Hello, après 2 ans en Australie, j’ai fait un recap de tous les boulots que vous pouvez trouver en tant que WHV.
2 ans oblige, c’est en anglais et pas en français, désolée mais ça vous mettra dans le bain… et puis comme ça vous connaitrez tous les noms de jobs direct dans la langue…
Je mets la première moitié sur ce site pour vous mettre l’eau à la bouche, et l’autre moitié est visible sur mon blog perso si jamais ça vous interesse d’en savoir plus… car un peu long… bon courage à tous, et un seul conseil, profitez de ce visa pour faire des experiences que vous ne feriez pas en France…
mon blog : http://les-croconouilles.kikooboo.com/fr/page/tips-about-finding-a-job-in-australia
After two years in Australia looking for different kinds of jobs, we thought it would be a waste if we couldn’t share our knowledge about this big country before leaving. We hope it can help new working holiday visas (whv) to organise their travel better and save them some time and money so that they won’t struggle as much as we did and enjoy more of Australia… Though struggle is part of the game and we were quite lucky in the end to have lived so many great different experiences.
To begin with
A working holiday visa: for 1 year, must be under 30 years old, apply on internet (http://www.immi.gov.au), takes 1 or 2 days (or longer if special medical conditions). Electronic visa, but best to print the confirmation email (needed sometimes for job).
To apply for a second year, you have to work 3 months in farms (fruitpicking or woofing… don’t forget to get their ABN number). No need to be 3 months in a row or in the same place.
Australian address: A backpacker, a caravan park or any address will do, but you need an address in order to open a bank account, lodge a tax form or apply for a phone card.
Tax File Number (TFN): You need it to work in Oz. Get it online (ATO = Australian Taxation Office – http://www.ato.gov.au) or call the taxation office (13 28 61, 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday), or through an whv agency. Takes 7-10 days.
For every job, you need to provide it when filling the tax form your employer will give you. If you don’t have this number when starting a job, you have by law 28 days to give it.
Tax form : it requires your TFN, name, DOB, australian adress (see below). The main question for the tax : whv are mostly non-resident, which means you will be taxed 29%. If living more than 6 months in a same place, you can tick resident for only 13%.
You can claim all your taxes back (or most) in July. To do so, get the form in any ATO, or pay an agent to do it for you. You will need, for every job : the company’s number (ABN), how much tax you paid, the gross payment. Ask your employer when leaving your job your payment summary, which give you all those informations (or calculate it with all your payslips).
Superannuation number : If your monthly wage is more than 450$, your employer will contribute an additional sum equal to 9% of your wage into a superannuation (pension). Same as the tax, you can claim most of it when you leave Australia. Check here : http://www.ato.gov.au/departaustralia
Your employer will tell you or give you a form to lodge regarding this superannuation. Better to record one company and use it for all your jobs. For example Westpac bank can open a superannuation account for you which you can check easily on Internet.
Bank account: Most of the time, asked by your employer to get your salary. And very useful anyway. Commonwealth and Westpac are in all the states. Ask your bank in your country if there is partnership with a bank in australia (like BNP in france and Westpac in Oz), to avoid to pay 2$ fee.
PS : your new bank will deliver you a handycard (i.e EFTPOS), but is not allowed to give you a credit card !! Which means you can’t use it on internet.
Phone sim card : Need an australian adress and passport number. Telstra covers most of Oz, but expensive. Other dealers seldom cover rural areas, but are otherwise much cheaper.
WithVodaphone, you can pay 29$ prepaid cards and get 150$. For other, we don’t know.
Prepaid Internet Card : Not mandatory but useful. You need a internet stick provided by any phone dealers. Same as for the phone, Telstra is expensive but well spread, while other dealers are cheaper but focused in urban areas.
With Optus, 79$ for internet stick + 4Gb for 3 months
With Telstra, 79$ for internet stick + 1GB for 1 month
Qualified/Skilled jobs
If you are qualified you might be a lucky one and your knowledge could be very needed in Australia. Some companies will even sponsor you and give you an Australian working visa because they are lacking your knowledge so much. If you work 2 years with them, then you are free to stay in Australia and work for whomever you like. You can always check on the immigration website to know which jobs are needed (Australian Immigration Skilled Occupation List/www.immi.gov.au/skills) or check the main jobs websites in Australia:
http://www.seek.com.au
http://www.careerone.com.au
As for an example, when we were in Australia (2008-2011), some of the most needed jobs were: builders, carpenters, nurses, hotel managers, accountants, beauticians, chefs, skippers…
Backpacker jobs
Most whv arrive in Australia with almost no experience or not the one needed in Australia, most don’t speak really good english either… Keep in mind that Australia will give most of its jobs to its citizens. Whv will get the jobs the australians don’t want to do. So it usually means not the best paid jobs (14$-18$ an hour or if you are lucky 20-25$) and not the nicest ones either. It means you will get more chances to find a job in a remote area. It is also easier to find a casual or part-time job than a full-time one. Don’t expect to come to Australia to make money or to have a career-based job. My advice would be to take the opportunity of your 1 or 2-year visa to do something you don’t have a chance to do in your own country and enjoy this new experience. For exemple, how to drive cattle on a horse or on a quad, how to serve drinks to Aborigines, how to catch a barramundi or a mud crab, how many drinks you can serve to an Australian before he gets intoxicated, how to pick fruits faster without hurting your body too much, what are the best Australian beers to serve in bars… It is all part of the big Aussie experience. Another advice, if your english is not so good, go straight in the farms for fruitpicking or for woofing. Like this you won’t spend all your money in the cities waiting for a job. You can earn or save money and pratice your english with farmers or other foreigners and then come back in the cities later with more chances in finding a job.
