I've never thought of being able to go all the way to the other half of the hemisphere. It seems to be super surreal to me. Okay lemme begin my post to tell you how i came into making such a big decision.
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| The famous 'Bean' in Chicago |
I struggled a little to decide whether or not to join the progamme, mainly because of the amount of money that i had to invest. This programme is only eligible for those university students or a fresh graduate from university, up until 6 months after your official graduation date if I am not mistaken. A 3 months working programme plus up to one month max travelling period.
There are actually two programmes offered, the summer and the winter. I opted for the latter and rejected my friends' invitation to join the summer programe cuz' i needed time to earn some pennies to pay for the programme.
I applied through Speedwing (One of the approved agencies) and the amount that i had to pay was approximately 1100 dollars, inclusive of the application fee and also visa. The list of jobs offered can be seen from the webpage itself. After you have paid the deposit, $100, you gotta wait patiently for the interview from your employer. It's an easy, get-to-know-you interview that the only thing you have to do is to be able to converse in English. After you get your offer, you needa wait for another interview for your Visa. It's fairly easy, probably around 5 minutes or less for that interview session.
Do not worry about what to prepare. You will get a detailed update from your agent to tell you what you should do. And after that Visa interview, you should start planning for your flight. I got my Visa few days after my interview, pretty efficient and really out of my expectation to be that fast. And yes, other than the agent fee, you needa prepare a few thousand MYR for the air ticket and a few hundred dollars to be brought over to the States for the first few weeks there.
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| Winter time! |
It's once a lifetime experience and i never regret making such decision. I got to meet a lot of people from all over the world, the UK, the US, South America, China and so on. A lot of bitter sweet experiences that i will never forget. And it's one of my bucket lists. It's worth the pennies spent. More updates on the working environment and trips. Stay tuned for more.
~The End~
