Fruit picking job - I'm a foreigner, in need of an advice

krakken

Hello!

I'm from Croatia. I have applied for a fruit picking job in Ireland. The job is a summer job, untill the mid of August - picking various types of berries. The employer will provide the accommodation, which would be likely deducted from the salary.

I'm dead broke unfortunately. For 2 years I'm trying to find a reguilar job here in Croatia. At the moment I'm working freelance as 3D modeller, working on product visualizations for TV commercials and such, but that work isn't regular or as plenty as I'd like it to be.

Besides graphic design, I have experience in kitchen. During the summer tourist season in Croatia, I was making over 200 pizzas every day, together with a chef who taught me pizza baking. Also, got experience in bartending. My English is quite fluent.

So, my plan is - to work on the mentioned summer job. The pay stated is 8.6 euros p H. After paying the accommodation and food, hopefully there would be enough money left to move to Dublin or Cork City, pay for a hostel and search for any job.

Does this plan seem any realistic? Would I be able to earn enough to sustain myself for a month in Dublin, for instance. I was hoping if anyone also has some experience with fruit picking jobs in Ireland to share some insight as well.

Thanks a lot!

deepsilent

krakken wrote: »

Hello!

I'm from Croatia. I have applied for a fruit picking job in Ireland. The job is a summer job, untill the mid of August - picking various types of berries. The employer will provide the accommodation, which would be likely deducted from the salary.

I'm dead broke unfortunately. For 2 years I'm trying to find a reguilar job here in Croatia. At the moment I'm working freelance as 3D modeller, working on product visualizations for TV commercials and such, but that work isn't regular or as plenty as I'd like it to be.

Besides graphic design, I have experience in kitchen. During the summer tourist season in Croatia, I was making over 200 pizzas every day, together with a chef who taught me pizza baking. Also, got experience in bartending. My English is quite fluent.

So, my plan is - to work on the mentioned summer job. The pay stated is 8.6 euros p H. After paying the accommodation and food, hopefully there would be enough money left to move to Dublin or Cork City, pay for a hostel and search for any job.

Does this plan seem any realistic? Would I be able to earn enough to sustain myself for a month in Dublin, for instance. I was hoping if anyone also has some experience with fruit picking jobs in Ireland to share some insight as well.

Thanks a lot!

How many hours would you work per week? how much money would you get per month?

Maybe you could go straight to dublin and work in a pub/restaurant or in a hostel for free accommodation (check in fb groups) till you get a job in something you like.

going to london might be also a good option, is even easier than here to get a job in gastronomy/tourism, more expensive to live though.

btw try to get a job as 3d modeller here, you might be lucky.

krakken

Hi,

thanks for the interesting reply. Will look into that way of accommodation as well.

I still need to discuss pay and hours during the interview by phone, which will be held in few days. It's quite likely that I might work for 2 months, 12 hours per day, 6 days in a week (since it's season, so the crops need to be timely picked - and it's a common practice in Germany or Finland as well).

If it's less than that - say, 8 hours per day, I might be able to have 1500 eur minimum in cash, when the season ends. I still need to save the last 200eur for the ticket back though, in case I dont find anything.

It's easier to stay and find work in Ireland than the UK for Croatian citizens, due to regulations regaring work restrictions still in place for us in the UK. Also, I kinda like Ireland more for some reason

It would be great to find a job in 3D. I'd love to sign up for the 3D study in Dorset Uni and pay for tution, if I ever get lucky to find a job which would be slightly over the minimum salary.

wonski

It isn't easy to start off in a new country, especially when funds are limited (or there is no money at all).

Make sure to have alternative plan and stick to it. Any job is good for start, if accomodation is provided that's even better.

If you are to work 12 hours shifts 6 days a week you will be exhausted and won't have time to look for a new job, though.

Save up during that time (not that you will have a time to spend money anyway) to be sure you have money left aside to start again when summer job is finished.
With your English and experience you should find some jobs to keep you going, but accomodation costs are huge these days and will eat most of the money if you get paid minimum wage.

You will need a bit of luck, just like everyone else looking for better life, but you also need to be prepared. Check rental prices in Ireland (Dublin and surrounding areas) so you can have rough idea what you are getting into.

Check other jobs available to see what you can apply for with your education and experience.

Number of jobs available went up in recent months, but costs of living went up, too.

Not a paradise, but it is doable for a right person to get decent job these days.

DundalkDuffman

I wonder would your language skills be of any benefit to eBay or Paypal at all? There is quite a collection of various European nationalities living around Dundalk at the moment, lots of different languages to be heard, perhaps worth a look?

jay-me

Add yourself to renting Dublin and other similar groups on Facebook they often have room shares for as little as 200 pm. Bills would be extra, Also you can apply for jobs from Croatia and having experience is key especially in the bar / restaurant / hospitality trade! You can find vacancies on jobs.ie monsterjobs.ie adverts.ie and many other Irish job sites Worse case scenario couch surfing is another option for free accommodation in Dublin. Emailing hostels to see if there are any vacancies is another option that works and it includes accomodation mostly. Look up hostel world and then Google the results for a contact page and email them. Best of luck!

tradhead

Hi!

Just had a thought that if you have any free time while you're picking fruit, you could maybe freelance as a translator from Croatian to English, if your English is good.

It might be worth sending a few e-mails to translation companies in Ireland to see if they have anything. Best of luck!

Also +1 for couch-surfing in Dublin or Cork, it's a great fall-back to have somewhere to stay for a few days until you find your feet.

krakken

Some great advices from all of you! Thank you so much!

I believe my English is quite good - I use it regularly and I'm quite fluent with both written and spoken English. When doing freelance 3D work, my clients were often from Australia, USA, UK and even Japan, and I never had trouble communicating with them. I will be looking for language jobs, that's for sure!

3D modelling & photoshop related jobs, customer support, translation and/or anything that involves working at the PC, would be jobs I believe I would be good at, and would also love to do.

Hospitality/tourism/bartending is where I have the most experience, and seems like a good immediate starting point. However, these are jobs which I did over here basically to survive, not out of love to make a career from it. I perfectly understand that I can't pick much, especially as someone who just arrived and yet has to prove himself. I'm ready to accept anything and whilst doing that, search for a better opportunity. I consider myself a bit clumsy, when serving customers with coffe or beer

ps. I forgot to mention, I also have a year experience of working in KFC over here - might as well try that out for a start in Ireland.

shane9689

considering your experience, you could do far better than a fruit picking job.... Im looking for a summer job at the moment, and alot of bars and resturants are looking for people with your experience, just make sure your english is up to scratch, and try learn something about the history/culture of the area youre moving to so you dont seem fresh off the boat.

krakken

Thanks! I will look into other summer jobs, such as hotels and bars.

I was thinking that this fruit picking job might be a good opportunity to move to Ireland. As said, I'm without any money. I can afford a plane ticket, with maybe having 200-300eur left. My plan was to work that, save money and then I'd be able to stay some time and search for a job somewhere.

krakken

Folks, I got another question - I have the opportunity to sign up for nursing studies. It is a 3 years study, where I get the internationally recognized degree in nursing, as bacc of nursing.

I guess a medical personnel would find a job easier and have a better future?

shane9689

I thought you were perusing graphic design in the long run? ...there's lots of graphic design jobs in Ireland. You will get a job nursing, but the hours and the work is usually quite tough for the pay their on. I dont see how you can study nursing, work and try pursue graphic design all at once?