Me writing about job opportunities in Australia is by far one of the most hilarious things. In Sydney I ran around and handed out 30 CVs to different stores, had to get to the library for 2 hours to reprint them only to leave to another state the next day lol. On the goldcoast I submitted 58 CVs(which is insane to think about omg) and only two places came back to me, only one offering me a trial shift. I got scammed on Facebook for paying for an online Au Pair Agency, where I paid 50 AUD for nothing. It took me 2 months to finally get to a place where I felt safe but had no chance to get a job. Through certain times I called my mum crying during day and nighttime because not being able to earn money stressed me out constantly. I hope this puts perspective into the hard work of finding a job in a „backpacker-country“. I’ve heard miracle stories about the second place a person introduced themselves to actually wanting them. They had a trial shift the next day and boom they got the job. That unfortunately didn’t happen to me. It is not always that easy like people tell you. Just get to the city, casually entering 3 shops and getting your dream job straight away, without any commitments and after 1 month of working, they leave, without anyone complaining. I wish.
Hospitality Jobs
I tried twice to get a job in the hospitality section. Handed out CVs in Sydney and literally not a single person called me back. Maybe it was because I had almost none experiences or not enough („at least 4 years experienced barista“, sorry bro I’m 19). One café called me back, 4 weeks later when I no longer needed the job because I already traveled to another state lol. Same thing happened again when I came to the gold coast, when I sent out 58 resumes 8 (I counted them yes) and only 2 restaurants came back to me. The first was a high class restaurant with oyster forks and different kinds of lemons to mark the still water and the gas water. One can only imagine how horribly hopeless I felt that day, having practiced to carry 3 plates only once at home. I think they might noticed that I lied about my experiences, so they at least let me know 3 days later that they decided on hiring someone else. But besides my horrible experiences with finding a job I do see how nice it is to get one. The hourly wage is about 25-35 AUD per hour, which is, compared to other European countries, very high. You normally work 30 up to 55 hours a week, depending on the place you are staying and how busy the shop is. Most of the venues don’t like to hear that you are just staying there for a couple of weeks and would like you to commit for at least 3 months, which is fair, but as long as you don’t have any real employment contract, that shouldn’t be a problem. You can apply online on apps like Indeed or Seek to look for places hiring around you or also through Facebook or contacts.
Working in hostels
Another great way to finance your way through Australia can be working in the hostel you are staying at. That might not get you any money at first, but you will get to stay there for free, which is also a win. It’s often just cleaning the bathrooms, changing bed sheets or getting ahold of the kitchen mess other people left behind. Usually people working there are leaving after a certain time so you can work more hours and actually get paid there (or get a hospitality job on the side).
Workaway (work for accommodation)
A lot of people in Australia do have big properties and often do need help with chores around the house or their animal care. For 15 hours of working per week, you get your own room with a bed and your weekly food paid for, which I really a great deal. You can do this kind of help without a contract and without a WHV, so if you’re just traveling through Australia and want to safe money, that is always a good way to relieve your wallet if you want to stay somewhere a bit longer. You can work for people for a couple of days or even months but because there is no legal contract you can communicate it really open what your goals are. This is more built upon a trust foundation, which I really love. I tried it in the Czech Republic once and it really was an experience itself haha, you always have to be certain about the place you are going to (if remote or not) so often you do need a car to get there and be not dependent on the family. Of course you can really save a lot of money if you are doing it in big cities where hostels or rent is very high (you might not get free food there then, but it’s still a very cheap way of living someplace new).
Au Pair / Demi Pair
I was being an Au Pair in Melbourne and a Demi Pair on the Gold Coast. The only real difference between these two „employments“ is, that for being a Demi Pair you only have to do chores for about 15 hours a week (kind of like the work for accommodation type), but it is more centralized on being a part of the family and also watching after the children. In my family I did a full day of taking care of the kids, 3 hour mealprep on usually Sundays or Mondays and one or two nights watching the kids sometimes in the morning for a few hours. I knew weekly schedule latest on Monday for the week so I could also plan stuff with my friends around my „work times“. With the Au Pair family you get money, because you are usually working 35 hours a week (average payment should be 300-450 AUD) depends on how many kids you have to look after and the place where you’re living. For 25 hours it should be about 200- 300 AUD. Because I did both in the past I do know the difficulties and challenges you might have to face with being part of a new family that isn’t yours and I also got to met a lot of other Demi or Au Pairs who came into a really good family or the complete opposite. One of the girls(yes stereotype but I only met girls doing that kind of job) got into a familywhere the parents just got divorced while she was with them, which left her really anxious, the other girl came into a family where she felt unsafe and the communication of her work hours was pretty bad and she didn’t get to set healthy boundaries on her privacy or free time and the other one literally goes clubbing with her host parents and takes the kids to coffee dates with her friends. There is a wide spectrum of different experiences and bad situations but if you get into a good one (how it’s supposed to be) it really feels like you are a part of the family and the appreciate the effort and the work you do. Open communication is one of the most important things in daily life and especially when you come into new social surroundings and have to adapt to different values and lifestyles. I did find both families on Facebook (usually no hard commitment but starting from 2 months or longer) but there are also several online platforms like „AuPairWorld“ where you apply for different families and get to choose one before coming to Australia. That is usually more commitment (starting 6 months or longer) but you also have someone to talk to if anything goes horribly wrong in the family and also orientation days where you can get to know other AuPairs.
Remote Farms (88 Days)
You can also work on remote farms for the money and to get the chance to apply for a second WHV (if you are keen on getting one, if not just skip that part). Depends on the season the are looking for fruit picker or workers for milk farms or fishing boats and usually paying minimum wage (28-35AUD). I know a lot of people who got these kind of jobs through Facebook (be careful and not get scammed, paying something in advance is never a good sign). For the remote areas, a car is also usually very handy.
I hope I could help with ideas, where and how to get money 🙂 good luck and remember, maybe it is not working out because it simply just shouldn’t be that way, just try something or somewhere else.
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