Purn

Hi everyone,
I want to get a feel for the kind of jobs available in Australia, especially odd jobs. Are those easily available? If so, what kind, and how does one get those? thru local ads, posters on trees etc ? Can someone please let me know ?
thanks!

old.sparkles

Are you looking for yourself or someone else Purn? I see from your post in the welcome inn that you already have a PR visa - whats your occupation?

Purn

Hi there - thanks for your reply. Both myself and/or my husband, who is in software development. We would like a job in hand as soon as we reach, or ideally, even before (as the costs are quite a lot). So, I am prepared to work, while he looks around for work in his profession. I have admin experience, but last few years am a full time mother/wife.

old.sparkles

I wouldn't hold out much hope of finding something before you arrive - but you may get lucky. What area of Australia are you headed to?

Purn

Am open to multiple locations - Sydney/Mel/Adelaide - though the first 2 cities have most IT jobs. My question was on odd jobs - any thoughts on that? what kind/availability etc ?

old.sparkles

I'm not sure - we haven't been in Australia long - but you should consider where the most work is likely to be available to your husband. You could try looking on seek.com.au for both - but I don't think it's going to be very easy You should be thinking about bringing enough money for at least 3 months or more while you look for work

spouse of scouse

I'm in Perth but I don't think any other capital city would be much different. People who are looking for casual/ad hoc work advertise in their local community newspaper and on Gumtree. The sorts of jobs I see range from ironing and house cleaning to gardening and lawn mowing. A lot of people who advertise on Gumtree are backpackers and/or people on work/holiday visas.

These jobs are usually 'cashies', in that the person gets paid cash by the homeowner etc, some may declare it to the ATO but I'd guess that most don't (which is illegal but that's another story). One thing to be aware of if you're working in people's homes is to check that they have insurance to cover you if you're injured while doing the job. I'm not exactly sure what type of policy it is - 'domestic worker' or something similar.

Purn

Ok, thanks.
How about jobs available? I understood about people wanting jobs advertise on Gumtree. What about ads for jobs available?

Jilliebee

Seek.com.au
Careerone.com.au

Purn

Yes, I am referring to those web-sites for my area of work. But really, I am also asking about those jobs (stores, restaurants etc), that employers may not place an ad for online? Just trying to get a feel of whether it will be a challenge to get such a job, or would it be really easy ?

spouse of scouse

There would be very, very few businesses in the retail/hospitality/any industry that didn't advertise via the methods already advised (online and print media). You might stumble across the odd 'help wanted' sign in a window, but that method of attracting staff went by the board a long time ago.

In your initial post you talked about 'odd jobs' - in Australia that term means the type of jobs I mentioned in my previous reply - usually cash jobs for individuals, rather than for a business.

bitzenpces

If your background is in admin work, why not try that? Make sure you have top software skills, ie Microsoft Office, and contact the main employment agencies in Melbourne - maybe someone else on here can give a few names - as well as the online sites. I've heard that shelf stacking at places like Big W and Kmart are worth looking at. If you are not used to restaurant work, why put yourself through that if you have other skills? It takes a lot of energy, effort and time to get yourself settled here.

Bermudashorts

Just what I was thinking. Going for jobs that you have no experience in, is only going to make it harder not easier.

Purn

Thank you all! Well, this is about us finding some work will my husband finds something in his profession (IT). If its a little hard, we dont mind doing it, but living off ones savings, without a certainty about a job, is more worrisome.

teza

Also depends when you are planning to arrive, as decembr to February is the holiday season and most businesses aren't hiring as bosses are on holidays.