Work in Oz

helpme23

Hi i thinking of heading to oz this year and i want to know were i could get farm work for maybe a couple of months or more just save some money and not be spending.I have heard of people who are earning really good money out there doing this type of work i come from a farming back ground so it would be second nature.:)

hussey

There is farm work in remote areas, but money would not be great.
Yes you could probably not spend much as opposed to earn a lot. I wouldn't believe anyone who claimed they earned money doing farm work.

Cooperspale

Are you any good with machinery?
During harvest time .....
http://agworkforce.com.au/Wheat_Grain_Harvest_Header_Jobs_Across_Australia
Other jobs listed there also on the menu

redgreendragon

Am in oz now 7 months and for 5 months i worked at both the wheat harvest season and then dairy farm work. Had no major expenses except for feeding myself and would probaly of saved close to 15000 dollars. Plenty of good dairy farms around victoria and south New South Wales. You can get good pay on some farms if interested in more than just doing your 3 months for your second year visa. Any other questions just ask me. Am a farmer at home as well

helpme23

Hi i would be interested to work full time earn and save some good money i know of a few lads who are earning between 1500 -2000 grand a week but the hours a long but money is good and you dont spend only on food so im just interested in that sort of work and money.They are on machines and herd cattle etc all full time and would be well worth it to make that money.

Batgurl

helpme23 wrote: »

Hi i would be interested to work full time earn and save some good money i know of a few lads who are earning between 1500 -2000 grand a week but the hours a long but money is good and you dont spend only on food so im just interested in that sort of work and money.They are on machines and herd cattle etc all full time and would be well worth it to make that money.

If you know a few lads who have done it why can't they get you a job with them or give you advice on how they got it?

$2k a week is not a common salary for regular farm workers. You may get it for ONE week during PEAK season harvest when u work 80-100 HOURS that week. That works out at $20-$25 an hour which is about right for temp work in Oz.

Just be aware of the limitations and the bull**** people will fill you with about farm work in AU.

helpme23

Havent been speaking to them since they went back out.Any way only hearing what im been told.

danotroy

helpme23 wrote: »

Havent been speaking to them since they went back out.Any way only hearing what im been told.

Im not saying your friends are leading you astray but there is a certain bit of it when people go home and tell their friends how much they are earning. I too heard of people saving enormous amounts of money doing farm work but when it came to doing my farm work i could barely find any.

dont listen to bar stool tales, grass always greener, insert anecdote here.

c0rk3r

Fantasy

redgreendragon wrote: »

Am in oz now 7 months and for 5 months i worked at both the wheat harvest season and then dairy farm work. Had no major expenses except for feeding myself and would probaly of saved close to 15000 dollars.

Reality

Taken from here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=81155717&postcount=1

Can you make / save money ?

If you work a standard Australian week which is 38hours its possible to save money. You should come out with roughly 650dollars. – 175 for the hostel and -150 for food and booze leaves you with $325 a week. So thats 1400 savings a month. The problem is that most weeks you dont get those kind of hours.

The reality is that only 20% of the people here are capable of saving / making decent money.

When you hear of people clearing 1200 and upwards a week thats because they work 80-90 hours a week. Yup thats 15hours a day, six days a week!

Ive met a few people over here that talk through their hoop! two 19 year old dublin lads claimed they were getting paid $45 abn in darwin to do labouring work. I happen to know of others working in the region who were gettin 20-25dollars an hour which is standard casual work for labourers. Tradesman are another story but generic labouring getting that much is crazy. I was also told by two graduate accounts (not fully qualified) who claimed they were being paid $40 dollars an hour. I checked seek for the going causal/contract rate and its no where near that figure, especially if youre just out of college.

Op you and everyone needs to be carefully who you seek advice from. Ok, take on board what they say but do some research yourself. Ive met so many wafflers its unbelieveable, why the **** are you lying to me when i can check for myself. Jesus christ theres no shame earning 50-60k !!

jackbhoy

c0rk3r wrote: »

Fantasy




Reality



Ive met a few people over here that talk through their hoop! two 19 year old dublin lads claimed they were getting paid $45 abn in darwin to do labouring work. I happen to know of others working in the region who were gettin 20-25dollars an hour which is standard casual work for labourers. Tradesman are another story but generic labouring getting that much is crazy. I was also told by two graduate accounts (not fully qualified) who claimed they were being paid $40 dollars an hour. I checked seek for the going causal/contract rate and its no where near that figure, especially if youre just out of college.

Op you and everyone needs to be carefully who you seek advice from. Ok, take on board what they say but do some research yourself. Ive met so many wafflers its unbelieveable, why the **** are you lying to me when i can check for myself. Jesus christ theres no shame earning 50-60k !!

I agree with your general premise but I wouldn't call redgreendragon's claims fantasy tbh. The guy said he was a farmer back home so is more likely doing semi-skilled or at least work that requires previous farm experience, so I'd assume he is making more than some backpacker picking fruit. If he worked longish hours and had low outgoings no reason why he wouldn't save c. 15k in 5 months imho.

There are a lot bigger bs merchants that this guy I think....

redgreendragon

Just want to clear up a few things about my previous post about what I earned in 5 months doing farm work in oz. Yes am a farmer back home but I also have a degree.

I came to oz the first week in october and had a job lined up driving a header in Queensland and working our way back down to victoria. For me this lasted 8 weeks or 2 months. Now not every week or day was the same but some days I worked 16 hours a day and others maybe only 10 and this was 7 days a week.

So lets say I only worked 6 days a week and doing 12 hour days at 20dollars per hour.
12x20=240 dollars a day
240x6=1440 dollars a week
1440x8= 11520 dollars for my 8 weeks work.

