WHV Work thread - What Industries Are Still Booming Down Here?

FreeAnd..

And thats a great starting point. The Aus CV should read different and longer than an Irish or UK CV. Aus HR departments usually wont even bother to read if its not in the format they recognise. Also the CV should vary for every job app as every job will be looking for different skill sets. Read carefully what is being advertised and adjust accordingly

never had an issue with my Irish/Uk format

Jemmy

Ok so im arriving in Brisbane and ive free rein to go where I like where should i head? If im not fussy about the area I look for work in will I find something handy enough? Once it pays ill be happy tbh!

Thanks

myhorse

FreeAnd.. wrote: »

never had an issue with my Irish/Uk format

Perhaps it was just me but I was told ditch the Irish format I was using and go with an Aussie template. maybe times have changed ? but when in rome or even Australia ...

FreeAnd..

Perhaps it was just me but I was told ditch the Irish format I was using and go with an Aussie template. maybe times have changed ? but when in rome or even Australia ...

I think if its clear and well laid out then the format is irrelevant between different countries...if you have the skills a company is looking for and they can see this easily from your cv then you are in with a shot - saying that Ive seen a fair few cv's in my time and 90% of them I would bin without reading if I was looking to hire someone

Noobsaibot21

Kiaora all,

I'm looking at heading to Oz this year with the lady on a WHV. I'm not a tradesman or anything and literally any old jobs such as Insurance claims, receptionists, cinema staff, Music shop, Ice cream seller on the beach - we're really not fussy. What the job situation is like for non skilled labour such as the above occupations.

We know there is no real chance of sponsorship these days but would the jobs above give us enough dough for rent, basic car and some holiday fun (aka Beer)?

Also, we were looking at Barossa Valley near Adelaide for the regional work in case we want to look at a second visa. Does anyone know if they grow anything other than grapes out there? Hopefully there's oranges to pick.

Cheers all,
Noobsaibot

FreeAnd..

any old jobs such as Insurance claims, receptionists, cinema staff, Music shop, Ice cream seller on the beach - we're really not fussy. What the job situation is like for non skilled labour such as the above occupations.

From what ive read, I believe there is huge competition for these jobs from other backpackers...

We know there is no real chance of sponsorship these days but would the jobs above give us enough dough for rent, basic car and some holiday fun (aka Beer)?

maybe rent and basic food but i'd say that will be all...these really are minimum wage jobs...have met alot of people who just work almost there full year simply to pay bills and maybe travel for a week or two if they can

my advice is bring as much cash with you as possible and treat the year as a holiday

Noobsaibot21

Thanks Free.

We've got our Visas and we we're planning to bring about €4000 each. Not sure how much that will keep us going for rent wise but hopefully all will work out. Job wise, we'll just have to rely on our awesomeness.

FreeAnd..

awesomeness will take you along way my friend

you should be fine, you should really try sort some work before signing up to an apt or somewhere to live...in a city you are looking at 6 month leases and rent around 500pw with parking (more expensive in Sydney I think) with a bond of usually a months rent...you can get cheaper i'd say - but our building has its own gym and pool, over loioks the river and is a few minute walk to the shops, bars, restaurants etc...

I wouldnt sign up unless you have some sort of work because if you decide to switch cities or whatever you could get screwed and your cashola wont be long running out...

saying that though, if you can get a short term let - month by month, or share with people short term while you sort work then at least if you decide to move onto another area for work or whatever you're not tied to a lease - paying over weekly rent and bills with no income

Regulator79

FreeAnd.. wrote: »

you should be fine,

Or you may not be fine, fail to find work, spend 4000 for nothing and return home peniless. Plenty of those stories too and growing by the day. Its basic economics really.

Do some research on unemployment rates in Australia. Its rising steadily you should know.

Check the job websites, seek.com.au and then make a decision. It might seem counter intuative, but its the the ****e jobs that have the most competiton when there are hoardes of WHV people around wanting to do them plus Aussies just out of school and college getting squeezed by the recession.

Just be careful.

somebaldyfela

FreeAnd.. wrote: »

From what ive read, I believe there is huge competition for these jobs from other backpackers...



maybe rent and basic food but i'd say that will be all...these really are minimum wage jobs...have met alot of people who just work almost there full year simply to pay bills and maybe travel for a week or two if they can

my advice is bring as much cash with you as possible and treat the year as a holiday

Hi,this makes a lot of sense,i got a fairly hefty voluntary redundancy last year and belted over to a mate in aus,started in sydney for five nights,flew to cairns and stopped with him for the best part of three months,while there i travelled taking in port douglas,mission beach,airlie beach,rockhampton,hervey bay,brisbane,gold coast and byron bay,now im mad to go back!have my whv and ticket paid for,i am unskilled and will work absolutely anywhere!im just wondering will places like coles,woolworths,maccyds,hungry jacks etc hire backpackers on a whv??

FreeAnd..

Or you may not be fine, fail to find work, spend 4000 for nothing and return home peniless.

