For a profitable time abroad, include a job on the itinerary

Working as a waitress in a club in London, a ski lift operator in the Canadian Rockies or a fruit picker in New Zealand may not add directly to your career skills, but such experience may prove invaluable as the world moves toward a global society. If you have the time and freedom to work in a foreign country, don't miss it.

Four years ago at age 22, Laura Wilson of Philadelphia headed to Britain for a work-abroad adventure and landed an interesting job.

"I worked as a press officer in the music industry. I didn't get paid particularly well … but I made about $288 to $360 per week, and then I worked in a pub one or two nights a week for extra pocket money."

Chance played a role in her getting the job. "I was in London and I let people know I was looking for work, and it just so happened that a bartender introduced me to a person he knew who was looking for someone at the time," she said. "It was sheer luck, but I'd also worked in promotion at a radio station at home, so I had some experience in the field."

But not everything about Wilson's adventure was as successful: "The worst thing that happened was when I arrived," she said. "I had pre-arranged my accommodation, and I ended up in a place that I really didn't want to be in. I didn't feel very safe. I stayed for two or three weeks, then I moved out and found a really wonderful place."

Some work-abroad adventures can be more troublesome: Enough travelers have had difficulties when teaching English in Korea (with contracts they have signed before leaving home being changed after their arrival) that the Canadian government has published a guide with a warning called "Teaching English in Korea" that can viewed online at http://www.voyage.gc.ca/main/pubs/korea-en.asp .

Fortunately there are student travel services that not only help with the documentation needed to work abroad legally but also offer support services abroad through affiliated offices in the foreign countries.

Wilson's experience was so positive that she now works with the service she went through: BUNAC (originally the British University North America Club).

BUNAC, which charges $250 to $550, won't find you a job, but will get you a visa that allows you to work and provides information on seeking jobs, accommodation and tax exemptions when you arrive.

Its most popular program is Work in Britain, which costs $275. Students get a visa to work anywhere in England, Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland for up to six months, and the program provides a handbook with information on taxes, employer listings, an orientation on arrival in London or Edinburgh, and use of the BUNAC offices to aid your search for jobs and accommodation. Participants must be at least 18 years old and full-time university students or recent graduates.

STA Travel, (877) 777-8717, http://www.statravel.com , sells the BUNAC programs and offers internships for New Zealand and volunteer programs for Peru and South Africa.

The Canadian Student Travel Service, Travel Cuts, which has 10 offices in the U.S., has a program for full-time U.S. students to work in Canada, and volunteer and study-abroad programs.

For $205, the agency will arrange a work visa and provide information and support for your job and accommodation searches in Canada. Participants can work at the same job for up to six months at any time of the year. Most participants are 18 to 30 years old, although some older than 30 will be accepted. For details: Travel Cuts, 901 Westwood Blvd., Los Angeles; (310) 824-2500, http://www.travelcuts.com .

One of the best resources for long-term travel involving working or volunteering overseas is the 27-year-old Transitions Abroad magazine, http://www.transitionsabroad.com , with such features as the 10 most important questions to ask in a TEFL (Teaching English as a Second Language) interview; teaching English in Europe; jobs in Japan; and paid software internships in India.

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Lucy Izon is a Toronto-based freelance travel writer and author of "Izon's Backpacker Journal." Her website is http://www.izon.com .