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Struggling to find farm work in the outback..go to a big city?

  • 19-05-2015 4:30am
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 317 ✭✭


    Just looking for advice on whether this is a country wide trend at the minute - a lack of available work. I arrived in a small town in WA that was historically really good for work, especially farm work but i'm struggling badly to find anything. I came to Australia pretty much to save money, work hard and fund travel around Asia but i'm just blowing all my money looking for work at the minute. Is the situation better in bigger cities? I was thinking of going to Melbourne but its a tough choice as that will involve a further 290 euro to be spent on transport to get there. As I said I just wanna work very hard for two to three months and save up a bit of money. Where is my best bet to go right now? I've called recruiters in Darwin and Perth and both said the situation is not good.


Comments

  • Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 5,374 Mod ✭✭✭✭aido79


    roro1990 wrote: »
    Just looking for advice on whether this is a country wide trend at the minute - a lack of available work. I arrived in a small town in WA that was historically really good for work, especially farm work but i'm struggling badly to find anything. I came to Australia pretty much to save money, work hard and fund travel around Asia but i'm just blowing all my money looking for work at the minute. Is the situation better in bigger cities? I was thinking of going to Melbourne but its a tough choice as that will involve a further 290 euro to be spent on transport to get there. As I said I just wanna work very hard for two to three months and save up a bit of money. Where is my best bet to go right now? I've called recruiters in Darwin and Perth and both said the situation is not good.

    It all depends on what type of working you are looking for and what your qualifications and experience are. Can I ask what town in WA you are in?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 317 ✭✭roro1990


    aido79 wrote: »
    It all depends on what type of working you are looking for and what your qualifications and experience are. Can I ask what town in WA you are in?

    I'm in a town called kununnura at the moment but the work situation is dire and with next to nothing to do I'm having a bad time. I'm looking for any sort of manual labour or farm work where experience isn't as necessary as something like hospitality.

    I have a pretty good degree but it is irrelevant here where I'm looking for these kind of jobs. My degree is finance related. I have a job offer to teach English in Thailand and seriously considering as work options seem limited in oz.

    I've only been here 3 weeks though and would be willing to try a bigger city like Melbourne.


  • Registered Users Posts: 25,907 ✭✭✭✭Peregrinus


    Kununurra is a mining centre and, while there are quite a few seasonal farm and tourist jobs at this time of the year, because the mining industry is laying people off in large numbers there is a general slump, and you will be facings stiff competition for those jobs.

    You'll have the same problem in any mining town. You might do better to try and find an town that serves an agricultural or tourist area but that isn't also a mining town.


  • Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 5,374 Mod ✭✭✭✭aido79


    roro1990 wrote: »
    I'm in a town called kununnura at the moment but the work situation is dire and with next to nothing to do I'm having a bad time. I'm looking for any sort of manual labour or farm work where experience isn't as necessary as something like hospitality.

    I have a pretty good degree but it is irrelevant here where I'm looking for these kind of jobs. My degree is finance related. I have a job offer to teach English in Thailand and seriously considering as work options seem limited in oz.

    I've only been here 3 weeks though and would be willing to try a bigger city like Melbourne.

    Is there a reason why you went to Kununurra instead of trying one of the cities for work? Might be a good time of year to try Darwin as it's dry season and work tends to pick up there.
    You've probably realised that a finance degree is about as useful as a chocolate teapot in Kununurra. Darwin probably wouldn't be much better and if you're on a working holiday visa that would probably go against you anyway.
    The best way to find work is usually through word of mouth so if you know anyone else in Australia ask them if they know of any work where they are.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 317 ✭✭roro1990


    aido79 wrote: »
    Is there a reason why you went to Kununurra instead of trying one of the cities for work? Might be a good time of year to try Darwin as it's dry season and work tends to pick up there.
    You've probably realised that a finance degree is about as useful as a chocolate teapot in Kununurra. Darwin probably wouldn't be much better and if you're on a working holiday visa that would probably go against you anyway.
    The best way to find work is usually through word of mouth so if you know anyone else in Australia ask them if they know of any work where they are.

    To be honest I just heard that Kununurra was ideal for farm work so I went there. Probably stupid of me but ah well. Yeah I've called places in Darwin and apparently the work situation isn't great there. I came alone to oz and don't have any contacts here. My lack of experience in jobs like waiter, barman seems to be going against me big time in oz. At this stage I'm probably better off going to a big city and extensively searching Gumtree for any jobs at all. I can give it three to four weeks and after that I'll have to really consider teaching in Thailand. A lot less money than potentially in oz but at least its work


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  • Moderators, Regional Abroad Moderators Posts: 5,374 Mod ✭✭✭✭aido79


    roro1990 wrote: »
    To be honest I just heard that Kununurra was ideal for farm work so I went there. Probably stupid of me but ah well. Yeah I've called places in Darwin and apparently the work situation isn't great there. I came alone to oz and don't have any contacts here. My lack of experience in jobs like waiter, barman seems to be going against me big time in oz. At this stage I'm probably better off going to a big city and extensively searching Gumtree for any jobs at all. I can give it three to four weeks and after that I'll have to really consider teaching in Thailand. A lot less money than potentially in oz but at least its work

    Your best bet if you are going to go to any of the cities would be register with as many agencies as possible. It doesn't cost anything to register and a lot of companies use labour hire agencies as its easier than hiring direct for them. Keep an eye on seek, gumtree and notice boards in hostels. Telling a few white lies without making yourself look like superman may help to get your foot in the door for some jobs.

