LPayne

Hi All,

I am a 22 year old graduate currently in full time employment in the UK, however I have heard a lot about the 1/2 year working holiday in Australia and I am seriously considering taking up the chance around June/July next year.

My biggest interest is sports and I would like to further my career in sport or start a fresh in a new sports industry in Australia. I have heard Melbourne is the place to be for sports, is this correct?

This post is ideally to hear from people who may have done this before or are planning on doing it soon. I'd like to know what needs to be done from start to finish in order to make this happen. I am also of course keen to hear from anyone who can provide any insight or advice on living in Australia from the UK.

I look forward to hearing from you all.

Regards

Lewis

quoll

The WHV isn't really designed for career furthering - it's more for casual earnings - barista, farm work, bar work, hotel work etc and you can only work for one employer for a max of 6 months. If you want the second year, then you have to do a stint in a country area in order to be able to extend.

Sports science is hugely popular in Aus universities so you will be up against a large pool of home grown talent. Unless you are outstanding in some particular sport (e.g. ex international) then you are going to struggle to get anything meaningful

Bermudashorts

No I have never heard that "Melbourne is the place to be for sports". In fact that is one of the strangest comment I have ever heard. Of course it is a generalisation, but I do find Australians a sporty lot, whatever city they live in, however this means that a lot of people will choose careers in your area.

You have noted that your visa is for one or two years if you carry out certain work, generally farm work. You are also restricted to only six months with each employer. It is entirely possible that you will get work in sports but I wouldn't be thinking if it as career enhancing due to the visa limitations. It might be better to think of it as just something to pay the bills.

In terms of living in Australia, well we have all done its but it is hard to know where to start with the general request for advice about living in Australia. You will get more responses if you can be specific about the things you would like advice on.

Veronika

Not everyone is lucky enough to be able to get a WHV. You are. So don't be afraid, go and have an adventure! If you do have work experience up your sleeve that makes you a good catch, as far as employers in Australia are concerned, then you may indeed be able to do some work that furthers your career. The best way to get an idea about this is to contact recruiters/employers and see what kind of feedback you get.
But do remember, as people above have pointed out, that you can only work for one employer for up to 6 months at a time. And that if you want to stay past the first year you will have to complete 88 days of regional work (there is lots more information about this on the Department's website). Don't leave this until the very end; if you want to stay past the 1st year do get the 88 days out of the way asap.