Employment in Australia

Suitable employment in Australia for overseas travellers and students.

There is a wide variety of work in Australia available to overseas travellers and students.  It would be just about impossible to list all of the available work and job types that are available but I will do my best to try and list the more prevalent and suitable positions available.

There are a great many businesses that are always looking for temporary office staff. These positions can range from administrative and clerical, accounting, legal and marketing to IT, media and web design. There are numerous websites specifically advertising these positions and a lot of businesses actually request overseas travellers and students to apply for vacancies.

The hospitality industry is a great employer of travellers and students in Australia. While many areas of Australia have a busy tourist and holidaymaker trade all year round many areas are seasonal. Major tourist destinations such as the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Alice Springs, Cairns and Whitsundays are fairly busy all of the year (although they also have busier times) all states and areas do have their own tourist ‘hot spots’.

Weather and vacations will play a major role in the amount of tourist trade these areas experience. The busiest time for all holiday areas in Australia is November through to about mid February. This period incorporates the Australian Summer season, Christmas and the longest school vacation. This is when Australian hotels, restaurants, clubs and resorts are at their busiest and therefore searching for their greatest amount of staff.

Seasonal work in Australia such as fruit picking, harvesting and other types of farm work is greatly accessible to travellers and students.
Farm work and fruit picking is very physical. You must be fit and prepared to get sweaty and dirty.

There are many positive aspects to seasonal work in Australia. There is a certain amount freedom that comes with work on Australian farms and orchards. Most work is performed outdoors and can be very good for your health and overall fitness and wellbeing. You get to experience some very beautiful parts of Australia and meet a variety of different people.

Some fruit picking jobs are payed by the hour, but generally farmers pay you for what you have picked. For example some will pay you by the container you fill or box that you pack etc. You are usually paid on a weekly basis.
Quite often when you begin you won’t make much money and wonder if all the hard physical labour is worthwhile. With a bit of practice, however, you can become quite proficient and earn good money every day.

In some areas you may be offered accommodation sometimes meals as well. The cost of these may or may not be deducted from your wages and if they are for the most part you will find the charges very reasonable.

If you can drive machinery, are mechanical or have an agricultural background you will find it very easy to pick up this type of work.

Seasonal work is not limited to fruit and vegetable picking or farm work in general but can extend to work as exotic as pearling.