year now represents the opportunity for students to gain valuable skills and experiences that will put them ahead in life. One way to do this is as an intern on a gap year.
2012 Student and Graduate Career Planner
Aside from enjoying the social aspect of university life, it can be daunting to think about your future career when in the midst of gaining a degree. To help you get the most from 2012, this handy timeline from graduate recruitment website Milkround will help guide you to a top graduate job, whichever year you're in.
Working Holidays
Working holidays are all about working abroad, earning good money, and travelling around. But not only that, you'll also further your career.
The Gapyear.com Guide to Getting a Job after Travelling
Finding a graduate job after you return from a gap year can be tough. You’ve been off the grid and now there’s a big gaping hole in your CV. In fact, getting back into employment can be the most difficult and frustrating part of adjusting to life back home. But there’s no need to despair; even if you didn’t set off backpacking with the intention of beefing up your CV, you will have done and you can use that to help you get a job.
Teaching in Japan: A Guide by Amber Mezbourian
If you want to spend a year or so living in Japan whilst getting paid at the same time, teaching English is the easiest and most common route for the majority of foreigners. In general, the only requirements are that you’re a native speaker of English and you hold a degree (the subject doesn’t usually matter).
Working in Australia
Working in Australia is perfect for many backpackers, so if you want to work and travel on your gap year then read our guide to working in Australia.
Teaching in China
"You can teach some of our students" said my new boss, in hesitant English. "Now?" I said, shocked. "But I arrived late last night and I'm really jet-lagged." I'd dragged my luggage through customs, been bumped about in the back of a taxi for half an hour and slept for just a few hours. To say I felt like pap was an understatement.
Care Work in South Africa
It was a cool clear winter evening when I arrived in Cape Town South Africa for seven weeks of voluntary work. I was picked up from the airport and dropped off at my host parents who lived in Strandfontein, a town about half an hour from Cape Town. I spent my days at a local hospital working in the HIV/AIDS clinic and it changed my life.
A Veterinary Experience in Mongolia
Mongolia. For years that one word has conjured up a certain magic in my mind. Images of wide open steppe, vast expanses of desert, camels, yaks, snow leopards, wild horses, nomads and Genghis Khan began to float into my dreams as I planned my trip. As I stared out of the plane I caught my first glimpse of the steppe, and it was as wild and empty as I could have hoped.
Teaching on Your Travels: A Guide by Catherine Hall
They say that teaching is something that is in your blood. Well, my mother is a teacher, and a result, in every country I travel to, sooner or later I find myself standing at the front of a classroom, while rows upon rows of expectant faces stare at me. I don't quite know how it happens, but I seem to teach on a regular basis.
Teaching in Ghana
The plane journey was possibly the longest journey of my life, both literally and mentally. Then actually getting off the plane was the most intense thing I've ever done; imagine stepping into a sauna just that little bit too hot and then triple that, then you will have half the idea of how the heat hits you as soon as you enter Ghana.
Teaching in Japan: An Interview with Ronnie Jones
My job was a cross between teacher and clown. Some of my Japanese teaching colleagues let me do what I wanted in class (mad games to teach directions, bringing in my much-loved funk music, generally having a laugh) while others made me teach pronunciation and spelling (once I wrote 'embarassing' on the board but spelt it incorrectly... which was embarrassing).
Working as a Language Assistant in Spain
Ever fancied getting to know another way of life in another European country, much like an au pair would, without actually wanting to be, well, an au-pair? There is another alternative. I lived in Madrid for three months as a language assistant. The deal was pretty simple: I spent 15 hours or so a week helping the family to develop their English.
Teaching in Nepal
I have so many good memories of being a teacher, from getting a pile of cards from my students and being presented with flowers on Valentines Day to telling my students the story of Helen of Troy and watching them perform their favourite parts of the story. I got such a buzz walking out of the classroom knowing that my students had enjoyed the class.
Teaching in Japan
Before I came to Japan, I had a notion that Japanese classrooms would contain row upon row of immaculate and impeccable children, disciplined and studious. This was certainly not the case, particularly at my junior high school, where in my first week my English teacher warned me what to expect.
Volunteering and Teaching in Sri Lanka
Meet Lewis Smith and Dani Mason, best mates from Cardiff who are currently out in tropical Sri Lanka taking part in two volunteer placements with gap year organisation Travellers Worldwide. This dynamic duo split their time in Sri Lanka between teaching in schools for under-privileged children and working in an elephant orphanage.
Teaching in Thailand
For me, taking a gap year was one of the easiest decisions I've ever made. I was fed up of learning facts just to regurgitate them all in exams. I wanted to learn about people, the world, and get a grasp of the bigger picture. So I set out looking for a way to fulfil my dreams.
Teaching in South Africa
South Africa was one of the most amazing things I have ever done in my life! As most people would be, I was apprehensive before I went, but at the same time really excited. I was going half way round the world to work with young people who were not as fortunate as myself. After several phone calls and emails back and forth with Travellers, my trip was planned, flights booked and bags packed!
Working on Cruise Ships
Wherever you go, working on cruise ships really does present an amazing opportunity to see the world while earning good money. All you need to do is apply.
Work as a Holiday Rep
Holiday rep work is a great way of seeing the world and getting paid for it! It's easy to get into repping and you'll to catch the holiday rep bug in no time.
Working on a Ranch, Wyoming
Imagine living in a world where you could call a log cabin home, ride horses or hike through mountains and forests to lakes and hidden meadows every day, and dance with cowboys and cowgirls at night. This was my reality for two summer seasons as I went to work at a ranch-style lodge in remote north-western Wyoming, USA.
Teaching Tips and Ideas
Teaching and volunteering as a teacher is a highly rewarding and very popular way to spend your gap year. There's so much advice out there that we thought we'd ask some of the gapyear.com members about their experiences and what are their best tips and ideas on teaching on your gap year.
Working in Australia: A Guide by Cara Grayling
Every year, thousands of young Brits head off to Oz in the hope of finding work that will fund that bungy jump, surfing lessons or an overland tour. Or just beer. Too many assume it’s easy to walk into a job. It isn’t. Job hunting can be hard work. Be persistent and don’t let rejections put you off.
