Real Gap Experience
Taking a gap year has long been recognised as a good way for both school leavers and graduates to broaden their horizons, gain practical life experience and develop skills that will be useful in the workplace. As the job market becomes increasingly competitive travelling across an unfamiliar country, volunteering overseas or gaining some work experience by teaching abroad are all gap year choices that can give youngsters the edge they need to succeed.
The importance of standing out from the crowd has been thrown into sharp focus by the recent economic meltdown. Though the financial situation is in recovery, jobs are still thin on the ground and employers can afford to be more selective in their choice of candidates. Academic qualifications alone are no longer enough to secure a position; employers are looking for applicants who have experience of life outside the classroom, and gap year travel is the ideal way to get it.
This view is certainly shared by the Irish employment group; IBEC, whose opinion is that school leavers who dive straight into employment or university are unprepared for the world of work and lacking in essential skills. The group believe that vocational skills such as improvisation, self-reliance, problem solving and effective communication are all neglected by a modern education system that simply teaches students how to absorb information.
Feeling on this subject is in fact so strong that the group have handed a proposal to a review body reporting to Irish Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe, which is intended to revolutionise Irish education. The proposal includes the recommendation that a pre-university gap year is made compulsory for all school leavers to give them the opportunity to develop broader social skills and gain useful experience. *
Thankfully, the choices for youngsters aiming to meet such high employment demands are vast. The past few years have seen a rapid growth in the popularity of voluntourism and long established companies such as UK based Real Gap have been pioneers of this gap year trend.
The company offer a range of gap year trips and programmes in over 45 destinations around the world, as well as the opportunity to gain employment overseas with various work abroad programmes. Travellers can choose to learn new language skills such as French and Spanish, gain internationally recognised certifications in anything from snowboarding to scuba diving, and earn money teaching English in China or working in Australia.
Real Gap also provide an array of voluntary projects across Africa, Asia, Latin America, Australasia, Europe and the USA. Ideally suited to travellers looking to gain experience in their chosen vocation or a wider perspective on global issues, volunteers can opt for anything from medical volunteering in Argentina and volunteering at a ranch in the USA , to a journalism experience in Ghana.
Real Gap’s useful and life changing travel options are open to explorers from around the world including Irish citizens. Further information about the company and their trips can be found at http://www.realgap.com or by calling their expert travel advisers on +441892 701884.
* Material sourced from www.independent.ie/
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