    Best of luck with it


  • Registered Users Posts: 3,944 ✭✭✭pete4130


    If you are looking to move somewhere else, try http://www.imoova.com to get a free rental vehicle. Put an ad up on gumtrees for ride share and get other people to pay the cost of the fuel.

    As others have said, mining has taken a big hit, price of iron ore isn't helping things so not as much work on. IT depends on the time of year, where you are and what crops could be in season too.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 317 ✭✭roro1990


    pete4130 wrote: »
    If you are looking to move somewhere else, try http://www.imoova.com to get a free rental vehicle. Put an ad up on gumtrees for ride share and get other people to pay the cost of the fuel.

    As others have said, mining has taken a big hit, price of iron ore isn't helping things so not as much work on. IT depends on the time of year, where you are and what crops could be in season too.

    From where I am to where I wanna move i'm honestly better off flying. This place is extremely isolated and from Perth it is a 48 hour drive so god knows what it is to Melbourne or Sydney.

    It doesn't have to be farm work, this is why I was gonna go somewhere more lively. I've heard people doing stuff like furniture removal in Perth, Melbourne etc. I genuinely thought it would be handy to come to Australia and find any sort of work, get a good few hours and save some good $. Maybe those days are over or im just not in the right place.


  • Registered Users Posts: 24 James2016


    Queensland has plenty of farming jobs going mate. That's where I started, 1 hr west of toowoomba. Had to turn away job offers. That was 1 year ago. Look on gumtree and just call and have a chat with the person advertising. Don't text or email. Hope you pick up something. It's such a huge place , you just have to look in the right place.


  • Registered Users Posts: 646 ✭✭✭akamossie


    Hi roro1990,

    I came to Melbourne on Feb - put an ad on gumtree and within 2 days, i have received couple calls from farmers looking for someone to work.

    met few of them and decided with one. within a week I was working there and still at the minute as he is qualified for 88 days.

    so yes go to a big city, put yourself up on gumtree. there is a better chance someone will find you when you are in a big city than where you are at the minute.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 304 ✭✭Panda_Turtle


    roro1990 wrote: »
    From where I am to where I wanna move i'm honestly better off flying. This place is extremely isolated and from Perth it is a 48 hour drive so god knows what it is to Melbourne or Sydney.

    Have you looked at a map? Its a 42 hour drive from Kununurra to Melbourne according to Google Maps (maybe better to take the 45 hour route via Katherine). Why would you think of going via perth unless you wanted to catch the sights on the way. (33 hours to perth by the way according to Googly!).

    All that being said you probably would be better off flying when you add up fuel costs and accommodation unless you sleep in the car.

    Anyhow, it would be handy if you can afford it, could buy a car, that way you can reach hard to travel to farms.

    That being said maybe the safer option is to get to Sydney or Melbourne and pick up some sort of work to get money. Although Darwin is relatively closer to you but significantly smaller than the two big cities.


  • Registered Users Posts: 595 ✭✭✭markymark21


    Give 'Bundy Backpackers' a call. I've had a few pals go up there at this time of the year and they found farm work. The hostel also organised transport to and from the farms if you haven't got a car

    If your looking for farm work, melbs probably isn't your best bet at this time of the year anyway.


  • Registered Users Posts: 93 ✭✭Seanh111


    Sorry to hijack this thread but it may be easier than making a new one.

    I'm considering moving to Australia later this year but I am worried about getting a job and place to stay. I have a science degree but haven't been able to get a job in Ireland with that so it's pretty much irrelevant here. I will have almost 2 years office and administration experience by the time I get to Australia, what are my chances of getting a job in the big cities (Sydney, Melbourne)?

    Also for accommodation, I've heard that it is hugely expensive in the cities. Many of my friends seem to be sharing a room (not house) with 2/3 people. Is this really how it is? Not sure I'd like to sacrifice my own room for the sunshine! :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Misty Chaos


    My advice is to register with as many job agencies as possible ( better to go to them in person if possible than to apply online ) hand out your CV everywhere and keep an eye on gumtree constantly.

    As for the fellow asking about farm work, ring Happy Travels in Cairns, while I never had to personally use them ( I had followed a recommendation from friends elsewhere ) they've got a job agency onsite that helps people find farm work there. They do charge a fee but you can pay after they find you work and generally speaking, the farms pay well up there ( at least the banana farms anyway. )

    Wasn't too crazy about finding farm work in WA myself especially after I nearly got scammed using gumtree - Your best bet is either going to a working hostel who can sort you out with work, word of mouth or using an specialist job agency. Don't worry about travel expenses unless your really tight on money, all going well you'll make it back in no time.


  • Registered Users Posts: 402 ✭✭Cooperspale


    There's work around Gingin if you don't want to travel interstate

    http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-farming-veterinary/gingin/c18384l3008196?ad=offering


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