Who wouldn’t want to work at Lets Go Surfing?

Location: , 12:14 pm Tags: , ,

Hello! My name is Brandon Adam and I am an intern at Let’s Go Surfing in Bondi. I am studying marketing at Bowling Green State University in Ohio in the United States. I have been in Sydney for eight weeks with an internship abroad organization called IES Abroad. I started my program at the beginning of June 2022 and will be leaving Australia at the end of July. I applied to IES Abroad Sydney with very little expectations of what would come of it. I had applied to several different internships with companies in America, but coming to Sydney during my summer break was definitely my first choice. I wanted to have a unique internship experience and working in Australia is certainly that!

After I got accepted into IES Sydney, my program coordinator connected me with Marty at Let’s Go Surfing. I had a video call with him where I learned a little bit about the company and I told him what I was hoping to get out of my internship. I shared my interest and experience in marketing and that I wanted to be able to make a positive impact on the company during my time there. Marty told me that my responsibilities would start small and as long as I kept proving myself, I would gain more freedom and be able to work on more important tasks and projects. At the end of the call I was offered the job and I told him that I would love to come work for LGS. Even then, I didn’t realize how great that decision was going to turn out to be.

On my first day, Marty took me for a walk around Bondi so I could see a little bit of the town and the beach. I was amazed with its beauty and was in awe that it was going to be the place where I would be working for the next two months. When we got back from the walk, Marty told me to get a wetsuit on and to get ready to partake in his next surf lesson. Being from Ohio, I had never surfed in my life but I was so excited to give it a try! It was tough at first, but by the end I found myself being able to stand up on the board…at least some of the time. Needless to say, I was still a long ways away from being a good surfer. Marty told me to try to go out for a surf during my breaks each day so that I could have fun and keep getting better. Most places that I have worked at in the past would just give me fifteen minutes to eat lunch so I was stoked for the opportunity to surf for forty-five minutes at Bondi Beach almost everyday! 

I later met with Louise, the marketing director at Let’s Go Surfing. She gave me an idea of some of her thoughts on what I could do during my time here. She expressed to me that if I had any ideas of things that I wanted to do to share so that they could get accomplished. She started off by having me put together a competitor analysis of the other surf schools near each of the LGS locations. She also assured me that if I worked hard and did a good job, then I would continue to gain more responsibilities. 

I spent much of my time working in the shop, learning about the business, and interacting with customers. When I first started, it took me a little bit to get used to working for a new company (especially one that specialized in something I knew nothing about) and working in a new country. The more I worked, the more I learned and the more comfortable I got. All of the LGS staff were so helpful and friendly to me which made the transition go smoothly. I enjoyed interacting with customers and I loved seeing how happy people were to come in and get a surf lesson!

A few marketing jobs that I had while at Let’s Go Surfing were constructing a SWOT analysis of the company and each of its locations, producing a video of a surf lesson, and creating content for social media. During the course of constructing  the SWOT analysis, I spoke with some of the managers at LGS to get some insight about the company. I used that information as well as my own observations to identify where the company was at and what opportunities they could take advantage of. 

For the video that I produced, I had some of my friends from the same internship program as me come to Bondi for a lesson. They all had either never surfed before or surfed very little so they were so excited to come! I loved getting to show them where I worked and what I get to do almost everyday! I was able to film a large amount of the lesson and edit it into the final product.

My experience during my two months at Let’s Go Surfing has been incredible! I have been very pleased with the work that I have been able to do, the experiences that I have been able to have, and the people that I have been able to meet. A year ago I would have never guessed that I would work at a surf shop in Australia. Working somewhere as beautiful as Bondi has been unbelievable. These two months in Sydney have truly been some of the best times of my life and working at Let’s Go Surfing has been a big part of that! I cannot thank the staff and everyone at Let’s Go Surfing enough for the incredible experience!

My Summer Internship

Location: 10:11 am Tags: , , ,

Hi, My name is Laurie, I am from France and want to tell you about my time as an intern at LGS!

I am in my second year of Business school and needed to do an internship, so after months of intensive research, I decided to go to Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia! I have been welcomed by Lets Go Surfing (LGS) over their Summer, the busiest and most exciting time to be at a Surf School.

Why Bondi Beach? 

This choice was obvious for me, Bondi beach is the most famous beach in the world. It was “ the place to be” and a perfect spot to start with. Not only because of the amazing surfing conditions, golden sands and crystal waters, but also because of the funky beach vibe, fun bars and restaurants, urban-style shops and excellent markets. 

