Getting a job in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa

What it’s really like and my advice on how to do it

As of this very moment I have been in Australia for… *checks watch*… what feels like forever… *checks watch again*… *finds watch was actually imaginary*…

I have actually been here for around a month now and looking for a job for about 3 weeks. In job-hunting time (not dissimilar to dog years) I have been looking for a job for over a year. While not entirely fruitless the past few weeks looking for a job have left me feeling pretty hopeless and unwanted. It’s tough to spend so much time applying to jobs and sending emails and putting so much of your energy into each one and getting invested in each job you apply for to not even get the courtesy of an official rejection. It’s even tougher to watch your partner send just 4 emails and get a job. It’s even tougher still for that job to be in a really beautiful place and for them to really enjoy it. So, as you may be able to tell, I’m not feeling as positive as I’d like to right now.

That being said, and I would forgive you for assuming otherwise, I haven’t lost hope completely. I haven’t exhausted all my options and there are some promising opportunities that might end well for me. It’s not an entirely disheartening experience and I want to take this opportunity to share some of the things that I have learned. Maybe there is a positive in this situation after all!

I feel I have put enough time and effort into the pursuit of a job here in Australia to declare myself something of an authority on the subject (not a top authority but give it another week or so) and feel entirely entitled to start dishing out some advice. Lucky you.

Here are my best tips for you that will hopefully make you feel more prepared if looking for a job while on your working holiday visa in Australia. Or, at the very least, you can have a bit of a laugh at me and how hopeless you think my advice is. This advice is based on my experience looking for a job in Perth, Western Australia, on a working holiday visa from the UK. For a little background as well, I am looking for a hospitality or retail job and have a whopping 5 years of hospitality experience under my belt and 1 year in retail (jealous?)

1. Decide what job are looking for before you go

Australia has all kinds of different rules and requirements compared to the UK. For example, if you were wanting to work somewhere that serves alcohol you will need an RSA (a responsible service of alcohol certificate). In Australia each individual who serves alcohol has their own license, rather than working under a licensed manager, and needs to obtain an RSA in order to work in a venue that serves alcohol. This is not a difficult qualification to get (I got mine while I was still in the UK, it took me an afternoon and cost around £15) but it is definitely going to give you a leg up when looking for hospitality jobs as they will always ask if you have an RSA and can pay you less if you do start working there before you get your qualification. 

I should also point out that each state has different rules surrounding an RSA and certain certificates are only accepted in certain states so make sure you are getting the right qualifications for where you will be working or you might end up spending money on a qualification you never use!

If you wanted to work in a different area there are qualifications you will need for these as well. Construction requires a white card and any job around children requires a working with children check. Other jobs may also require a police check or a first aid qualification or countless other licenses and qualifications you may not have considered. It’s always worth thinking about what you may want to do and making sure you’re as prepared as possible to give you the best chance. It’s also worth noting that you are required to pay for all of these things yourself, something I was pretty outraged by and don’t believe would be acceptable back in the UK but that’s just the way it is out here.

If you’re extra prepared you can even research what jobs they seem to be most in need of in the areas you’re going to and get yourself a little experience. I have seen an awful lot of chef jobs advertised and, in Western Australia at least, there is a lot of demand for experienced labourers as well.

2. Polish up your CV

This one is an obvious one but when you’re looking for jobs you need to make sure you have a good CV to send out. A piece of advice that has always served me well is keep your CV to one page. People don’t want or need to read multiple pages about your experience, they need to be able to scan it quickly and find out everything they need to know. This rule will help you to decide what is important and needs to be included and what isn’t actually important at all. For example, if you won the egg and spoon race every single sports day at primary school that is essential information that your future employer needs to know and should be included.

I have also always had a picture of myself on my CV, I think it’s really important for employers looking at your CV to put a face to the information they’re seeing and it can sometimes really make you stand out. It’s a small change that could make a big difference!

3. Prepare a good enquiry email/message

I found that in Australia, especially with hospitality work, jobs aren’t advertised online at all. This is because employers simply don’t need to, they get CVs handed in every single day and there is a seemingly never ending supply of staff. So scrolling Indeed won’t really cut it, you’re going to need to do the dirty work yourself and ask for opportunities rather than waiting for them to come to you.

