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Abbey Road is seeking highly qualified, energetic, dynamic and
dedicated individuals to complete our summer staff and faculty. These
teams will lead our summer language immersion and pre-college
programs in Spain, France, Italy, Greece, and Canada for high school students.
We continually screen candidates for all positions: Instructors, Program Directors, Program Coordinators and RAs. Our summer faculty and staff are typically outstanding high school teachers, university instructors, graduate students, and highly-qualified college graduates.
It is important that those interested in a summer staff position
with Abbey Road possess genuine interest in working with teenage
students, in mentoring and fostering cultural immersion, in using
their own creative abilities to shape exciting programming (such
as academic or artistic workshops, cultural events, recreational
sports, travel excursions, and more), as well as in cooperating
with other team members.
While employment with Abbey Road will take you to some of the most amazing sites of Europe, please do not apply if you are looking for a paid vacation abroad or a free trip.
Take your students to your favorite destinations in the US, Canada, or Europe.
If you are a high school teacher interested in a job with Abbey Road, you can also consider taking your class on one of our special teacher-led trips that can be customized any way you want!
We offer completely personalized trips to anywhere in the United States and Europe! We understand that no two schools or groups are identical as their priorities and budgets will vary. Based on your group’s interests we will shape a tour with all accommodations (flight, hotel and meals) to suit your needs. One of our education professionals will work side-by-side with you to create a trip that you and your students will love! Unlike other travel companies that will combine your tour with other schools, our tours are completely customized and private. The Abbey Road Staff is flexible and willing to accommodate.
For more information, please contact Abbey Road via e-mail at info@goabbeyroad.com or by phone at (888) 462-2239.
Step 1: Review our website to gain a clear and
thorough understanding of our mission and operations.
Step 2: Review the information on this Employment page,
especially the descriptions of the open positions, to gain a clear and
thorough understanding of requirements and qualifications BEFORE applying.
Step 3: After you have carefully reviewed the information below, please fill out the online Summer Staff Application.
Please do not submit or attach any unsolicited information (e.g. resumes).
Step 4: We will contact (via email) those candidates
whom we wish to have participate in our interview process.
Since we receive several hundred applications each year, it is essential
that you meticulously follow the application procedure, as outlined above;
that you submit the exact amount of requested information, no more, no less;
and that you not contact us unless we ask you to do so or unless absolutely
necessary. Specifically, please do not inquire about the status of your
application. Any deviation from the application procedure will disqualify
your application. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.
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We are now accepting staff applications for the following positions in our summer programs:
- Program Directors
- Program Coordinators
- Instructors (languages, art history, history and more)
- Program Coordinators
- Resident Advisors
General Qualifications
Abbey Road does not offer its staff members paid vacations; the vacation is for our students, the work is for us.
We demand
the highest standards of organization, safety consciousness,
and professionalism from all our staff members. These standards
are never compromised - the safety and education of our students
is always our top priority.
- Prior experience of work with educational, travel, residential
or other programs for teenage students, such as school, study abroad
or summer programs. Examples include such positions as Professor,
Teacher, Educational Administrator, Program or Travel Coordinator,
Group Tour Leader, or even Camp Counselor.
- Prior experience of work, study or travel in the country of
destination (i.e. Spain, France, Italy, Greece or Canada). Examples include travel
and participation in student exchange, study or homestay programs.
- Language ability: we require a very strong proficiency
of the local language (i.e. French, Spanish, Italian or Greek). You should be able to interview in the target language if necessary.
- Tremendous self-motivation, dedication, energy, patience, and
genuine love of working with teenage students. We need people who
are
reliable, responsible, serious, professional, and who can be
trusted with the safety and well-being of our students.
- Applicants must hold a college degree by the time of employment.
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Abbey Road is seeking strong leaders to serve as Program Directors for each of our summer programs in Europe. The Program Director oversees the overall operation of the program, manages the program staff team, and serves as the primary liaison to the local partner school and local host families.
Responsibilities
- Oversee coordination and execution of the program,
including its travel, academic, social, and recreational elements
- Oversee the entire academic process. Serve as primary liaison to the local partner school if applicable. Work closely with instructors to monitor the overall academic process and student progress. Directors are responsible for conducting student observations, student interviews, gathering student work and analyzing student progress
- Serve as primary liaison to the local host families. The Director
oversees the family placements, maintains close contact with the
homestay host families, and addresses student and parent concerns
- Manage and evaluate the program staff team
- Responsible for ensuring the safety of students and staff and for enforcing program rules and discipline
Qualifications
- Advanced fluency in the foreign language
- 5+ years teaching or administering educational programs
- 3+ years leading educational travel programs for teenage students,
such as school, study abroad or summer programs
- Demonstrated ability to manage and lead a team
Benefits and Compensation
- Lodging: throughout the actual term of employment
- Airfare: group flight transport from JFK airport
- Insurance: international travel coverage
- Weekly Allowance: for meals and incidentals, throughout the actual term of employment
- Typical Stipend: A first year Program Director receives $1,500 to $2,500 depending on the number of weeks worked and possible bonus for excellent work performance. Stipends increase with each year of work.
