Taking a gap year

Taking a gap year Taking a gap yearPosted October 13, 2011, by Helen IsbisterTaking a year off after school to embark on an international escapade is a fantastic way to throw off the cobwebs before leaping into a career or more study. Whether you decide to spend the time working, volunteering or just exploring, a gap year is a fantastic way to gain maturity, experience and independence. While a gap year is mostly about having a good time, it can also increase your chances of career success. Having one on your resume demonstrates lots of desirable life skills and most employers would prefer to hire people who know a bit more about the world than what theyve read in a textbook.The saying the world is your oyster is never truer than right now, so take a deep breath, think outside the square and jump inVolunteeringVolunteering allows you to be more than just a tourist. It will take you behind the scenes and up close with cultures, people and languages all while you make a positive diff erence in the world. You can become involved in a huge variety of projects in nearly every country in the world. Depending on your skills and interests, you might choose to help out in teaching, care, community, conservation, media or construction. Who knows? You could find yourself saving sea turtles in Costa Rica, teaching children in Cambodia, working with orphans in Cape Town, or building wells in Ghana.Working holidayThe traditional gap year is to take a working holiday overseas. It kills two birds with one stone funding the experience while you live itThere are plenty of organisations that will set you up with a job before you even leave Australia, so you can confidently rock up in another country knowing youll have cash coming your way. Many of these organisations will also help with sorting out your visa as well.The most popular destinations are naturally English speaking countries like the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States, but that isnt to say you cant venture further afield.Lots of gappers choose to work in boarding schools, pubs, ski resorts or summer camps most of which offer staff accommodation and a network of Aussies, Kiwis and Canadians who are also pulling pints or operating chairlifts to pay their way around the worldStudent exchangeEmbarking on an overseas adventure doesnt necessarily mean burning all your books and shunning everything that is educationally inclined. In fact, the student life is a pretty sweet one and its even better if you get to do it in a foreign countrySchool leavers can sign themselves up to attend a foreign high school and live with a host family. Its a great way to get immersed in a new culture, learn a new language and make loads of new friends. And you get to live the high school life without the worries of looming final-year examsUniversity students also have plenty of opportunities to take their study abroad many unis have partner universities where students can take classes and transfer credit poi nts.Another alternative is for you to study with an Australian university or vocational education provider while overseas, via distance education. There is a plethora of courses that you can study online, covering every subject area, so its worth checking out the range of options.Another way of racking up international experience in the personenname of learning is to get involved with an internship in another country. i-to-i internship placements run from two to 24 weeks in fields such as health and medicine, marketing, tourism, sports and media.Au pairWorking as an au pair, or nanny, is a fantastic way to immerse yourself in the culture of a country. You will live with a host family, receiving free rent and board plus a small wage in return for looking after the children. Through Au Pair Australia, you can organise a placement with a screened family in whichever country takes your fancy. With the exception of France, you dont need to be able to speak the local language before you t ake up the position but au pair placements are a great chance to learn or improve a foreign language and many come with an allowance for language lessons. Most placements are for between 10 and 12 months, but you can also book in for four- month summer placements in France or Italy.Australian Defence Force (ADF) eu-agrarpolitik YearThe ADF Gap Year program provides an opportunity for young Australians, who have finished year 12 (or equivalent) within the