Tiana Dumanovsky is a fourth-year Accounting student in the Bachelor of Commerce program. For her first two international co-op work terms, Tiana worked as an audit intern in Sydney, Australia with PwC. But in her third year, Tiana went on an academic exchange to England that inspired her to apply for a co-op there. Read ahead to learn more about her amazing opportunity!

“It was a couple of weeks into my co-op search when I saw the posting for Oxford Royale Academy, an institution in Oxford for students pursuing summer or gap year learning opportunities. I applied and three days later, I received the call that I was offered a higher leadership position with their operations team!”

As Tiana was already in England on a study term, she faced challenges applying for a Tier 5 Work Mobility Visa that she would need for her work term. Tiana was told that she needed to return to her country of residence (Canada) to apply for the Visa; she could not do so from England, and there was a wait for the application process.

As a last resort, Tiana hopped the border to France to apply at an actual Visa Centre. She was told the chances were small for the application to go through, since she was still not applying in her country of residence, but Tiana decided it was worth a chance anyway!

Tiana nervously checked her application status every hour. After 10 days she got a response and was instructed to go to the application centre to pick up her decision. “When I finally had the envelope in my hands I closed one eye and looked for the answer. I was amazed to see the word “approved” written by my name.”

Tiana was already familiar on how to apply for a Visa as she was already in England on an exchange, however, she still experienced difficulties and a wait before she got her approval. So the lesson she learned is how important it is to apply early! Contact Management Career Services today for guidance on how to obtain your own work permit and experience the excitement of a work term abroad for yourself.

Because everything worked out in Tiana’s favour, she loved her time with the Academy, as she reflects on her experience:

“Ever since starting work for Oxford Royale Academy, I was stretched. My time spent in the logistics department has given me far more leadership experience and far more ownership over my work. Every weekend I would direct a team of over 25 people to ensure the logistic requirements of the academy are met in terms of transporting students, organizing arrivals and departures for campuses and acting as a customer facing resource to the parents of the students. While this has very much tested me at every level, I have grown as an individual and feel much more prepared to take on leadership in the future.

My undergraduate degree has been a total whirlwind, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”