Hospitality Gap Year Experience in England

Marilyn, Richelle and the whole team at Scotia Personnel are absolutely amazing; I am forever grateful. Moving to the UK was a huge decision for me back in 2017, and they held my hand throughout the whole process. They found me a place to work and live, set up my interview with the hotel, helped me with my Youth Mobility visa application, and answered my hundreds of questions quickly and professionally. Very soon after my application was submitted, they presented me with two hotel options, and even sooner I find myself working at a beautiful historic hotel just outside Oxford!

Even after the initial move, the team stayed in touch ensuring I was comfortable and happy. I even met my European partner!! We have been together over 3 years and now live in central London. I have travelled to AMAZING places in Europe, Africa and the Middle East since moving here- London is a great base to travel from. When my youth mobility visa expired, I was not ready to move back to Canada permanently and leave the European lifestyle and was fortunate enough to obtain the Ancestry Visa (thanks Nana!) I am forever grateful for Scotia Personnel, giving me guidance and support during the whole process, which can be exciting but a little scary. Remember- life begins on the other side of your comfort zone! THANK YOU!

I worked at a summer camp for kids as a camp coach, with the help from Scotia personal. It was an amazing summer!! The camp had international and local kids, some learnt English and did activities and some did activities all day. There was zip lining, rock climbing, raft building and more! We also had excursions every Wednesday and some Saturdays where I was paid to go look at castles and tour London with the kids; I even got paid to go to a theme park! I made a ton of friends - both Canadian and English- and experienced cultures from around the world through the kids I took care of. On my days off I travelled the uk with newly made friends, exploring places like the white cliffs of Dover, London, Canterbury, and beaches where I swam in the sea. I definitely plan on going back next summer!

I went to London, England as an Au Pair only planning on staying 6 months. I loved it so much that I ended up staying the duration of my visa which was two years. I stayed with two wonderful families who I still keep in contact with today. I worked in the week and would travel on the weekends! I made lifelong friends along the way that made my experience all that much more exciting. Scotia Personnel was absolutely amazing from beginning to end. They coached me through the process of getting to the UK which was what I needed to take the leap. When my first host family had to move 9 months after my arrival, Scotia Personnel was there to help set me up with another equally amazing family. They are extremely pleasant to work with and you can tell that they really care about you. I highly recommend!

I was first introduced to Scotia Personnel in October 2011 when they did a presentation in my college program at Algonquin College in Ottawa, Ontario. I signed up for the Hospitality Exchange program in England for after I graduated in June 2012.
With Marilyn and Richelle's help, I was able to get a work position in a hotel in England right after I graduated. They made the application process indredibly easy for me, and were very supportive during my time in England as well.
I worked as a Food and Beverage Server in a hotel with several other people from different European countries, and people from South Africa and Australia too! The people I worked with and met at the hotel were amazing, and were people that were just as interested in travelling and sight seeing in England and Europe as I was.
After returning to Canada, I went back to school for University. I graduated last summer (May 2017) and Scotia Personnel helped arrange another exchange program for me as a tutor in China. Even though I was doing completely different work, I had just as much fun, met just as many amazing people, and enjoyed it just as much as I enjoyed England. I am incredibly thankful for the team at Scotia Personnel for providing me with amazing work, travel and cultural experiences!

I left Canada for Oxford, United Kingdom in September 2014 right after graduating from the Hospitality Management – Hotel and Restaurant program from Algonquin College.I moved to England in 2014 for a one-year contract with a hotel as a Food and Beverage Assistant and ended up staying 2.5 more years because I loved it so much.
I was able to travel to 15+ countries in Europe while working in England. Every month I would travel somewhere different and was able to submerse myself into the cultures. Being able to take a 2-hour flight in any direction and land somewhere beautiful in Europe is incredible.

After one year of being in England I met a European man named Lorenzo. Had I not moved overseas with Scotia Personnel I would have never met my now husband and my incredible life long friends. Who doesn’t want to meet people from all over the world and be able to travel with them? Why wouldn’t you want to meet someone who could potentially be your husband or wife?

I eventually left the hotel and city I was placed in and moved to another hotel with the same company in Surrey where I worked for a year as Front of House Manager and again met more friends, travelled more and took in the culture. After I left this hotel I moved to Austria, where I ran a ski chalet for the winter season.

If you asked me on the flight to England in September 2014 if I would end up staying a total of 3 years and working not only in England but also in Austria I would have told you “No way, my life isn’t that cool” and when I was finally on the plane back to Canada after an incredible 3 years, I was able to sit back as a newly married women with my husband beside me and just smile and think how cool my life was and how it was all made possible through Scotia Personnel.

I could talk for days about my experience with Scotia Personnel but I think the best way to describe it would be; the most life changing, epic, adventurous experience I have ever had in my life. An experience where I was able to make life long friends and a life long partner and I cannot thank Scotia Personnel & Marilyn enough.