S.W.A.P
 

I posted about this already in another thread, but I was just curiuos if anyone is familar with S.W.A.P, and if so, what sort of experience you had with them? I'm thinking of using them for a trip to Ireland for a year to work/travel, but I want to become more familiar with them. Any help?

im curious...what is SWAP?

SWAP is an organization (Students.Work.Abroad.Program) that will help an individual to live and work in another country for as long as they want (well as long as the visa is valid for - in most cases, its a year). They have programs for students and non-students and basically you pay them a fee and that will give you your visa, two nights accomodation in the city when you arrive, an office to use as a mailing address, access to the internet, etc at this office, and inside tips on jobs and places to live when you actually arrive. My boss used them when he was first out of university and highly recomends them. I'll most likely be going this route, but I was just curious if anyone else had done this before....

Some questions I'd ask...

What kinds of jobs are available?

What happens if you can't find a job?

Two days isn't a lot of time to find a place to live. What happens if you can't find a place to live.

each country has different requirements you must meet before you are given a visa to live and work there for a year. Once such requirement for Ireland (where I'm going) is the you must have a bank letter showing you have at least $2000 in the account (to prove that you can support yourself while you're looking for a job - and can afford to go back home if things don't work out). All jobs are available, SWAP doesn't organize them for you themselves, they just have listings, etc for jobs that are available in the area. And actually in Ireland for example, the average days to find work is 4 days (so many bloody pubs and stuff, lol). And places to live are easy to find too, because you'll be meeting lots of other people in the exact same position as you (you are given an orientation meeting when you first arrive) so roommates are at an abundance, and looking for an apartment is just like looking at home....just keep your eyes open and don't be too picky :)