Are you a Regional Coordinator for a student exchange agency?

Question

I'm applying to this position at various companies, and I'd like to know your impressions of the job.

Answer 1

It can be really tough -- especially with some of the less reputable companies. They will push, push, push you to place students and not worry too much about the finer points of the federal regulations. For many companies, even though they bill themselves as "non-profit" it's about the money and not about the kids.

You also need to be prepared to handle ALL the problems that will come up over the year in your area/region/district -- whatever terminology the company uses. This is when making "shortcut" placements will come back and bite you on the butt! If you didn't make good, considered placements -- with only the student's and family's welfare in mind -- you will have to deal with all the problems that will arise later.

Also, before you "join" a particular company, call around to the schools where you will be trying to place students. Because of companies/organizations with bad reputations, many schools will only use one or two organizations for their students. (I know that is the case with the school I work with and several others in this area.)

You should also make sure the company you apply to is on the CSIET list. If you are NOT familiar with CSIET (www.csiet.org) get that way. SOON. It has a great deal of bearing on what students can be placed in a school and what they can do once they are there.

After all of this, I hope I didn't scare you off. I've been hosting students for 13 years and placing/repping for about 10. It can be very rewarding. However, we've managed to keep our group very small and resist the efforts of our organization to expand, expand, expand

Good luck!