Finding Work Abroad Needn’t Be a Do-It-Yourself Job

Working in a pub in London, at a mountain resort in Europe or in Sydney, Australia, during the Olympics may be the dream of a lifetime, but working your way through the red tape to get a job abroad legally can be tough. For students and young travelers, help is available through student travel services, Council Travel and STA Travel. Here are the details:

* Council Travel won’t get you a job, but for 2000 the organization can help arrange the documentation you’ll need to work legally in Ireland, France, Germany, Canada, Australia, New Zealand or Costa Rica. It also provides a pre-trip planning book, and its affiliated foreign student/youth travel services help with information and advice on finding work, arranging accommodations and dealing with taxes after you arrive.

For $300, it can arrange documentation to work in Ireland at any time of the year for up to four months; in Canada for up to five months (you must be younger than 31 when you enter Canada); in France any time of the year for up to three months, but only at jobs paying the legal minimum hourly wage; and in Germany for up to three months between May 15 and Oct. 15. An internship program in Germany is also available.

For $400, Council Travel can arrange for you to stay and work in Australia for up to 12 months, but you can’t stay at any one job for more than three months. You must be younger than 26 when you enter Australia. You also have to pay an extra $106 visa charge, and you’ll need at least $3,500 when you enter the country. Space on this program is limited. The New Zealand program (also $400) includes two nights’ accommodations at Auckland Central Backpackers Hostel when you arrive. You can work any time between April 1 and Oct. 31. Age and money restrictions are the same as Australia. A combined Australia/New Zealand program is also available.

The Costa Rica program ($400 fee) enables you to work up to three months between June 1 and Oct. 1 for those under 31.

Council Travel is owned by the nonprofit Council on International Educational Exchange and has been operating work-abroad programs for students for 31 years. Participants need an International Student Identity Card and a minimum of $750 to carry them over until they start to receive wages. (Council Travel does, however, recommend that they take at least $1,000.) You can get more details by calling (888) 268-6245, Internet https://www.councilexchanges.org, and you can find information in the current (fall/winter edition) Student Travels magazine. It is available free at any of the 60 campus Council Travel offices nationwide.

* STA’s Britain and Australia programs are organized through British Universities North America Club (BUNAC), tel. (800) GOBUNAC (462-8622), Internet https://www.bunac.org.

The Australia program, which is also open to nonstudents, has become popular, and opportunities are limited. Considering the great interest because of the Olympics in 2000, if you plan to visit, start making your arrangements now. The Australia program costs $550, but this includes the $104 visa and two nights’ accommodations upon arrival. You also get a Lonely Planet guidebook to Australia and a two-day orientation in Sydney. You may work for up to one year.

To participate, STA notes that you’ll need to be prepared to satisfy entry requirements, which include having $3,500 and a prepaid round-trip ticket that is valid for more than six months. You can plan to arrive when you want but will have to notify STA so you can arrange to join an orientation.

The price for the Work in Britain program is $225. It’s open to full-time students who are U.S. citizens 18 and older, and it enables them to work for up to six months in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

For more information, call STA Travel at (800) 925-4777 or (323) 934-8722, Internet https://www.statravel.com.

STA also offers flexible, low-cost student airline tickets. They are valid for one year, and you can change return dates for $25. There are more than 250 STA offices around the world where you can make those changes.

STA and guidebook publisher Lonely Planet have teamed up to offer students discounts on guidebooks. Until Dec. 31, any STA Travel customer purchasing an international ticket will receive a voucher for $5 off any Lonely Planet guidebook or, if buying a ticket to Europe, will receive $10 off Lonely Planet’s “Europe on a Shoestring.”

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Transitions Abroad, publisher of Transitions Abroad Magazine and a variety of books on work, study and travel abroad, is operating an Internet site that provides descriptions and active links to programs and resources relating to work, study, independent travel and living overseas. You can find it at https://www.transitionsabroad.com. It’s a valuable stop on the information highway.

Lucy Izon is a Toronto-based freelance writer. Internet https://www .izon.com.