You are overlooking one point...the awesomeness!!! (and the rest where you just make the exact same points I made previously)

seriously though, they may be fine - they may not be fine...not caring about the type of work or the location puts them in a different boat to most of the people unable to find work...8K Irish is just over 14.5K AUD so between two, if they get a car they would easily spend 1K a week doing it easy enough if they travel a bit...that would give them 14 weeks (less the price of the car) or just over 3 months which is not too long really but if you're here on the WHV then dont forget the holiday part - bit of a catch 22...will be hard to get work without transport and that will end up eating through your cash

portomar

Noobsaibot21 wrote: »

Kiaora all,

I'm looking at heading to Oz this year with the lady on a WHV. I'm not a tradesman or anything and literally any old jobs such as Insurance claims, receptionists, cinema staff, Music shop, Ice cream seller on the beach - we're really not fussy. What the job situation is like for non skilled labour such as the above occupations.

We know there is no real chance of sponsorship these days but would the jobs above give us enough dough for rent, basic car and some holiday fun (aka Beer)?

Also, we were looking at Barossa Valley near Adelaide for the regional work in case we want to look at a second visa. Does anyone know if they grow anything other than grapes out there? Hopefully there's oranges to pick.

Cheers all,
Noobsaibot

what i posted to similar question

tallaght01

Things are looking pretty rough all round here in Brisbane. My flatmate is an irish lad whose been here since late december and hasn't been able to get a job. He's a stockbroker by trade, but he's applied for all kinds of jobs over here, and got nothing.

He has loads of experience working in shops and factories etc from when he was in college, but he can't even get a job with dominos pizza.

He's got several phone calls to come for interviews, and as soon as they realised he was on a WHV they told him they cancelled the interview and told him they didn't hire WHV people.

Not sure if that's a generic thing, or is it's only regarding Irish, because of the bad rep we have over here.

I work in a government job, and I have to reapply for my own job in january! There's only about 5 of these jobs in the state, and there's only really 5 of us who can do the job. So, seeing as they're advertising 5 posts, we should be ok. But it's all getting a bit messy.

Rabies

I'm ok so far.
Current permit/visa doesn't expire until Nov 2010. But I do plan on applying for residency in Sept/Oct
Not sure how it will go. Should be ok. Will have been here for 3yrs at that stage and paying taxe etc.

The Sweeper

There isn't a sniff of downturn really where I am - rural town, small population, same people have same needs as always, everything running pretty much as usual. Our local shops / takeaways are hiring too.

Disadvantages: living here is like being the newcomer that walks through the saloon doors in the old west - and the piano stops...

CiaranC

Regulator79 wrote: »

Or you may not be fine, fail to find work, spend 4000 for nothing and return home peniless. Plenty of those stories too and growing by the day. Its basic economics really.

Do some research on unemployment rates in Australia. Its rising steadily you should know.

Check the job websites, seek.com.au and then make a decision. It might seem counter intuative, but its the the ****e jobs that have the most competiton when there are hoardes of WHV people around wanting to do them plus Aussies just out of school and college getting squeezed by the recession.

Just be careful.

Unemployment is at about 5%, I dont see what the doom mongering is about. What do you mean "spend 4000 for nothing"?

I can see why people are warning off Irish people who intend travelling to Oz with a view to making a new life for themselves and getting sponsorship etc, but the rest of us are going for a working holiday, and fully intend spending the money we bring with us, not for nothing, but for a holiday. Thats the point of it.

FreeAnd..

I can see why people are warning off Irish people who intend travelling to Oz with a view to making a new life for themselves and getting sponsorship etc, but the rest of us are going for a working holiday, and fully intend spending the money we bring with us, not for nothing, but for a holiday. Thats the point of it.

To be honest, that seems the be the exception rather than the rule...has been with 99% of people (irish anyway) I have met here but you are totally correct...

lfat

I'm going driving a Combine Harvester!!!!! YeeeeeHaaaaaaaa

Regulator79

[quote=CiaranC;60106712 but the rest of us are going for a working holiday, and fully intend spending the money we bring with us, not for nothing, but for a holiday. Thats the point of it.[/quote]


Oh grand. So the fact that Ireland is having the biggest economic meltdown of any country in the developed world since Weimar Germany means nothing to the thousands who are over here spending their last few sheckels living it up on the Gold Coast.

Yipee, one last holiday before we go back to the dole queues :rolleyes:

CiaranC

Regulator79 wrote: »

Oh grand. So the fact that Ireland is having the biggest economic meltdown of any country in the developed world since Weimar Germany means nothing to the thousands who are over here spending their last few sheckels living it up on the Gold Coast.

Yipee, one last holiday before we go back to the dole queues :rolleyes:

Whats your point?

Zambia

Regulator79 wrote: »

Oh grand. So the fact that Ireland is having the biggest economic meltdown of any country in the developed world since Weimar Germany means nothing to the thousands who are over here spending their last few sheckels living it up on the Gold Coast.

Yipee, one last holiday before we go back to the dole queues :rolleyes:

What are you looking for here .... anyone on a WHV left at least late 2007, the writing was on the wall. :eek:

Poor_old_gill

Many jobs in accountancy?

