Queensland offers a range of job opportunities for budget travel and backpacking visitors.
Depending on your level of education and previous work experience you should be able to find
something ranging between clerical duties in an office to fruit picking on a farm.Once you have set up your web mail account, you can send yourself an email containing your CV - but don't clear it from your mail. Then you can access that at any time to print a copy, or else you can forward it to a prospective employer.
Before you can start work you must apply for your Tax File Number (TFN) from the Tax Department - without this employers should not employ you. And they will most likely want to direct deposit your pay into your bank, so you will need to get a bank account as soon as possible.
The highest paid jobs are usually found in the capital cities such as Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Job interviews can sometimes be stressful - you may have to talk to only one person or there may be several. You will probably be asked some easy questions about yourself and your experience, and then maybe some probing questions designed to give the interviewers information about how well you would fit into their organisation.
Preparation will help you to respond to unanticipated questions - make sure you can recite your CV - think about your strengths and your weaknesses - try to remain calm and breathe deeply if you are nervous.
Some Employment Websites
The Government in Australia operates a good job search website at http://jobsearch.gov.au/ which carries farming, labouring and office clerical vacancies suitable for backpacker jobs. There is a section of this site called the Harvest Trail which is a good place to start looking for fruit picking work and usually these farmers are very happy to employ backpacking visitors.
| http://employment.byron.com.au/ | Smaller agency in Sydney | |
| https://jobsearch.gov.au/ | Aussie Government site | |
| http://www.careerone.com.au/ | The Australian and the Herald Sun | |
| http://www.seek.com.au/ | Biggish office employment site | |
| http://www.bauq.com/job-sites.htm | Useful collection of job sites |
Some Things to be Careful About
Some employment advertisements in Queensland promise employment if money is sent - these schemes are also sometimes called "Home Working Opportunities" or "Work from Home" programs - sometimes they offer training courses in IT, modelling or hospitality - or sometiomes they actually ask for backpacking or budget travel visitors.
So when in Brisbane it is probably best to look for work with larger companies and to beware of any "work from home" style advertisements, particularly if they ask for self-addressed envelopes or money. Many of the positions are not suitable for backpacker jobs, so just keep looking and don't forget the notice boards at the hostels.
Avoid jobs for independent contractors - they have have responsibilities which normal employees do not have to worry about, and sometimes these are costly. As an independent contractor you may have to arrange your own taxation and you may have to pay for your tools and expenses.
Don't consume alcohol or drugs before an interview and don't go to out of the way locations until you are satisfied with the job. Don't enrol in unnecessary training courses and don't pay joining fees for anything - and particularly in Australia don't sign anything you do not understand.