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That’s a good question that several people already asked me. I’m not going to lie and tell you I know the way to get you a job everywhere you want in one day. That’s the first thing I can tell you already: It takes time to find a job! But I’ll tell you more about that later.

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If only it was that easy!


There are a few ways to find a job in Australia. I’ve listed the possibilities from the “worst thing to do” to “the best way to do it”. Not everyone is going to agree because they found a job while using the worst way. I’m happy for those people, but in general it isn’t the most effective way. So here we go:

  • Don’t do shit

If you sit on your lazy ass the whole day, you can be pretty sure that you won’t find a job at all! Employers can’t smell that you’re looking for a job. Even if they could do that, they’re not looking for an employee who just wants to lay back and relax. So get up and do something!

  • Contact through e-mail

A lot of backpackers just hang around in a hostel, or wherever they are, go online and find the best possible job for them. If they found themselves a couple of jobs that they would like to do, a standard email is sent to the companies in the hope they’ll respond. I can tell you right now, not many companies will respond. Most certainly not to a standard email, at least make it personal and be a bit creative to raise your chances to get an answer back.

The “sit-back and browse the internet” strategy is one you most definitely can use, but it’s what you do after you find that perfect job that makes the difference. There are a lot of websites you can use to find a job. The most common ones to look on are:

  • Seek.com.au : This is a website where all sorts of jobs appear on. There are a lot of job offers on the website that are aiming for the Australian residents who want to have a fulltime job. Apart from that you can find heaps of offers for hospitality or other casual jobs.
  • GumtreeGumtree is primarily a second hand website. Everybody can put on an ad or respond to one. They have a community section on it too, where there are a lot of job offers. Be in mind that most of those jobs will be about farm work, housekeeping or hospitality.
  • Taw.com.au : Travellers @ work is a pretty good website. The only minor disadvantage is that you can’t narrow the job offers down to a small region. It’s all about the big cities. But the jobs are only for backpackers, so it’s worth a shot to take a look a the website once in a while.

If you want to find more interesting websites, just take a look at my list of useful websites in Australia.

Remember:

  • By using these websites, you won’t find the most challenging jobs. Ask around or try a different strategy to get worthy job. You don’t want to pick fruit for 4 months do you?
  • Call and introduce yourself

Also in this case, most of the time an internet search will be done first before the actual calling starts. You should at least know where you have to call to, don’t you think? So use the websites that I suggested and try to find yourself a job you would like to do.
Or you can hit the streets and look for billboards or small papers that show some job offers. If one took your interest, then don’t hesitate and just call them. You can even call them to just ask for some more information. But always be prepared to introduce and promote yourself, they might be looking for someone who can start right away. If you’re the first one who calls then maybe you’re in luck.

I know that this isn’t the easiest or most pleasant way to get a job but it will be more effective than just sending some emails. You show that you have guts and are eager to work. Those are two qualities that employers can use if they hire someone for a short period.

Remember:

  • Don’t give up if your first phone call wasn’t the best. You’ll get the hang of it!
  • If the company didn’t call you back when they said they would, give it 2-3 more days and give them a call back. Follow up on every job you applied for, it shows you’re willing to work. ( Tip: Keep a sheet, with the companies you contacted, when you contacted them and when they will decide. So you don’t loose track. )
  • Go and ask personally

You can look for a job on the internet or drag your feet around till you stumble on a job offer on a window. Now that you found a job you can go to the pub, office, farm, or wherever the job is and tell them why they need to hire you instead of the others who send them an email or called them. Be convincing and confident.
If you’re confident enough it’s even better to walk in pubs, restaurants or other workplaces where there is no “help wanted” sign and convince them that you can be an asset as an employee. Don’t think I’m making this up, because that’s something that happends often in Australia. Ask around and you’ll hear a few stories.

Remember:

  • Always bring a resume, so they can at least get in touch with you or read through your qualifications.
  • Be convincing and promote yourself. But don’t be cocky! You’ll get hit by a few doors if you’re cocky.
  • Be creative and try something

If you desperately want to find a job, why not try to be creative for once? You feel like doing this? Go for it! Sadly enough I can’t help you with it, I can only give you an example of how I got my first and probably best job in Australia. I wrote an ad on gumtree, but not just an ad that stated that I’m a good workforce and I really want to find work. No, none of that. I just made a whole text about how I want to meet local people and do some chores for them for some small backpackers’ fee.  You can read the ad here if you want. It got me a job as a backpacker for the most hospitable and nicest women I ever met in Australia. So yes, if you ask me, it’s well worth your time to be creative and find a fun job.

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Dogwalker - my best job in Australia

Remember:

  • Give it time. Start to look for work before you really want to start working. For example my ad was online for a week before I had some proper response.
  • Get lucky that a friend hooks you up.

Don’t get your hopes up because this only happens to a few backpackers. On the other hand, maybe you’ll be the lucky one if you make lots of friends in Australia. So start building that network and just ask around if nobody knows something.

I’ll summarize in 1 tip

So in the end, the best tip I can give you is:

Get off your ass, do something. The boldest approaches work best most of the times.

I just gave you a few options here about how you can try and find a job in Australia. Nobody stops you from trying new things or to combine a few methods. You can easily send a few emails around or give some companies a call and the other day go out on the street to introduce yourself personally.

I hope I could help you with this. If you have any remarks or complements, please feel free to contact me so I can add them or just leave a comment!