Question for the Aussies

[Fender247]

I've noticed there are a few Aussies who post regularly, so I have a few questions. Since Oct. 2007 Australia has this new work and holiday visa to help with this labor shortages. So now it is easier for Americans to travel to Australia and find employment, usually in tourism, hospitality, general labor, etc. You can read more about it here:
http://www.transitionsabroad.com/publications/magazine/0801/work_abroad_in_australia_tropical_north.shtml

http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/working-holiday/index.htm

So my questions

How much can you realistically make doing this kind of work? Enough to cover living expense? Enough to save a bit to travel afterwards?

What is the best way to actually find a job there? Land and then try to find one or just have one setup when you get there?

What about housing? Do they usually provide it for the workers? If not how much does that set you back each month?

Plus anything else in general you might want to add.

I might actually consider doing something like this since I can't find anything but crappy employment in the US. It would be interesting and I might discover something cool.

[koolkat1980]

I'm @ work now...so can't say too much. I'll see if I can have a look and answer more later. Australia is short on a lot of skills from retailers, cooks, accountants, builders to engineers, dentists and lawyers - check out http://www.workingin-australia.com/info/569 for approx salary guides. Australia LOVES nurses and Doctors and anything in the health related field as well.

I think you'll like Australia! It's a young country and I've heard not as crowdered or compacted as USA or Europe. It has a high migrant population already mainly from Asian nations. There was a huge influx of Asian migrants esp during 1970's from Vietnam, Cambodia etc. Also a lot of Indians and a smaller influx of Africans recently. However, Australia is now looking for people from USA and Europe.

Regarding pay here - the US dollar is worth abit more than AUZ dollar! However, I think Americans might find things in Australia a bit cheaper than their home country. The Swedish and English find standard of living here really cheap and love it. Not totally sure about Americans. However, they do like the city and people saying that we're very laid back and less aggressive.

With regards to pay - it really depends what you specialise in as to how much you earn! As for rent it can range anything from $125pw to $400plus per week, depending on where you choose to rent. If you are close to the city and beach it will be more expensive. You can find flatmates on www.flatmatefinder.com.au

With regards to Jobs....our major one is www.seek.com.au this links you to a lot a recruitment agencies! However you can apparently find jobs before you arrive in sydney if you get your visa pre-prepared. www.workingin-australia.com

Now, how hard would it be for an 'administrative officer' to find a job in the USA - namely California or Miami where all the beautiful people are? LOL

[Fender247]

Well, I'm not a healthcare professional or anything like that. I would just apply for the holiday work visa which is good for a year and lets you stay with an employer for up to six months geared toward people 18-30. The visa is a lot easier to get than a regular working visa which has this points system. So most likely I would be doing seasonal work, working at some resort, hotel, with boats, on a farm, in a vineyard. There are places that set you up with work and they say you can make roughly 300 a week and the employer gives you a place to stay. If they don't the pay is a bit higher to cover living expenses. But these agencies usually charge a heafty fee for setting you up. Really just looking for a chance to travel and live abroad. Good back up plan if I can't find a job I want here in the US. Adds some adventure to life and gives me something to look forward to in the coming months. Plus I've always had fun meeting australians in my travels abroad. I'll definitely research it more in the coming months. I am also waiting to hear back from some jobs so we'll see how it all plays out.

Administrative Officer in California or Miami? If you have the legal right to work in the US it might not be that hard if you have some experience. But I think at the moment a lot of those jobs are being filled by temp agencies.

[koolkat1980]

I would just apply for the holiday work visa which is good for a year and lets you stay with an employer for up to six months geared toward people 18-30.

Yeah! I'm sure there's heaps and heaps! I actually saw something on the news recently - where there were a lot of holiday resorts in Northern Territory, Cairns and QLD who were in need of employing overseas workers for holiday resorts!!!!

If you're under 30 it should be relatively easy to get a holiday working job! Have you heard of Linderman Island!? Club Med!? They seem to LOVE employing people of all walks of life. And employ all sorts, from entertainers, bar staff, to cooks! A site unrelated below.

http://www.cairnsunlimited.com/working_holiday_visa.htm

Hmmm....I'm sure you can find LOADS of sites and I think you've already been looking! :p

[Fender247]

I'll have to sit down with all the sites and articles with a map one day. I'm not familiar with all the regions in Australia.

