Becoming a  REPRESENTATIVE


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  • Who is eligible to become a F.I.T. Local Area Representative
  • What are the responsibilities of being a representative
  • Does an Area Representative get paid and if so, how much
  • Why should I consider becoming a F.I.T. representative
  • How do I apply
    •

    WHO IS ELIGIBLE


    Are you interested in adding more culture to your life?  Do you enjoy working with people, and teenagers in particular?  Are you willing to learn?  Do you have your own form of transportation?  Are you at least 25 years of age? Do you like the idea of sharing international culture with your community?  OK, YOU'RE ELIGIBLE!  Our representatives come from all walks of life, from housewives to corporate executives.  The one thing they all share is the desire to be part of a educational and cultural experience.  Many of our representatives were, and still are host families.  Some of our representatives wanted to be involved in student exchange, but for one reason or another cannot host a student at this time.  For these individuals, this is the perfect way to become part of the student exchange excitement.

     
     

    WHAT ARE THE REPRESENTATIVE'S RESPONSIBILITIES

    Our Local Area Representatives play an important role in student exchange.  They are a family and student's primary contact with our program.

    Our representatives help promote our program in their local communities by putting up leaflets, speaking with community leaders, becoming acquainted with their local High Schools and their administrative staff, establishing contact with their local newspaper(s) and radio station(s), as well as by many other methods.  Each of our representatives know what works best in THEIR area of representation.  F.I.T. respects each representative's area as being there own and as such, we do not solicit for more volunteers in an area where we have a program volunteer.   We as a program assist in development by distributing Public Service Announcements to your area's local newspapers, providing literature to you for distribution, providing your local schools with information about who we are,  passing area leads on to our program's local volunteer, and by promoting F.I.T. using the internet.

    F.I.T. representatives, after identifying a prospective host family, set up a time to go to the family's home and conduct an informal in-home interview.  F.I.T. provides its representatives with all the documents needed to conduct such an interview.  Once it's established that the family meets our program's requirements, the real fun starts.  At this point, our representatives work together with the family to help select a students from our group of available students.  Our trained representatives look to match interests and hobbies and also know what other things to look for in identifying just the "right" student for their family.
    The last step in finalizing a placement is securing enrollment in your local High School.  F.I.T. assists in this process.

    Once a student has been matched, and placed with a host family, our representatives maintain regular contact with the family, their student and the local high school to assure that things are going smoothly.  We require that representatives contact each of the aforementioned a minimum of once per month.  F.I.T. representatives are trained in handling minor counseling problems
    should they arise.

    Local Representatives are NOT employees of Foundation for Intercultural Travel, Inc. They are private independent contractors who provide a service for a fee.  Local F.I.T. Representatives work closely with the Chief Operating Officer who will provide guidance and support, offer advice, and supply materials.  Foundation for Intercultural Travel, Inc. provides 24 hour toll free support to local representatives.  Local Representatives will be provided with government and program rules and guidelines, which must be followed.  New Local F.I.T. Representatives are expected to place at least one student during their first year, or host a student in their own home.  Experience cannot be gained by sitting on the sidelines!

     
     

    HOW MUCH DOES A REPRESENTATIVE GET

    Aside from the enjoyment of being involved in student exchange, Foundation for Intercultural Travel (F.I.T.) pays its Local Area Representatives for each student he or she places and represents.  This amount varies depending on their length of tenure with the program.  This is paid as two distinct fees, a placement fee and a support fee.  F.I.T. also offers financial bonuses from time to time.  These are usually announced in our newsletter.  There are no taxes taken out of either of our fees or our bonuses, so late in January each year, if required by the IRS, we send our representatives a 1099 form.  This tells the representative and the IRS how much they were paid.  Representatives are responsible for paying the taxes on their fees and bonuses.  "Reps" should keep good record of their expenses during the year and then ask their accountant / tax preparer about what they are able to claim.  Usually, if you use part of your home for your office, you may be able to claim a percentage of your home, including phone bills, postage, office supplies, electricity, car mileage, gas, etc.

     
     

    WHY SHOULD I BECOME A REPRESENTATIVE FOR F.I.T.

    There are many reasons people join our family of representatives, some want to "have a taste" of student exchange, others really enjoy working with teens and local families, still others want to supplement their income.  No matter what your reason, the one thing we will assure you is that you will receive the highest level of support in the student exchange industry.  Each member of our senior staff was at one time or another a representative for another program.  From this experence, we have all learned what our representatives need and want.  We fully recognize that our program's backbone are our Local Area Representatives.  Some programs spend oodles of money on the administration of their program. Others pay their senior staff a wazoo of money.  We at F.I.T. never liked that and established F.I.T. to change the ways things are done, at least within our program!  F.I.T. also includes its representatives in policy and procedure planning.  Who else knows better what YOUR area needs than you?  We have vowed to never allow ourselves to grow too large to where any of our representatives cannot speak personally to our President, NEVER!  Our headquarter's staff is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year period.  With F.I.T. YOU ARE NEVER ALONE.

     
     

    HOW DO I APPLY

    Applying is easy.  Just complete the preliminary application form below and then click the "SEND THIS INFORMATION" button.  Or, download our online Area Representative Application, print it, complete and sign it and mail/Fax it back to us!

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    Which best describes your family?

    Are you?MaleFemale
    Age:  Birthdate (mm/dd/yy): 

    What is your full name?: 
    Street Address: 
    City:  State:  Zip Code: 
    Country: 
    Phone # w/Area Code:  Email Address: 

    If married, what is your spouse's name?:  Age:  Birthdate (mm/dd/yy): 

    In the box below, please tell us the names, ages and gender of each of your children (IE; Matthew - 8 years old - Male) using a separate line for each child. Also, please note if any of the children listed here do not live with you:

    In the box below, please tell us a bit about why you are interested in becoming a Local Area Representative. Also, please tell us how you plan to locate host families in your area and what area(s) you would like / are able to handle:

    What do you do for a living?

    Use the box below for any additional comment or questions:

    How did you locate our program's Website?

    By the way, if you have your own Website, what's your URL? 


    Please CLICK ONLY ONE TIME to send your inquiry!

    Please understand that we receive many requests and it may take some time for us to respond to your inquiry. Your request is very important to us and so we will expedite proccessing it. Your patience is greatly appreciated!


    AOL, WEB TV Users, we're sorry, but for some reason or another, the form above does not work for you.
    Instead, you will need to send us an Email
    In your Email, please provide ALL of the following information, otherwise, we will not be able to assist you. Thank you!

    1) What best describes your family; two-parent, single parent, couple without children, single without children, other
    2) Your Name
    3) Your Age
    4) Your Date Of Birth
    5) Whether you are Male or Female
    6) Your Street Address
    7) Your City
    8) Your State AND Zip Code
    9) Your Country
    10) Your Phone # with Area Code
    11) Your children's name, ages and gender
    12) Your spouse's name, age and birthdate
    13) Please tell us why you are interested in volunteering and what are(s) you'd like to manage
    14) Explain how you plan to identify host families in your area
    15) Your occupation
    16) Your Email Address

    Click here to Email your inquiry