About the Work & Travel Program - Information for Students
Housing
Selecting housing can be one of your most important decisions in order to have a successful program. Many WISE® placements already include housing. If you choose a WISE® Placement position that does include housing, you will be required to use this housing as the employer may have made a financial commitment to the housing site. Without the employer making this type of commitment, they would be unable to provide housing. Applicants should expect the basics: you will normally have a shared bedroom, a shared bathroom and sometimes a shared kitchen. WISE® will provide you with detailed information about your housing for WISE® Placements at the time you receive your job offer from an employer. In this information, we will detail what you need to bring, housing costs, deposits if any, etc.
Housing provided by your employer may be located at or near your place of employment. This will normally be at a reasonable cost to you. Make sure you are aware of these costs up front when you agree to accept the job. Also, if the housing provided by your employer is not within walking distance of your job, find out what type of transportation is available (employee van, public transport, etc.). Don't assume you will be able to rely on staff that has their own transportation. You may find yourself unable to get to work on occasion and this may cause frustration and thereby diminish your experience in the US.
How To Find Housing
Finding housing can often be as challenging as finding a job. Perhaps your best source of information, and possibly housing arrangements will be your employer.
You can also use the Internet to begin your search. Find out what some of the housing options will be in the area where you will be located. Keep in mind that you will need to live within walking distance to your job or have reliable transportation to work.
Below are some links to websites that past participants have found helpful.
Sublet.com (http://www.sublet.com)
Hostels.com (http://www.hostels.com/us.html)
Hostelling International USA (http://www.hiusa.org)
