Who is Outward Bound?
OB is New Zealand's leading organisation for showing people their full potential through outdoor challenge and adventure. Established in 1962, OB still operates from its original location, Anakiwa, in the Marlborough Sounds. Anakiwa (near Picton – the top of the South Island) is regarded as the most perfectly situated OB school in the world. The ‘classrooms’ of the school are the native bush, mountains, rivers and seaways of Marlborough!
Outward Bound was founded by Kurt Hahn in Wales in 1941. Hahn was an educator. In his words: “We are all better than we know. If only we can come to discover this, we may never again settle for anything less.”
- OB's Vision- Helping to create 'better people, better communities, better world.'
- OB's Mission - OB New Zealand's mission is inspiring personal and social development through value based experiential learning in an outdoor environment. OB New Zealand is a charitable trust
- OB's Values - OB is founded on universal values: Compassion, Greatness, Responsibility and Integrity. These values form the basis of all our courses.
Why GradConnection promotes Outward Bound
GradConnection have been working with Outward Bound since 2009 promoting the benefits or doing a course and more recently developing and promoting the 'OB on your CV' message to students around New Zealand . Time and time again GradConnection hear stories from employers saying that students that have completed this amazing three week experience are great candidates as they go through the graduate recruitment process. We want you to be one of those stories!
"I learnt a great deal from this experience, like no matter how hard you push yourself you can always go further." David, Classic student.
Talking the talk, walking the walk
Tim's (Director of GradConnection) personal story
January 2005 - Hilary Watch
It was my penultimate year at Victoria University and I decided to get a few law summer papers out of the way before Christmas.... this meant my January part of my summer break was free. I was looking for a challenge and wanted to spend some times in the great outdoors before heading back for my final year at Uni. A mate of mine told me about OB... I had heard about the organisation but didn't really know that much about them. After some investigations and talking to a few other people that had been through (both recently and some years earlier) I decided to lock it in! An adventure in the Malborough sounds.
On reflection now I would say that snap decision was the highlight of my years at university even ahead of my carnage fun times first year hostel experience!
I went to OB with no expectations, all I wanted to do was spend a summer in the outdoors. How wrong I was...........I got so much more out of this fantastic experience. Yes I had a fantastic 3 week trip exploring/adventuring around one of the most beautiful places in New Zealand but more than that the experience changed me. I learnt so much about myself and gained clarity around what I wanted to achieve in life and what career I wanted to embark on (i.e take the law route? Or take the accountant route?) and so much more.
I remember my Grad job interviews that followed when I got back to Uni in March, OB provided me the best case studies to use in answering the interviewers tough questions.
“tell us....
- a time when you were under pressure;
- a time you had to deal with conflict;
- a time you were out of your comfort zone;
- a time you had to stand up and lead a team
- a time you had to overcome adversity; or
- a time you had to moral dilemma”
For each and every one of these questions I had a fresh example that I could quickly draw on to impress my interview panel.
So if you want to do something over your summer break that will give you the edge going into graduate/internship recruitment, make that choice like I did and GET OB ON YOUR CV!
If you have any question or queries about my experience or about the Classic course ask me a question on this forum thread!
Cheers
Tim
Outward Bound Classic Course
The Classic course is exactly that – the classic Outward Bound experience for 18 to 26 year olds perfect to complete while you are completing or at the conclusion of your tertiary studies. Over the 21 day adventure you will experience all outdoor elements and activities Outward Bound has to offer. However, sailing, kayaking, bushcraft and navigation comes second place to the challenge of believing there is more in you, and you can achieve your dreams if you persevere!
Some benefits of a Classic course are that you will:
- Challenge yourself and push your limits
- Reflect, discover what is important to you and determine your future direction
- Learn about yourself from both success and failure to take your confidence and motivation to the next level
- Discover what it takes to create effective relationships and be part of a successful team
- Develop a stronger sense of personal responsibility in your responses to real and challenging situations.