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Abbey Road is seeking detail-oriented and hyper-organized Program Coordinators to play a critical role in thoughtfully planning and perfectly executing a program calendar full of travel, social, cultural, and recreational activities.
Responsibilities
- Plan and manage the master calendar for the program - including all travel, academic, social, cultural, and recreational activities
- Communicate details of activities and logistics to staff and students
- Coordinate final arrangements for afternoon and evening activities, weekend excursions, and the travel extension; this includes buying tickets, making and confirming reservations, planning itineraries, and coordinating related lodging, transport, food, and other issues
- Manage the budget and all money-related issues. Responsible for collecting and itemizing all receipts, tracking money and turning in the budget file by the weekly deadline
Qualifications
- Advanced proficiency in the foreign language
- Turbo-powered self-initiative, hyper organization,
and drive to do high quality work
- Demonstrated ability to be both creative and detail-oriented when planning
- 2+ years working with student travel programs. Previous experience
as a Resident Advisor or a Group Leader on a youth summer abroad program
would prove highly valuable
- Experience working with student organizations planning events and activities.
Examples include volunteering with a youth activities program or serving as a
leader in Student Government or with a fraternity or sorority
Benefits and Compensation
- Lodging: throughout the actual term of employment
- Airfare: group flight transport from JFK airport
- Insurance: international travel coverage
- Weekly Allowance: for meals and incidentals, throughout the actual term of employment
- Typical Stipend: A first year Program Coordinator receives $1,125 to $2,000 depending on the number of weeks worked and possible bonus for excellent work performance. Stipends increase with each year of work.
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Abbey Road is seeking dynamic individuals with strong academic and teaching credentials to serve as Instructors
(French, Spanish, Italian, Art History, History, Studio Art, etc.) Instructors have an important, primary role in shaping and executing the academic curriculum but are also very much a part of the rest of the program staff with shared responsibility for student supervision, mentoring and leading program activities.
Responsibilities
- Create lesson plans based on the Abbey Road curriculum and research the Program city to determine locations for on-site lessons and instruction
- Provide instruction for all regularly scheduled classes and extra tutoring or tutorials when necessary
- Evaluate and grade students in a timely manner, including providing each student with written comments and documentation of his or her grade at the mid-point and end of the program
- Communicate with Program Director about any student issues in the classroom or regarding the program in general
- Initiate, organize, execute, and supervise students during various program activities and events, such as travel, excursions, recreation, cultural events, evening outings, etc.
Qualifications
- Advanced fluency in the foreign language, if applicable
- Strong academic credentials
- Many years of experience as a teacher/instructor, teaching assistant and/or private tutor
- Experience working with teenage and/or undergraduate students
Benefits and Compensation
- Lodging: throughout the actual term of employment
- Airfare: group flight transport from JFK airport
- Insurance: international travel coverage
- Weekly Allowance: for meals and incidentals, throughout the actual term of employment
- Typical Stipend: A first year Instructor receives $1,125 to $2,000 depending on the number of weeks worked and possible bonus for excellent work performance. Stipends increase with each year of work.
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Abbey Road is seeking highly energetic, well-rounded, and caring individuals to serve as Resident Advisors. The primary role of the RA is supervise and mentor the students on their summer abroad experience - to ensure their safety and encourage the educational and growth process. The RAs also work to build the spirit of the staff team and the entire program camaraderie.
Responsibilities
- Initiate, organize, execute, and supervise students during various program activities and events, such as travel, excursions, recreation, cultural events, evening outings, etc.
- Ensure the safety and well being of the students at all times while enforcing programs rules and discipline
- Initiate, organize, execute various program activities, such as those listed above
- Assist with the overall coordination and management of the program, including various administrative and logistical tasks, communications and transport; this may include driving
- Provide general guidance, support, and mentorship to the students
- Respond to unforeseen circumstances and emergencies while also supporting your staff team
Qualifications
- Strong proficiency in the foreign language
- Experience working with kids, teens or young adults; examples include volunteering with youth-oriented programs, tutoring or mentoring young adults, or serving as an RA in a college dorm
- Experience traveling abroad, especially in the country of employment interest; demonstrated ability to speak the language of the country of interest (see description in General Qualifications above)
- Demonstrated leadership, communication, and organizational skills
- Demonstrated ability to lead social, cultural, artistic, recreational, and/or athletic activities
Benefits and Compensation
- Lodging: throughout the actual term of employment
- Airfare: group flight transport from JFK airport
- Insurance: international travel coverage
- Weekly Allowance: for meals and incidentals, throughout the actual term of employment
- Typical Stipend: A first year Resident Advisor receives $575 to $1,000 depending on the number of weeks worked and possible bonus for excellent work performance. Stipends increase with each year of work.
