Australia, New Zealand & the South Pacific - Working in Australia on a Working Holiday Visa

I was granted a working holiday visa and want to ask if anyone knows how difficult it is to find a short term (< 6 month) job with this type of visa? My plan is to sign up with some job placement agencies. Does it also work to just pop into businesses that have "help wanted" signs on the door? I'm American, and in the US it's quite common (for low/entry level retail and office support jobs) to fill out an application, interview with a manager, and have a job offer within days. Is this also possible in Australia?

My plan is to spend a couple of months in Sydney, earning money for things like food and transportation while paying for housing from money I've already saved, since I'm guessing it would be very difficult to earn enough money to cover all living expenses. Anyone have experiences with the working holiday visa?

In the big cities depending on your experience you should have no trouble finding work. WHV applicants number 120k/annum so your there will be plenty of people in similar positions. When I was just out of school I had a part time job at large Australian investment bank and they employed a large staff of temps who were about 50% WHV. With the recession things maybe a bit more difficult, but you would not be paid any differently to a local doing the same tasks. If you were in an office environment in the CBD doing basic menial tasks then you should be looking at at least AU$20/hour, which on a 40 hour work week should cover your living allowance...depending on how you like to live of course;)

Will you be travelling alone or with a couple of mates? If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?

The job market is VERY bad right now and companies are cutting back on temps and forcing the few perms who are left to work more to cover employees on leave. Many low-level clerical jobs have been outsourced to Asian countries. I wouldn't come here planning to work unless you have a unique skill not found in Australia. There are heaps of Aussies losing their jobs right now due to the recession and I have heard of MBAs doing labour jobs because they can't get anything in their field.

I agree... I'm currently in Australia on a work and holiday visa, and its pretty bad (and getting worse)

Finding a casual short term job in city can be hard going. And you often spend a lot the money earned on booze & food if you associate with other travellers / backpackers. But is a lot of fun and not to be missed. :D

Well there is always fruit picking (http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&q=fruit+picking&btnG=Google+Search&meta=cr%3DcountryAU&aq=f&oq=). :) Many follow fruit & vegetable seasons around the country
http://www.hnh.net.au/Jobs/fruit.html
http://www.fruitpicking.org/

The job market is VERY bad right now and companies are cutting back on temps and forcing the few perms who are left to work more to cover employees on leave. Many low-level clerical jobs have been outsourced to Asian countries. I wouldn't come here planning to work unless you have a unique skill not found in Australia. There are heaps of Aussies losing their jobs right now due to the recession and I have heard of MBAs doing labour jobs because they can't get anything in their field.

Maybe because I had a specialisation but when I got back from London 4 months ago I had two job offers on landing. There is still bar work etc available which maybe what the OP is looking for.

In the big cities depending on your experience you should have no trouble finding work. WHV applicants number 120k/annum so your there will be plenty of people in similar positions. When I was just out of school I had a part time job at large Australian investment bank and they employed a large staff of temps who were about 50% WHV. With the recession things maybe a bit more difficult, but you would not be paid any differently to a local doing the same tasks. If you were in an office environment in the CBD doing basic menial tasks then you should be looking at at least AU$20/hour, which on a 40 hour work week should cover your living allowance...depending on how you like to live of course;)

Will you be travelling alone or with a couple of mates? If you don't mind my asking, how old are you?

I'll be traveling alone. I'm 29. Finance background, Ivy League and Oxbridge grad ... used to work on Wall Street for one of the big banks. Just looking to spend a couple of months in Australia for a change in scenery and the experience of working in a foreign country. I live modestly, so AU$20/hr would be great ... would be happy to earn even AU$15/hr. I know jobs are probably hard to find in Australia in this economy, so trying to keep my expectations low. I don't mind bar or restaurant work either if those types of jobs are more plentiful.

I'll be traveling alone. I'm 29. Finance background, Ivy League and Oxbridge grad ... used to work on Wall Street for one of the big banks. Just looking to spend a couple of months in Australia for a change in scenery and the experience of working in a foreign country. I live modestly, so AU$20/hr would be great ... would be happy to earn even AU$15/hr. I know jobs are probably hard to find in Australia in this economy, so trying to keep my expectations low. I don't mind bar or restaurant work either if those types of jobs are more plentiful.

As a point of reference I have a mate, from Texas too actually (Dallas), who moved out here recently also an Ivy Leaguer. He is in residential property development and there were zero jobs available, in the end he started his own company because there was no work around.

Your best bet might be to check out Seek (http://www.seek.com.au) and see what is available if anything and also send your CV off for a few of the jobs, even if you don't get the job you should get a call back.

As I said I had two offers when I got back (neither of which I took because I have started my own company) but they were compliance/AML BA type roles which tend to be immune from the worst of the downturn. On the other hand I have heard that some trading desks are making a killing at the moment from the volatility so there could be some work available in the back/middle office if you have experience...