Jobs in the cities
Food and beverage attendant (waiter) and barman: restaurants, bars, hotels, casinos, convention centers. It helps to get the RSA (responsible servise of alcohol) license. You can do it online, it is cheaper and you can have it before you arrive in Australia. Best to do the Queensland one, as it is the most strict and valid in most states in Australia (Quality Hospitality International – It takes about 4 hours to complete).
Food service: fastfoods (subway, mcdonalds, dominos pizza), restaurants, cafes, take-away, markets.
TAB attendant, game dealer: Casino, gambling outlets and bars. It helps to get the RGS (Responsible Gambling Services) licence.
Barista or how to make the best coffees: cafes, restaurants. It helps to get the Barista license.
Porter (carry luggages and drive the customers the the airport): hotels.
Housekeeping (cleaning the rooms or inside building): hotels, caravan parks, cleaning companies.
Kitchenhands (washing dishes, helping cutting vegies in kitchen): hotels, restaurants.
Factory jobs: packing, sorting. It helps to get the forklift license to get jobs in warehouses.
Construction/labour jobs: It helps to get the white card licence to work on construction sites
Gardener: Maybe better if you have your own car and equipment. A lot of demand.
Some temporary job agencies are specialised in whv but it usually concerns casual jobs or short term jobs: for exemple through Integrated Darwin we had a lot of small missions such as counting the cars on the road, serving drinks at the parliement house, unloading containers, serving food during weddings…
Other kinds of whv jobs: Car wash, topless waitress, pole dancing, deliver ads and magazines in mailboxes…
Jobs in the outback
If you work in the outback you won’t have a lot of pubs or parties or social life, but you will save a lot of money (can’t really spend it anywhere) and you can enjoy another kind of Australian lifestyle : barbecues, sunsets, beautiful landscapes, wildlife, fishing, swimming in lakes or dams…
One of the most common job for whv is fruitpicking. Very hard but great to meet new people and improve your english. If you are a girl, try to ask for a packing job in a shed (not so hard on the body, not too hot and usually paid per hour). If you are slow and not strongly built try to find a fruitpicking paid per hour. If you are quick you can make more money if you are paid by what you pick and it can be more challenging and less boring than working in a shed. Picking where you stand and under the trees is usually nicer than the ones where you bend under the sun… Be careful of the strong allergies in mangos (be well equiped) and of the snakes and spiders in the bananas (better not go if you are scared of them). The picking is not the only part of a farming job. Even if this is not the season of the fruit, the farm might have other jobs to prepare the picking (cleaning the rows of the old plants, cutting the bad leaves on the trees, taking care of the weeds, preparing the mats). In farms, a truck driving experience is usually a plus and can give you more interesting jobs.
If you are not afraid of remote areas, we heard of a lot of different kinds of experiences: working in the mines (as waitress, cook, engineer, driver or builder) can get you a lot of money. Some friends also worked in roadhouses: this is a gas station on a freeway with the closest town at about 500 or 2000km where you serve food, drinks and clean the camping area for about 500$ a week with free food and accomodation. It is usually good when 2 people are travelling together (2 girls, or couples). Great chance to meet Aborigines and local Aussies. Cattlestations are also good providers of work. They will give you good jobs at handling the cattle if you have a stong experience with horses or motobikes. Nannies are also needed in rural areas.
If you are not afraid of being seasick, they also need chefs/cooks on diving or sailing boats. Working on pearling boats to clean the oysters is also a possibility (Darwin, Broome, Coburg Peninsula). Diving instructors are also needed around Cairns and the Great Barreer Reef.
How to find in the cities
Each city has a local newspaper. It is first important to look in the ads of this paper. It is usually best to look on wednesdays and saturdays (more ads).
