A sailing organization in Amsterdam is looking for four motivated volunteers for a behind the scenes/office-based project


For young people aged 18-30, only from EU countries


All expenses paid. 10-12 months, starting in the summer and early autumn.


 

Join our international team of sailing enthusiasts in organizing sustainable youth projects on traditional Tall Ships. We are looking for 4 young people to help us in the office, working behind the scenes of multicultural / sustainable / educational projects for youngsters. No previous experience needed, just an open mind – we will teach you everything!

We’re an international team and we work in English.


For whom?

A person who will have a good experience with us is:
- Motivated to gain office-working experience, specifically in the area of organizing international projects in the area of non-formal education,
- Interested in sailing and/or outdoor education and/or sustainability,
- Self-starter, someone who would like to take on a project and make it their own (with the support of the project leader and the rest of the team, of course!)
- Motivated to join us. Project-specific motivation is the key!

Our ideal candidates would be interested in one of the following:
- organising Erasmus+ EU Exchanges,
- marketing and communication,
- video editing and/or graphic design,
- training/coaching/mentoring.

If you have recently graduated and are looking for your first experience in one of these areas then this is the perfect project for you! However, we are pretty flexible and open to anyone who wants to learn from us and help us improve our projects. If you’re not interested in the described areas but you think that you would be a good fit in our team, we’d love to hear from you!

We will teach you everything you need to know about working in an office, organising projects on sailing Ships, and creating valuable learning experiences for young people. Our international team will share their knowledge and coach you through implementing your own projects. You will learn how large events are organised behind the scenes, how to turn your ideas into succesful projects and how to take the best advantage of working in a diverse team.

What you don't need:
Formal education – we will teach you everything you need to know.
Previous work experience – you’ll gain it with us!
Fluent English (as long as we can communicate, you will pick it up soon enough).
Sailing experience – we work at an office, this is not a sailing project. If you do go sailing with us, we will prepare you for it.


What we offer

You will work on international youth projects on Tall Ships. You will get to experience every aspect of running a project, including logistics, administration, promotion, finances, evaluation, and of course - implementation. We’re always open to new ideas and we’ll be happy to hear yours! Our aim is to share our knowledge and enthusiasm for non-formal education and sailing, and to give you the tools for further professional and personal development.

You will live in Amsterdam, near the center of the city. Our houseboat hosts 4 international volunteers and a local student, and the office is also on the same boat. You will have a bicycle for your personal use and receive money for food and personal expenses, as well as reimbursement of the travel costs to the project. You will also have an insurance. We’re a small and enthusiastic team and we’ll be happy to teach you everything we know, and learn from you as well! We also enjoy spending time together and sharing our cultures with the volunteers.

POSSIBLE TASKS – DEPENDING ON THE VOLUNTEER’S LEARNING GOALS & ABILITIES

Our work includes general tasks at the office, related to organizing international youth projects on Tall Ships, depending on your interests and areas you’d like to improve, for example:

ERASMUS+
- Preparing and implementing Youth Exchanges on Tall Ships
- Applying for funds for Erasmus+ projects
- Logistical arrangements for the Exchanges, trainings, Advanced Planning Visits, etc.
- Mentoring the Exchanges
- Communication with participants and partners

MARKETING, COMMUNICATION & GRAPHIC DESIGN
- Creating promotional and informational content for social media, flyers, posters, etc.
- Making engaging and informative presentations,
- Creating videos to better illustrate life on board a Tall Ship,
- Writing articles,
- Finding new partners for help with promoting the projects

OTHER POSSIBLE TASKS INCLUDE, BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO:
- Mentoring teams of participants for a Dinghy fundraising program (online)
- Translating information materials to your own language (and others that you know),
- Administration of the projects (project’s life-cycle, working with a database and file sharing system, Office suite),
- Coming up with sustainable solutions for our office,
- Representing the organisation at sailing and youth festivals,
- Organising local events related to Erasmus+, sustainability and sailing,
- Washing the office boat and making sure your living space is ship-shape,
- Others – we can be a bit flexible and we’re always happy to hear your ideas!


During the summer we will be present at maritime festivals. We will aim to give you an experience sailing on a Tall Ship, but only if the conditions permit it.
Some flexibility is needed, as the tasks can change quickly and sometimes we work on the weekends (you will be entitled to take another day off when that happens).


How to apply

Interested? Send your CV and motivation statement to Anna at erasmus@windseeker.org.

Motivation is the key, it doesn’t have to be a formal letter, as long as you make it clear you know for which project you are applying and why you want to join it. Tell us about your future plans (or dreams) and how joining us might help you realize them. Applications without project-specific motivation will not be considered.

Feel free to contact Anna with any additional questions.


European Solidarity Corps

This project is financed by the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) program of the EU. It promotes international mobility of young Europeans, combined with personal development and skills learning. We've been running this project, together with Sail Training Associations Netherlands, since January 2016. In that time we've hosted 20 participants, from 10 different countries, and each time we've learned something new from each other.

Read more about the European Solidarity Corps on the official website of the program.