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Gapwork.com launches redesigned and revamped website

28th September 2011 Print
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Gapwork.com, the gap year job and volunteering abroad specialist website, now has a brand new easy-to-use, cutting-edge design and navigation system. Currently celebrating its tenth year in business, Gapwork.com’s website is now the best-looking gap year jobs website around. For the past 10 years young people have enjoyed using Gapwork.com to find out all about taking a gap year or a career break. And now with a fresh look and feel, loads more features, and a revamped navigation design, Gapwork.com can offer its loyal readers even more. The new design, created by top design agency Leeds-based Chapter Eight, includes all the right features that visitors expect in a 21st century website, including social media links for sharing useful gap year information with friends, video clips and daily news RSS feeds.

Advertisers in the Gapwork.com Advertiser Directory enjoy high quality exposure for their brands, work placements, trips abroad, and gap year holidays. Almost half of the advertisers on the site have been there for 3 years or more, with 76% of advertisers describing Gapwork.com as either “effective” or “very effective” at providing brand exposure to a very targeted audience. A huge 84% of current Gapwork.com advertisers say that they are “likely” or “very likely” to renew their contracts. Major gap year recruiter PGL Travel uses gapwork.com to fill seasonal job vacancies at their children’s activity holiday and study course centres each year, and Jemma Pearce from PGL is delighted with her results “The site is one of the top referrers to the PGL recruitment website and I believe offers great value for money."

The Gap Year Market and Tuition Fees

But what of the future for the gap year industry, in the light of tuition fee changes and a grim economic outlook? Gapwork clients are optimistic. RealGap believe that “…A-level students, and even their future employers recognise the cultural and experiential benefits of stepping out from an all too familiar comfort zone and heading off on an adventure that will test necessary skill sets needed in adult life”. GapGuru’s Stuart McLachlan says “I think there will be growth in gap years that are perceived as being ‘worthwhile’ and beneficial to people’s education or career. So things like teaching abroad, conservation projects and internships may become more popular, as they offer the potential for participants to build new skills and confidence and add unique experience to their CV. I would also expect a tendency towards shorter gap years – a trend that has already become apparent”.

Gapwork co-founder Rebecca Jordan says that the market is resilient. “When 9/11 happened, the youth travel market had a wobble, but it bounced back. It is a surprisingly resilient market, and for a business like ours, people will come back again and again throughout their lives to check out their options for a gap year, summer job, career break or golden gap year. People will always be interested in travelling if they can do it affordably, or where there are tangible long term career benefits and that’s where working or volunteering abroad can make the difference.”

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