Now obviously tax would need to be deucted but I have probaly undercut the amount of days and hours I worked already but still lets just round the figure down to 10000 dollars.

during these 8 weeks all my food was cooked for me and my clothes washed by the bosses wife. The only expense I had was buying a few beers on days off which was usually down to rain.

So 10000 deduct 1000 for expenses gives you 9000.

Final figure for 8 weeks work is 9000 and if you are all following what am saying that figure is probaly very much on the low side.

I next went working on a dairy farm for 3 months or 12 weeks.
I worked 50 hours every week at 21.50 dollars per hour
21.50x50= 1075 per week

During my time working here I was living in a 2 bed cottage on my own paying 80 dollars a week
Also on average I was spent about 120 a week on food and phone but lets say its 150

so expenses for the week were 80+120= 200

total income a week 1075 deduct total expenditure 200= 875
deduct tax and it came to 550 saving a week
550x12 weeks= 6600


so between the two jobs in a 5 month period I saved 6600+9000=15600

Now if someone thinks am bluffing or its pub talk then I suggest you do the maths and see what figures you come up with. I reckon that figure may be a bit on the low side but I did take 2 weeks off and went drinking.

I would advice anyone not to lisen to pub talk and avoid fruit picking but then I farmed at home so I had that option.

Also at peresnt the cotton season is in full flow and the sowing for the next harvest season has started and most of these jobs involve 12 hour shifts for 7 days a week. Now I took a break from regional work but again it would be a great way to save money

Now thats REALITY

mandrake04

I did a 65 hr week and made $6000, no BS either.

The Aussie

mandrake04 wrote: »

I did a 65 hr week and made $6000, no BS either.

Ah now Mandrake, you ain't no WHV Farmer or a unskilled Tiger Cub. :pac:

mandrake04

The Aussie wrote: »

Ah now Mandrake, you ain't no WHV Farmer or a unskilled Tiger Cub. :pac:

Its great, just got to love Australia.

redgreendragon

I love seeing some of your post that clearly show some of you up as very weak and not intelligent enough to actually understand my latest post. I never once claimed I was getting 45 or 50 dollars an hour. I told you all straight up that I was getting 20 dollars an hour which is the basic pay for regional work. If any of you can pick holes in what I earned and put you an intelligent dispute about it please feel free.

I am currently Living and working in Melbourne using my degree. Yes the wages are higher but rent is higher and you have more passtimes such as meeting friends for drinks going to watch AFL games and so on.

I can safely say that after doing regional work and by this I dont mean fruit picking it is probaly easier to save working at regional work.

I suppose some people on here are jealous that after spending years at college that even though they earn more money than someone working on a decent farm in oz they find it hard to save as much money and lets be honest thats what its all about.

Come October Il be leaving Melbourne again to working at the harvest season.

Legend100

I used to be great at saving........then they took LAFHA away

c0rk3r

The problem i had was with your original post.I thought it was rather misleading. It should of read "Work insane amount of hours for 20bucks an hour in the middle of nowhere with no social life doing monotonous work".

For me saving some money is just a small aspect of life here. I worked as a laboratory chemist in the sugar industry last cane season and was offered the same role again this season (june-dec). Its shift work that is all about precision time management that is incredibly mentally draining. 3 people quit in the first two months. In the first month you work 84hours a week but get paid for 90hours because you dont have time for breaks so you claim them. You also get double pay over 38hours (job is $28.5 an hour). After the first month the hours return to 44 or more depending on whats going on. I can potentially earn an insane amount of money doing this,especially in the first month alone. but declined it!

Why? Because to do so would mean, to have any social life whatsoever i would have to stay in a dive working hostel in the middle of nowhere with nothing to do other than go to coles, do laundry,cook and drink heavily. Forget it, ill take a 15k hit rather than return to that lifestyle. It was fun though... kindof...

danotroy

c0rk3r wrote: »

I can potentially earn an insane amount of money doing this,especially in the first month alone. but declined it!

.

well i haven't experienced it, but would you not got back for a month and earn a nice few G's.

token101

Farm work seems to be the stuff Irish fables over here. I know my buddy did nearly 4 months orange picking somewhere around Adelaide and came back -1000, not because he drank it or anything but because they were getting minimum wage, getting 20 hours a week, sometimes less. Just look up Gumtree or check Harvest trail, that'll blow any illusions you have out of the water fairly quickly!

catbear

It would seem the only way to really make money is if your bed and board are included, some of those hostel fees would get you a nice hotel room in Ireland.
Edit to add: a private room in a hostel

con___manx1

i would advise anyone going to do farm work to go to the cotton gins.i worked in a cotton gin in north nsw. 150 k from a town called moore. when u work in a gin u have to do a medical and phone interview.you are on a contract which means they have to pay overtime and for bank hollidays.i worked there for 3 months made over 20000 dollars before tax. the jobs are not difficult either.my girlfriend did it with me. 10 days on 2 off 12 hour shifts night or day. u need a car that's the only thing and phone reception/internet is hard to get a signal.

Lucifer-0

con___manx1 wrote: »

phone reception/internet is hard to get a signal.

Sounds awful.

endacl

helpme23 wrote: »

Hi i thinking of heading to oz this year and i want to know were i could get farm work for maybe a couple of months or more just save some money and not be spending.I have heard of people who are earning really good money out there doing this type of work i come from a farming back ground so it would be second nature.:)

Bloody good idea. You'd meet mostly Australians and see the countryside. Wish I'd done that 12 years ago...

con___manx1

Lucifer-0 wrote: »

Sounds awful.

it was we only called home every 10 days.we had t drive 140 k to do our shopping too lol