My Internship 

I spent the first week getting to know the staff, where I would be working and what I would be doing.. It wasn’t long before I realized that surfing in Bondi isn’t only an outdoor activity but also a way of life! One of the first people I met was an ex intern who was lucky enough to get a job working in the LGS shop, Julie. She gave me a piece of advice that I will never forget: “dive in” at first I didn’t understand but it didn’t take me long to understand what she meant. 

At the start of my internship I thought LGS only provided beginner surfing lessons, however it didn’t take long to realize they provide sooo much more, including but not limited to; kids lessons, women only courses, intermediate lessons, corporate team building activities, day tours, walking tours, tours including history about Bondi that include lunch and so much more! It was a lot to learn, but exciting also. 

Some of my roles and responsibilities were: taking photos, walking customers to their lessons, working in the check in center.  At the start it was really challenging due to my limited surfing knowledge and it was so busy. I was getting frustrated that I couldn’t answer all of the customers’ questions however I took Julie’s advice and “dived in”… I did what I knew I could do and helped out the LGS staff as much as possible, watched what they did and did the same. Marty (my internship director) saw the initiative I was taking and started to give me more responsibility. I was learning everyday and everything was becoming a lot easier, I started being able to answer a lot of the customer questions and felt really happy with what I had achieved.  

In my second month of the internship, I had the opportunity to be involved in the Marketing department. I attended a 2 day sales event at a local university, which at first was a little uncomfortable, but I once again ‘dived in’ and had a great experience talking to students about surfing and encouraging them to buy a lesson. I also worked with the Marketing Manager on some blogs that were published on the website. I really enjoyed this type of work.

Reflection:

Leaving France in order to work abroad for three months is not a common adventure: I needed to be prepared to live in an unknown place. But I have to say this adventure was the best according to my other professional experiences. It was great to practise my English, also being able to work with colleagues from different countries and learn their way of life was so wonderful. My colleagues and internship director helped me feel at home very quickly. 

I did notice that in Australia, the working method is very different than in France. In fact, it is frequent to feel like we are a “family” with the team work. My colleagues gave me little nicknames like “buddy and mate”. A positive and chilled mood is present every day. It doesn’t mean that they didn’t work with motivation: Australian people grant a big importance to working and they never will be shocked or upset to work more than five days a week. What I notice again is the fact that my colleagues always stayed calm at work: They prefer to take their time in order to perfect their tasks. They are not shy people and there was a sense of high team spirit, I loved this type of atmosphere !

After spending three months at LGS I have learnt a lot. I acquired new professional experience, improved my self confidence, improved my English skills and experienced a new way of life, one that is by the beach! This internship was more than enriching on the professional point but on the personal point too. I do think I would work in a surf school in the future because employees are living their job as a part of their life. 

Thank you LGS!

Finally, I would like to thank the LGS team, showing me a new way of life, teaching me to surf and welcoming me into the LGS family. I really appreciate it and it was an experience that will enrich my life! Looking forward to coming back to visit.

My internship at Bondi Beach

Location: 11:17 am Tags: , ,

As part of my degree in Belgium (Office Management with a specialization in Event Management) I needed to do an internship and I thought where better than in Australia on one of the world’s most famous beaches.. Bondi Beach! When I was accepted, I packed my bags and left mid winter Belgium to peak Summer Australia… wow what a difference!

During my internship I learned a lot about the daily running of a company and a team. I even learned more about customer service, booking systems, agents and business marketing. A typical work day existed of preparing surf lessons, taking photos of lessons, answering phone calls and helping out in the check-in-center.

One of the main perks about working at LGS is that you get to enjoy the beach on a daily basis. You are out and about all day taking photos, assisting on a lesson and running around. I had the chance to work in a company where everybody is passionate about what they do. I learned a lot about surfing, the surfing community in Bondi and the ocean. Everybody at Let’s Go Surfing loves to share their knowledge with everybody that wants to listen! After my Internship I can say I learned the in’s and out’s about all this. I’ve broadened my skills in so many ways and not to forget: and best of all I learned how to surf!

Going out on my lunch break or after work with the coaches and other staff to catch that wave of the day was amazing. These are some of the moments I will never forget in my life. Changing lives one wave at a time, that’s what it is all about. It definitely changed my life!

I had an amazing 4 months with Let’s Go Surfing. I was welcomed into their team straight away and they made me feel part of it. I got to know so many new amazing and passionate people that taught me more about surfing, the Australian lifestyle and life in general. I want to thank them for the past months and I will always remember: you never regret a surf!

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