[koolkat1980]

I'll have to sit down with all the sites and articles with a map one day. I'm not familiar with all the regions in Australia.

Sydney has the best city....Melbourne the next nicest city! (It gets cold in Melbourne as it's to the south).

Brisbane or Queensland is where you'll be going for holiday work....it's also known as the sunshine state up north.

Darwin is HOT as! Very dry up there.

Perth? I've never been there yet...

Adelaide is smallish.

Tassie is small as - you may as well go to New Zealand if you go there.

You can even go rural and out bush if you want! Aussie rural areas are described as dry and rough. Nothing like the green, rolling hills of London.

[Fender247]

It definitely sounds like it would be an interesting thing to do. What about finding "casual" work in a city like Sydney or Melbourne? Would it be hard? Or would Queensland be the best bet? I've always wanted to see the opera house in Sydney. I also like the song waltzing matilda so Australia might be a cool place for me :-)

I'll be researching it while waiting to hear back from some jobs. I might be sending you some PMs in the near future. Cheers!

[koolkat1980]

Loads and loads! I am pretty sure some places in the hospitality industry esp, do give you a place to board! Not sure what companies though! :p

You'd love sydney! You can even climb the harbour bridge as well! Something I have yet to do!

[Fender247]

sent a PM!

[Mini14]

Hey Fender,

I'll post more later because I have to go in a sec, but I know that anything to do with mining is absolutely massive in Aus.. I know a few people that work in mining and get paid very well for it because the industry is struggling to find enough workers, but the downside is that it's in remote locations. It usually works on a system where you work your ass of for 1-3 weeks, followed by a week or 2 off, then the cycle repeats. Some of the people I've met who work in this industry have some skills (e.g. geology or a trade), but others don't and still get well paid, it's an excellent way to save money if you don't mind that kind of work. In fact a lot of people do it for a while so they can save up for a house. The people I've met who work in the industry live in either Adelaide or Perth, and the company flies them to their place of work.

My friend moved to Melbourne and found a casual job in a pub within a week, she worked there pretty much full time for a year but had to be somewhat careful with money because the rent costs and general living expenses there are reasonably high (compared with Adelaide anyway, where we are from). Still she had fun doing it though and had no trouble at all finding work (she got a few other job offers from similar pubs too), Melbourne is a great place with a lot of diversty and excellent live music.

Adelaide is a smaller city than Melbourne or Sydney (~1 million people) but the cost of living is much lower, and it's very easy to get out of the city to some beautiful beaches and a few very nice national parks, and we have massive wine areas too if you're into that.

I've been doing grape picking near Adelaide for the last couple of weeks and there are a lot of international travellers doing that (I had a proper job before but this is QLC-related :)), with this type of work it would definitely be possible to save money but it is very short-term and you need your own transport (many of them have their own campervans). However there is other seasonal work around (e.g. the Riverland, which is about 2.5 hours from Adelaide) where the employers will provide cheap accomodation and transport. Again this is short-term work but an excellent way to meet people, and a good way to see lots of different places.

Anyway some more later!

[Mini14]

Perth? I've never been there yet...



My parents used to live in Perth and absolutely loved the place, didn't want to leave. I've only been there once (for a week) but found people there to be really friendly. The only thing is it's extremely isolated, the closest city is Adelaide, which is >2000 kilometres away, but I've heard a lot of good things about it.



Tassie is small as - you may as well go to New Zealand if you go there.


I haven't been to Tassie (but really want to), I hear it's really pretty and there is heaps of wildlife and some beautiful wilderness to see, but apparently the jobs market there isn't great according to my Dad's Tasmanian friend. Although it would be an excellent place to visit.

If you do come to Aus, it's well worth checking out New Zealand as well if you can afford it while you're in the area, it's awesome!! (esp. the South Island) Not very expensive to get there from Aus if you shop around for a cheap fare.