What inspired you to work for Student Works?
Being a student moving abroad myself. I did not move as a student to be honest, I just wanted to do a work experience abroad. As I kept working, I understood that I needed to get a qualification too and that's how I became a student in the UK.
Lucia experiencing falconry
Describe a typical day at work.
During the morning, the first thing we do is responding to all of the emails, messages, and enquiries we get so all questions get an answer straight away. We get visitors in the office throughout the day and we make sure that they don't leave the office with confusion or worrying about what to do in the UK.
Everyday we spend time on our social media platforms to interact with our customers and potential students in the UK. The environment in the office is always really good, as all my colleagues are the best to work with and so days go fast and any issues get sorted really quickly!
Why do you do what you do?
Because I have been in the situation of not knowing what to do abroad myself, so after sorting out my own path, I can now help others to enjoy their experiences abroad!
What is your favorite part of your job?
I think the best part of our job is interacting with our customers and making their dreams happen. When we see our students happy, we know we did our job well, and that is the most rewarding moment of this job!
How do you use your education and international background in your current role?
As I'm an Italian in the UK and having been a student myself, I use my personal experience to help customers by offering to talk in their native language, explaining how the UK educational system works, and giving them suggestions on how to live abroad!
Lucia working in the office
What challenges do you often face in your role and how do you overcome them?
Every person is different, so every customer we have has their own experience and background. It can be confusing to offer them advice when their culture is already so different. However, we always find a way to communicate and make sure that we do our best!
What are some current projects you are working on?
We are currently arranging meetings with our partners in their own countries to talk to students and their agents about how we can help them to come to the UK.
What advice would you tell your pre-travel self?
Please get a plane ticket and go! Make sure to not forget your passport. If you can have company, bring someone with you! It's scary to move to a new place on your own, but you will be fine!
Make sure you learn at least a few words of the new language and bring a dictionary with you, it is always helpful.
What makes Student Works special?
Our team is the best! We put 110% in our jobs and we do all we can to make sure we meet the expectations of our customers. I think this is what makes us special... the fact that we understand where students come from, and we really care about making them happy!
Why should someone choose Student Works over other organizations?
We are a happy team. We love our jobs and we give our best to all of our students. We are happy if they are - and we also always make sure they get the best prices!
We offer free consultation and we always respond to every questions students have. We also make sure that we offer students the opportunity to talk in their native language as that's what they feel most comfortable with - even if we push them to try and speak/write in English so they can start practicing since they contact us until the end of their stay.
Lucia's first day of elementary school and Lucia's first day of last year of University
What makes Student Works easy to market to potential participants?
We are a small and friendly team who understand worries and questions of students leaving their home county. We work directly with schools, companies, Universities, and so we can ensure the best prices for our customers.
Our mission is to help Internationals and European to come to the UK and make the best out of their stay. We always update our programs and what we offer to match the new needs of our customers.
What do you hope participants take away from your programs?
We hope that they have a really good time in the UK and that their careers get a boost as well. Especially with our internship programs, we hope to get our students the best out of their placement for their future jobs!
Why is it important for people to travel abroad, experience new cultures, learn new languages?
The world is so small! Technology made it possible for us to go everywhere, experience everything, and meet new people from all over the world. However, it is sooo important to travel whenever possible and experience a new culture firsthand - be part of this small big world! It is so easy to travel now, so take advantage of it. I ensure you, it will be so worth it.
Learning a new language keeps our brain active. It is also very rewarding and when you find yourself being able to speak with someone in another country in their own language it's really satisfying.
What does ethical global engagement mean to you?
To me it means that we all have to engage with each other is a responsible way, we need to respect each other while learning new cultures, and we can do that by communicating with each other. We also need to accept and help each other regardless of our skin color, ethics, or beliefs.
Lucia at Stonehenge
Are there any developments with your organization that you would like to share with us?
Well, we are about to go to visit Italy to meet our partners and share exciting news about 2019! We look forward to next year and to our new programs.
I hope that one day we'll be able to pride ourselves in saying we got students coming to the UK from every country in the world! That would be such a goal!
