BUNAC Work America Diaries; Taking the Plunge

Just under three weeks ago, i decided to sign up to the BUNAC Work America scheme, after humming and hawing for about 3 months. On the website, it shows you the choice of places to go, including Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Its available to UK students over the age of 18, and is an alternative to working with young kids all summer at Camp America style adventures.

The reason it took me 3 months to finally sign up, was because I couldn't find much on the actual process that i would take after signing up, there was lots of people like me posting on forums asking previous BUNAC'ers what their opinions of it was, or asking if anyone else had signed up for 2014, but no-one posting a step by step what they did either in previous years or this year.

Because of this, i decided i would share with you guys my experience, right from the word go.




After browsing forums and the website for answers, and instead of just signing up online, I went into my local STA Travel shop, which is the travel company partnered with BUNAC programs, to ask questions.

My Questions included;

- What are the dates needed to participate?
I didn't know my exam timetable at the time of signing up, and my exam could have been anywhere up to the 6th of June. I had read online that a lot of people in previous years said they started their job on the 1st. The lovely and friendly lady in the travel shop reassured me that although there were jobs that hired from the middle of may, there were also ones that took on students from middle of June, and that that wouldn't be a problem, just to make sure that both you and future employers are clear on potential starting dates from the beginning.

- Was i going to find a job applying this late?
I applied the first week into March, having read that people on the forums had been signing up since October/November of the previous year. I was wary that i would pay the £100 deposit and be able to access the Online Job Zone only to find that there was a huge choice of 3 jobs, all to do with cleaning hotel bedrooms. Nothing wrong with that, but i just didn't picture my 'amazing-summer-in=america' crouching under peoples hotels beds dusting and cleaning dirty bedsheets. However, when i did sign up, there was four or so pages (with about 60 jobs on each page) full of places for you to send your resume to.
There will be another blog post about the process of going through the job zone and applying later this week!

- What's the difference between full and self placement programs?
I think the 'full placement' option has only been rolled out in 2014, so not much information was available on it. From reading the website, i got the impression that if you paid £200 extra, you would be enrolled onto the 'full placement' option, where BUNAC would take you CV and send it off to the relevant people, and give you regular updates on jobs that wanted you to apply/interview you. Once you got a job offer, they would also then provide you with housing, or help you to find housing in the area.
It said on the website that you were able to sign up to self placement, look at the 'online job zone' and if you couldn't find any job offers, then you could upgrade and pay the extra £200 down the line to allow BUNAC to sort it for you. When i was in the travel agent, the lady confirmed this for me, so I decided to try and find my own, more original job before falling back on the full placement option if needed.
Since signing up, and finding a facebook page (which was very helpful for just general information!) i have seen other people complaining about the Full Placement option, that it wasn't worth the extra money they paid, as there were many job offers being sent to them, or people who had had a job offer, were then not offered much accommodation or help towards housing through their employer. A few people said they had been trying to also find their own jobs via internet sites alongside the ones they were sent by BUNAC.

- What dates can i travel with my VISA?
During my first Skype interview (more on that in another post) i was told that i would be needed in the job till a few days before i was planning on leaving the states, but it would be okay if i wanted to go out early, travel for a month and then start work. Although this wouldn't be ideal for me, i wanted to travel with people i meet when I'm out there, i took this as a possible option.
However, when it came to filling in the required forms on the BUNAC website, something that i hadn't been told was that you are not allowed to arrive in the States more than 5 days before your J1 Work Visa starts, so i presume 5 days before you start working. That is how I interpreted it.