Australian Working Holiday Visa

 

Australia has a working holidaymaker program for citizens of certain countries between 18 and 30 years of age. It allows you to stay in Australia for 12 months from the time you first enter. You may work during that time, but only for 6 months at any one employer (was 3 months until July 2006).

The idea is for you to take a holiday subsidised by casual or short-term jobs. If you're interested in a working holiday, some useful skills and experience might be: office skills to be used for temp work; or hospitality skills to be used for bar or restaurant work. An alternative is seasonal work like fruit-picking, although much seasonal work will require that you work outside the major cities. From 2006, working for 3 months in seasonal work will allow you to apply for a second 12 month visa.

You can apply online for a Working holiday visa, but you must not be in Australia at the time. It takes just a few hours to process usually and it costs about 170AUD. On arriving in Australia ask for the working holiday visa to be "evidenced", so you can show your future employer.

A working holiday visa restricts you to contract type jobs. Don't waste your time applying for permanent jobs in the hope of sponsorship for a different visa class. Contract jobs generally mean employers are looking for solid experience, so make your resume reflect that. Search for jobs on Seek or for IT related roles Jobnet. It is wise to try arrange a few Interviews and prospects before you arrive in Australia in order to be in the better paid jobs.