So, once you have your CV ready you need to prepare something that you can send out to people that explains a bit about who you are and what you’re looking for. For this it’s really important to make yourself stand out by showing a bit of your personality. Show people why they should consider you rather than all the other people asking them for a job. ChatGPT (other AIs are available) is your friend here but it won’t be able to make something really good for you without the right prompts. Putting some thought into your prompt is really important. You can upload your CV and ask for an email draft that is based on that and highlights certain things that you want to highlight as well as asking for it to be written in a certain tone and maybe even include some jokes if that’s your style. And don’t forget to say please, manners are very important.

4. Consider where you can reasonably get to

It may come as a surprise to you but Australia is a pretty big place. The cities are really spread out and it’s not nearly as walkable as I expected it to be. I am based in Perth right now and am fully reliant on public transport. The public transport here is really good and easy to use but there are some major gaps. It pretty much just connects the CBD (what Aussies call the city centre) to the various suburbs but doesn’t actually connect many of the suburbs to each other without forcing you to take a ridiculously long detour. Cars are kind of an essential for Aussie life, especially is Perth. But they are expensive and not really an affordable option for most backpackers, I know it’s definitely not for me. So before you start your search think about where you’re going to be based and where you will be able to actually get to every day for work with the transport available to you.

5. Get looking at the maps and send as many emails and message as you can bear to

Once you’ve prepared your CV and a good email template and decided what area to look in it’s time to turn to the map. Search in your area for, in my case, restaurants, bars, cafes, and shops that you can easily travel to and check out their websites: are they advertising for staff on their website and can you apply; is there an email you can get in touch with; if you can’t find an email look at their instagram or facebook, is there anything on there or maybe you can just message them. The key to this is to be shameless and relentless! This is not a time to start being shy or embarrassed, you never know what could come out of it.

It can also be a good idea to go into places and speak to them in person. However, when I did this I either wasn’t able to speak to a manager or was directed to send an email to the address I’d already contacted. I walked away feeling like I’d been out and about in the heat all day and putting in so much effort to end up in the same position I was before I left the house. It just wasn’t worth the effort for me and I was able to reach a lot more people by simply emailing or messaging. That being said, I do know people who have got jobs by just walking in and asking for one so if you are better with people face-to-face, then go for it!

6. Don’t expect full time work

Especially if you are looking at hospitality jobs, don’t expect to be working full time in one place. Most places will only have part time staff so it’s easier to cover if anyone goes away or quits suddenly so it’s very normal to juggle multiple jobs if it’s full time that you’re after. Getting jobs that won’t overlap each other’s hours is probably the best way to do it (i.e. a cafe in the mornings and a bar in the evenings). You should also be prepared for your hours to differ week to week if any of the other staff are away, you might do 35 hours one week and 8 the next. Unfortunately.

7. Stay positive

Looking for a job is not easy and sending thousands of emails and applying for thousands of jobs to not hear anything can be pretty disheartening so stay positive and try not to dwell on it too much. The right thing will happen for you at the right time!

8. the most important part

Realise all this advice is the opposite of what you should do and is merely my attempt at improving my chances by making everyone else do the wrong thing. Or is it… Or was that a double bluff… Or a triple…

An update after my year of travelling

After to struggling to find somewhere to live and work that was as close to full time as I could manage, I decided it would be easiest for me to spend half my year living and working in Perth and half my year travelling. There are so many ways to spend your Working Holiday Visa (and it obviously doesn’t have to be just one year), this is the way that worked best for me. I had an amazing house and life in Perth that could have lasted a lot longer than it did and the money I saved paid for the rest of my year travelling the east coast of Australia as well as New Zealand, Fiji, and Thailand. If you are only planning on doing a year this felt like the best of both worlds for me. There are literally countless ways you can spend your Working Holiday but I urge you to be realistic about how you want to live and how much time it will take you to set up your life the way you want it.

This might go without saying but I will say it anyway: just because you get a job, doesn’t mean you have to keep it. You only have a certain amount of time on a Working Holiday and it’s supposed to be fun, if you have a job that you hate (or even one you just don’t enjoy) then you are allowed to get a new one! I had 4 jobs during my 7 months in Perth because I wasn’t enjoying what I was doing and wasn’t willing to settle when it came to my quality of life. Especially with hospitality it is so easy to walk in and walk out of jobs. You are disposable to them but don’t forget that they are just as disposable to you. If you aren’t happy, don’t be afraid to look for something better.

Lib Howden

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