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How do I apply?
Read about our Application Process.
Who are typical staff members?
Our summer faculty and staff are typically outstanding high school teachers, university instructors, graduate students, and highly-qualified college graduates. The positions are best suited towards dynamic individuals with a passion for education, travel and youth. Because our programs have a serious academic component, we look for academic credentials and experience in educational programs.
Do you accept international applications?
While the majority of our summer staff and faculty are American and/or natives of the
countries where we operate programs (i.e. France, Greece, Italy, Spain and Canada), we will accept
and review applicants from any country.
However, applicants must be eligible to work in the United States or in Europe . We
are unable to assist and/or sponsor
individuals who would require special assistance with visas and work permits.
What are the age requirements for Abbey Road staff members?
We do not have age requirements for summer employment with Abbey Road. Typically, our summer staff and faculty are outstanding university-level instructors or professors, young high school teachers and graduate students -- but we do not have any requirements for age level and will accept applications from all qualified individuals. Applicants must hold a college degree by the time of employment.
How big are the teams for each program?
The number of staff members for any one program varies by the number of students participating
as well as the qualifications of the staff members hired. Typically, each program will have
one Program Director, one Program Coordinator, and then one Instructor/RA for each 8-10 students; the number
of Instructors/RA's varies by program, depending on the curriculum. Overall we maintain a staff to
student ratio of approximately 1:7.
Is any training provided?
Yes. While we strive to hire the best qualified candidates, we believe that
good training is essential for making our staff more knowledgeable about our
operations and safety procedures as well as to form stronger teams.
Each staff member receives a training manual and a program operations manual to help provide orientation to our academic philosophy, training on our operational and safety procedures, and program team building. All staff will also participate in online training and video conferencing.
What kind of housing is provided for staff members?
The type of housing varies for each program. Typically, staff members will live
together in an apartment or residence and will typically share a double room with another staff member.
For homestay programs, the staff residence
would be central to many of the families where our students live. For residence
and dorm-based programs, the staff will live in the residences with the students.
What is the work schedule like?
The work schedule for a member of the summer staff team is very different from
that of a regular "9 to 5 job" and it is more demanding. The schedule is flexible
and variable, based on constantly emerging new tasks and needs.
Staff members are always on-call throughout the entire program.
The work schedule
demands great energy, a positive attitude, flexibility, organization, coordination,
discipline and self-motivation.
A typical weekday morning starts at 9 am
with morning classes, position-specific duties and general errands.
The entire staff gets
together for the daily staff meeting, followed by lunch.
A typical weekday afternoon starts after lunch when the staff meets with
all of the students for a daily group meeting to touch base on final plans for
the afternoon and evening. Unless there is a special group activity,
typically staff members offer the students 2-3 options for activities --
examples include a local museum visit, small group conversation workshops,
exploring the town, a movie, a watercoloring or sketching session, or
volleyball at the beach.
Dinners vary by night and by program.
After dinner, the workday continues with the organization and supervision of the evening activities. Ensuring the safety of the students during evening hours and their safe return to their residence at a designated time is essential. Curfew is typically between 12 and 1am.
Late night events or emergencies may require staff members to stay on duty
until unusually late hours. In such cases the Program Director may exercise
his or her discretion to relieve the RA in question of certain morning duties.
Most weekends and the entire travel extension are intensive periods of
organization and supervision with the students.
If no assignment is determined for a particular period of time, it is the
responsibility of staff members to find a job for himself or herself,
initiate an activity, supervise the students, or offer help to other staff.
How much personal time is given?
Each staff member will typically have
one day off per week. In addition to free time, staff members will regularly spend
time relaxing with other staff members during staff meals or staff
events and also during low key periods.
In all cases, taking free or personal time should be coordinated with
and approved by the Program Director in advance. Free time schedules
may be changed and even canceled in the case of unforeseen events, pressing
circumstances, compelling interests of the program and students, as well as emergencies.
The program ethical code continues to be in force during the free time
and it should be observed; all staff members are expected to maintain their
professionalism and behave responsibly and appropriately. For example, "dating"
other staff members is strongly discouraged. Moreover, violations of program
ethics, such as irresponsible use of alcohol, showing up late to program duties,
using the staff car for personal use, etc. are not acceptable. Staff members
should not use the free time to travel unreasonably far beyond the host community
and program premises, as determined by the Program Director.
Can my significant other, friends, and/or family members visit me while in Europe?
Visits from spouses, significant others, family members and friends are
discouraged, since the duration of the job is relatively short and very
intense, requiring quite a bit of flexibility. The Program Director may exercise
his or her discretion to agree to such visits in special cases. We are always
happy to consider special requests - please just be honest and up-front
throughout the interview process for special requests (such as this) that you may have.
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