PhiliousPhogg

Poor_old_gill wrote: »

Many jobs in accountancy?

Big 4 experience, some kind of permanent residency (rather than a WHV) or experience in liquidations etc would be a plus.

But no, the jobs market is really tight. The big banks etc have been making redundancies and imposing recruitment freezes, so there are more professionals on the job hunt and less and less jobs available. New South Wales has the highest unemployment of the states in Australia at about 6.9% (March figure), because both property and the professional services which are concentrated in Sydney have been hardest hit.

A friend of mine in a Big 4 in Sydney told me that they have locked the stationary cupboard in his office and people need permission to use it. I know just a few people working in mid tier - big 4 firms and they've told me that their day to day work is much quieter than before, because non-audit service business has dried up, and they're just involved in compliance work.

I came to Sydney last Autumn after qualifying with a mid tier firm in Dublin, just as the sh1t hit the fan in the States, and didn't get an interview in 5 weeks of looking. I'm in a semi-skilled job now and to be honest I don't miss the office seat at all.

There are jobs out there but you'll be at a disadvantage as a non national, and some kind of specialisation to sell yourself is essential because the employers can pick and choose. They won't hire anyone who's overqualified or underqualified, and can pick the exact personality type for the job involved. If you go for it make sure you hassle the f*ck out of the recruitment agencies and ring them all at least daily. You're gonna need to be resourceful.

Regulator79

CiaranC wrote: »

Whats your point?

My point is that there are loads of Irish coming here now that are economic refugees. Especially, people with skills in the construction sector who will not be able to work in that game in Ireland for years. They are not here for a holiday. They are escaping the dole queues. Working holidays for Paddys in Australia died as a concept in 2006 except for the very fortunate or very naive.

Some will be successful. Others will fail and in the process spend most of their savings for nothing.

Unemployment is low but rising and is a lagging indicator. Make no mistake; work is drying up here too with increased competition for what remains.

Obviously, Australia didnt have mucksavage gombeens running the country for the last 12 years so are better prepared for the recession.

Regulator79

Zambia232 wrote: »

What are you looking for here .... anyone on a WHV left at least late 2007, the writing was on the wall. :eek:

Im not sure what you mean.

CiaranC

Regulator79 wrote: »

My point is that there are loads of Irish coming here now that are economic refugees. Especially, people with skills in the construction sector who will not be able to work in that game in Ireland for years. They are not here for a holiday. They are escaping the dole queues. Working holidays for Paddys in Australia died as a concept in 2006 except for the very fortunate or very naive.

Some will be successful. Others will fail and in the process spend most of their savings for nothing.

Unemployment is low but rising and is a lagging indicator. Make no mistake; work is drying up here too with increased competition for what remains.

Obviously, Australia didnt have mucksavage gombeens running the country for the last 12 years so are better prepared for the recession.

They should be applying for skills visas then, not working holiday visas.

Im going to Australia to hang out at the beach and surf and drink beer. Ill work to fund my trip. Im quitting a job to do it, just like all the people who are there already did, so dont tar us all with the one brush. Dont see how its any different to anyone doing a WHV over the last 10 years?

Regulator79

CiaranC wrote: »

They should be applying for skills visas then, not working holiday visas.

Im going to Australia to hang out at the beach and surf and drink beer. Ill work to fund my trip. Im quitting a job to do it, just like all the people who are there already did, so dont tar us all with the one brush. Dont see how its any different to anyone doing a WHV over the last 10 years?

1. Well if you can afford to quit your job in the middle of an economic depression that you are either very lucky or very dumb.

2. You can work to fund your trip but its harder to get work here than it has been for ten years.

3. Regarding people on the WHV- things have changed utterly in the last two years- the Irish here are not on work holidays by and large. they are here, increasingly, because they are economic refugees.

CiaranC

1. Well if you can afford to quit your job in the middle of an economic depression that you are either very lucky or very dumb.

Very lucky? Very dumb?

Ive no debts, no mortgage, no ties and Im heading off for a year in the sun, just like tens of thousands before me. I dont give a toss if its an "economic depression", nothing to do with me. Ill check out the job scene in a year when i get back and go somewhere else if there is nothing happening here.

Whats your deal Regulator? Are you Irish in Australia? Why are you criticing Irish people for going there if youve already done it yourself?

Regulator79

The economic depression is nothing to do with you? this would only be the case if you have the means to support yourself-either through finding a job- or otherwise once you return from your year in the sun. Unemployment will be 20% in Ireland this time next year my friend so unless that is the case the depression is everything to do with you.

Go and enoy Oz. My net point is that the world has changed and we are in for a very bumpy ride- Ireland and Australia. Irish people shouldn't thing that its all milk and honey down here- it aint and it will get worse before it gets better.

I came to work not sit on the beach. Thats soooo 2006. I live in the real world of 2009. People need to move past the denial phase.

CiaranC

Yawn.

First people on this thread are complaining because Irish people are treating the WHV as an economic migrant visa, then when I say Im just going on a working holiday I get it in the neck as well.

Im not in denial about anything, Im going on a working holiday because I can.