How do I go about workin in Oz for one year?

Dogs_Body

Hi,

I want to work in Australia next January and stay for roughly a year. How do I go about this? I can't imagine it's too much trouble as every Tom, Dick and Harry are doing it!

How much would I need going over?
How much roughly for flight?
How do I get set up over there? i.e. job, place to stay etc.
Can anyone who has done this recommend anything? Or, anyone know of any sites to check out, other than USIT? Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks,

Dogs_Body

Xavi6

You need to get a visa first off. As I'm a citizen I didn't need one but my gf did. You need a certain amount of money in your account. Can't remember the figures though.

With a working visa you can only stay in the one job for 6 months. As a result 'career' type jobs are pretty impossible to get unless you have some back door way of getting in. You're most likely to get labouring or bar work without any hassle.

Have you decided where in Australia you want to go? If it's the west coast then don't worry about not having a job before you get here as there's a ridiculous amount of jobs going. Accomodation is a bit more difficult so look into it first.

If you say what city you're going to it'd be easier for people to help as Australia is such a vast country i.e. I live in Perth so would know f*ck all about Sydney.

Dogs_Body

Thanks Xavi

I don't even know were in Oz to go! Any suggestions? Two or three of us going. Thought I could do PA work as that is what I do here in Dublin.
But you say I have to move around jobs after six months?

I was thinking of going over with about 6,000 euro in my account. Does USIT etc. set you up with a place to stay/ job? What kind of accomodation am I looking at on that budget???

Plus, besides saving, what's the next step I should take? Hoping to go in late Jan 09.

Clearly... I have no idea!

Thanks

Xavi6

Lotta questions! Ok I'll do my best -

1) Where to go - If you want sun, a relaxed lifestyle, and a quiet-ish time then I'd say hit Perth. The weather has been in the mid to high 30s since December and it'll be that way for another few weeks. Our weather is more predictable than say Sydney and Brisbane where they've had a bad time of it lately. If you're here to work more than a p*ss up then Perth's for you, although the nightlife can be pretty mental here too. If not, then go over east because the cities are closer together and it's easier to see more of the country. I'm sure someone else can fill you in on hotspots there. A lot of people base themselves in Perth for the first 6 months of their visa and save for the next 6 months of travel.

2) Jobs - Ok the visa only allows 6 months in one job. It was 3 months but they've now doubled it. PA work will be very hard to get. I'm in journalism and the first question I was asked when they heard my accent was am I on a visa? They want people for the long term and a visa doesn't allow this.

3) USIT - Not too sure how they operate with Oz but I went through them for my J1 and they didn't help with jobs/accomodation. It's probably better to do it yourself anyway with the help of someone who's been there so you know the areas to go to or avoid.

Anything else, feel free to ask or PM me.

the dee

I did the working holiday visa in 06. You can apply direct on the web at www.immi.gov.au
It cost me about €80 application fee and was processed in about a week. They only asked me to confirm that I had enough money in my account to support myself for my trip if I couldn't find work. They never asked for any proof of that but it might have changed now.

The Australia Travel Centre on Abbey St in Dublin do good flight deals.

I flew into Sydney and worked there for 3 months. Nightlife is great. Took a while to find a job but I was just looking in the wrong places. You need a cert to do bar work (about $80 of a 1 day course) Most travellers work in hostels, construction and sales. A lot of sales jobs are commission only. YHA hostels are about $20 per night and you can stay up to 30 days while looking for better accommodation.

I travelled up the east coast stopping in Byron Bay and other little towns. I got the train but if there's a group of you with drivers licences you could rent / buy a car or wicked van. Then worked in Brisbane for 3 months before going up to Cairns and then flying back to Sydney. Brisbane also has great nightlife and work is a bit easier to come by. (again sales)

That seems to be the route that most travellers take. Hope that helped. PM me if you want.

zootroid

the dee wrote: »

I did the working holiday visa in 06. You can apply direct on the web at www.immi.gov.au
It cost me about €80 application fee and was processed in about a week. They only asked me to confirm that I had enough money in my account to support myself for my trip if I couldn't find work. They never asked for any proof of that but it might have changed now.

The Australia Travel Centre on Abbey St in Dublin do good flight deals.

I flew into Sydney and worked there for 3 months. Nightlife is great. Took a while to find a job but I was just looking in the wrong places. You need a cert to do bar work (about $80 of a 1 day course) Most travellers work in hostels, construction and sales. A lot of sales jobs are commission only. YHA hostels are about $20 per night and you can stay up to 30 days while looking for better accommodation.

I travelled up the east coast stopping in Byron Bay and other little towns. I got the train but if there's a group of you with drivers licences you could rent / buy a car or wicked van. Then worked in Brisbane for 3 months before going up to Cairns and then flying back to Sydney. Brisbane also has great nightlife and work is a bit easier to come by. (again sales)

That seems to be the route that most travellers take. Hope that helped. PM me if you want.

What sort of work did you do in oz?

the dee

I did all sales work. 3 months in a call centre selling insurance and 3 months door-to-door for a fruit and veg delivery company. If you have the knack for selling things you can make a LOT of money in sales with commisson. A lot of hostels advertise for staff amongst the people staying there - not great pay but free accomodation if you're planning to stay for a while.

If you want to get a lot of money do some farm work or fruit-picking for a few months. You're in the middle of nowhere so there's nothing to spend your wages on. A friend of mine did this and bought a BMV with the money they saved. Also, if you do this for 3 months you're elegible for another 1 year working holiday visa, which is very handy.