1 Start early. Prince William's work in Chile has highlighted to parents the benefits of packing their children off for a gap year or the summer. So if you want to get beyond Ramsgate, you should be making those job applications, visa requests and agency enrolments now.
2 Consider voluntary work if you have not been abroad before or are feeling nervous about the experience. 'It's a bit of a cocooned environment,' says David Woodworth, editor of Summer Jobs Abroad 2001 (£9.99, Vacation Work Publications, www.vacationwork.co.uk). You will probably get a lot of help with the paperwork, have your accommodation arranged for you, be met at the airport and be working with other English speakers. Contact details of Willing Workers on Organic Farms and other organisations are available in books such as Summer Jobs Abroad 2001.
3 Recognise that tourism and agriculture are the biggest recruiters of seasonal summer jobs. Tour guides, catering staff and chambermaids are recruited in large numbers - and then there are the more demanding roles such as karaoke night organisers in Greece and disc jockeys on cruise ships.
4 Understand that France is probably the easiest EU country to find work in. Used to Britons coming over for camping holidays, for instance, it needs English-speaking staff to cater for these tourists. It is also a good place for novice travellers to spend their first summer - since it will not take you long to return home for a weekend if you are homesick.
5 Think of gaining a job on the spot if you leave it too late and can cope with the possibility that you will not find something. Building sites are an obvious source of work for men.
6 Remember that, if you are applying in advance, you probably make yourself more attractive if you can work the whole season. The internet is making it far easier to send CVs to businesses abroad.
7 Appreciate the advantages of a summer on a turtle conservation project in Greece. 'It stands out on your CV and is far better than being captain of the school hockey team,' says Woodworth. 'It shows that you have stamina and can organise yourself.' Living abroad changes most people - making them more confident, less dependent on families and more broad-minded. Most people who want a post abroad should be able to get one if they try hard enough.