When you go in cities, usually information centers will have a list of temporary jobs agencies. Here are some of the most famous ones in Australia though some are more for whv than others: Adecco, Chandler McLeod & Ready Workforce, Drake, Hays, Jobwire, Manpower, Pinnacle Hospitality, Skilled
Here are some good ones we found for whv :
Darwin: Integrated (4/8 Manton Street/www.intgroup.com.au/89416522) or Julia Ross (84 Smith Street/www.juliaross.com/89828822). Skilled also offered me some secretary positions in remote areas (30 Daly Street/www.skilled.com.au/89241416)
Cairns: Signature Staff (330 Sheridan Street/www.signaturestaff.com.au/40503888) or Forde Recruitement (18 Minnie Street/www.forderecruitement.com.au/40311128)
The season has a big role to play on employement because it impacts the climate and the tourism. In the North like Darwin and Cairns it is easier to find jobs during the dry season (May-October) when the weather is at its best (hot and dry) and while in the rest of Australia it is winter. In Darwin, Skycity Casino, the Convention Center and the Turf Club hire a lot of backpackers during special events between June and August (Skycity Gala Ball, Darwin Cup, V8 Supercars Race). In Sydney and other cities in the south, it is easier to find jobs during the Australian summer and especially during their holidays (October-February). March-April is usually more quiet but a good time for farming jobs (not too hot). Speaking of seasonality, december and january is the skiing season in the Snowy mountains and we heard they have job opportunities if you like the cold.
Some websites or companies specialised for whv
Gumtree in each big city (http://www.gumtree.com.au) also good for finding a room or sell/buy a car
TAW (http://www.taw.com.au)
Australie Australia (French) https://www.australia-australie.com
Workstay http://www.workstay.com.au
The Job Shop http://www.thejobshop.com.au/
The Backpacker JobBoard http://www.backpackerjobboard.com.au
Jobaroo http://www.jobaroo.com/
How to find in the outback
For fruit picking
National Harvest line but not very efficient: 1800 062 332 (http://www.harvesttrail.gov.au/www.jobsearch.gov.au/harvesttrail). It might be better to call states lines directly. For example in Queensland the QLD Industrial Training & Employement: 07 4092 4414
Or to call directly the temporary agencies in the main fruit picking capitals for exemple Ready Workforce in Young for Cherries, Ready Workforce in Stanthorpe for apples, Information Center in Mildura for gapes and sultanas, Mareeba District Fruit & Vegetables Grower association (40926099)
Some backpackers hotels have contracts with farms and can find you jobs if you stay with them. For exemple:
Innisfail: Backpacker Retreat (4061-2284), Codge Lodge (40618055)
Tully: Banana Barracks (http://www.bananabarracks.com, 40680455)
Try to get contacts from good farms from people you meet on the road and call the farm in advance to know when the season will start and if you can book a job and organize your travel accordingly. It is easier than having to wait a long time for a fruit picking to start.
Good list of 50 farms in Australia : https://www.australia-australie.com/fruit-picking/
Dare and walk straight into farms and ask if they need small hands. Sometimes you might get lucky.
Some websites for jobs in the outback
Work on a beautiful island on the barreer reef (they usually want people to stay 6 months :http://www.workinthewhitsundays.com/ )
Work about Australia (Farming) – http://www.workaboutaustralia.com.au
The Job Shop (Farming, Hospitality, Roadhouse) – http://www.thejobshop.com.au/
Mining jobs: http://www.australia-mining.com
About saving money
Sometimes it can take a long time to find a job. While waiting for a fruitpicking season to start and instead of staying in a backpacker hotel while looking for a job or just for the fun of it, it can be cost saving and a great experience to try Woofing or Helpx. In exhange for 4 to 6 hours per day of your time, you get free food and accomodation. The food is usually great (meat and vegetables which is a nice change compared to instant noodles) and the families will give you a great insight into the Australian culture. Woofing is usually more farm oriented whereas Helpx is more about babysitting, handyman and gardening. For both you need to pay a fee for the year which includes an insurance.
Woofing – Willing Workers on Organic Farms (http://www.woof.com.au) & Helpx – Help Exchange (http://www.helpx.net/ )
You can also work in a backpacker or a caravan park. In exchange for a few hours of work (cleaning the kitchen and bathroom or reception) you get free accomodation.
You can also spend your waiting time sleeping in your car or van on a beautiful free camping area around the country. You can buy the book « Camps 5/4 Australia Wide » for about 50-60$ and have the list of all the free sites in Australia (It was our bible).
You can also do couchsurfing in main cities which can help you to know more about the local lifestyle.
Also, we haven’t done it, but we have heard about house sitting, which sounds quite nice. It means, you stay at some people’s house while they go on holiday and you stay in their house so that the house is busy and less people are tempted to steal their valuables, and occasionally you watch and feed the animals and water the plants. In exchange, they will let you stay in their house for free (could be for a couple of months) and sometimes you can use what remains in the fridge and freezer and sometimes even the car… You should easily be able to find websites about house sitting…
suite sur mon blog : http://les-croconouilles.kikooboo.com/fr/page/tips-about-finding-a-job-in-australia
, le il y a 11 années et 10 mois.
