Tell us your story. How did ISC-United get started?
ISC-United started as a Work and Travel agency. The founder of ISC-United had worked for different companies dealing with students and international programmes and this gave him the idea to create an organisation in Russia to send students overseas and receive international students. We first operated from a small office in Moscow and an even smaller one in Rostov-on-Don. Six years later, ISC-United now has 12 offices across Russia. We send hundreds of students to the USA every year, host English courses and are becoming a real students’ centre. Our next aim is to receive international students. 

How do you provide an exceptional service to your customers?
ISC-United is a very client-orientated company. We are contactable 24/7 to answer any questions, no matter how big or small, and this is what our customers appreciate. We aspire to help students broaden their horizons through these international exchange programmes, and it’s important for them to know they are fully supported.

How has an early success shaped your organisation?
Our first job fair involved recruiting 35 students to work at an American amusement park. We had to check their level of English and prep them for interviews. Being our first fair, we were understandably nervous, but all students were offered jobs at the park. The success goes far beyond this; this experience paved the way for our future job fairs and we now hold up to five fairs a year, with four or five prospective employers and 150-200 students.

What is the future for ISC-United?
In Russia, ISC-United is synonymous with Work and Travel, and youth travel in general. This is how Russian students see us, and we want to be perceived as such by a wider audience in the future.

Which trends do you see in youth travel?
Instagram and YouTube are currently two key trends among youth travellers – social media is here to keep us in the loop and encourages consumers to live new experiences and explore the world. We post job offers on Instagram and use it as a channel to give students cultural insights – our potential clients also follow the students on the programme.

How do you ensure the wellbeing of young travellers involved with ISC-United?
The health and safety of young travellers is very important for us. All our attend our in-person pre-departure orientation and are free to contact us at any moment if they require more information.

And why did you decide to join WYSE Travel Confederation?
ISC-United is a young but constantly growing company. WYSE Travel Confederation is a real networking hub and holds a wide range of global events, which give us the opportunity to be at the heart of the youth and student travel industry.

Have you attended a WYSE Travel Confederation event?
We participated in WYSTC Belgrade in 2016. It was a great event and proved very useful for making new contacts and partnerships, as well as for being recognised as an international exchange programme organisation.

What is an industry challenge your organisation is facing currently?
Collaboration with universities. Lots of students find ISC-United via the internet and social media, but we would like to connect with the main universities in the cities where ISC-United has offices.