subject: Oz Summer Job Ideas [print this page] Oz Summer Job Ideas Oz Summer Job Ideas
While many countries are feeling the pinch, Australia is faring better than most with unemployment levels falling. And as we head into summer down under, seasonal jobs are back in demand, for skilled and unskilled workers alike. Here's everything you need to know about Summer jobs down under.
Get a working visa
The first thing to get sorted is your working visa. Australia is part of the Working Holiday Maker (WHM) visa scheme, geared towards younger travellers looking for short-term employment. The visa lets you stay for up to 12 months even if you don't plan to stay for the duration. Partnerships currently exist with 19 countries, including the US, Canada, Thailand and various European ones, for people between the ages of 18 to 30 with no children. While you can stay for the year the Visa only covers you to work for a maximum of 6 months with any one employer, making it the ideal way of combining work and travel.
Opportunities for skilled worker
If you have professional skills and qualifications behind you and are prepared to be flexible about where you live, you'll find these welcomed by a country with a relatively strong economy and a dispersed population. Several sectors in particular are officially classed by the Government as 'Migration Occupations in Demand'. These include engineering, health and medical, IT, accounting and the trades. It's a surprisingly long list including professions as diverse as Cartographer, Archivist, Radio Journalist, Dietician and even Seafarer!
Enjoy the great outdoors
But if you're coming to Australia you probably didn't come here to be cooped up indoors. If you've come for the great outdoors why not see if you can work in it too? What better way than to do this than muck in and help out with the harvest? You could try mango picking up north in Darwin or grape harvesting in Berri. The Australian government publishes a 150 page guide to harvest work online detailing which areas grow what produce when. Harvest work can also help you extend your working visa with special dispensations made for agriculture workers. But city slackers be warned, life on a farm or orchard starts early, generally around 6am to beat the afternoon heat.
Fancy something a bit more glamorous? How would the word Jackaroo or Jillaroo look on your CV? Experience life on the ranch at a sheep or cattle station, learn how to saddle and ride, shear some sheep, shoe a few horses and maybe even fell a few trees, while you get your hands dirty building fences and pens. Sites like Jackaroo Jillaro can put you through your paces and help get you in the saddle with in depth training both in the classroom and in the field. They even say they prefer taking on newbies, so there's no excuse not to try out your inner cowboy.
Finding the right job
Gone are the days when seeking casual work was all about trudging door to door hopefully, resume in hand. The Internet has made it easier than ever to find job opportunities in Australia even from abroad. Local classifieds sites such as Gumtree make it easy to sift through thousands of short-term jobs. It's also a good idea to create email alerts to have new vacancies delivered straight to your inbox.
