Many countries have mutual agreements that allow younger adults, often from 18 to 30 or 35, the opportunity to live and work in foreign countries for a year or more. Opportunities for UK citizens include Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and Taiwan. These vias are a great way to travel in these countries, as well as experience different cultures and ways of life.

I spent around a year in New Zealand (2013-2014), followed by Australia (2015-2016), then Canada (2019-2020). I worked in a variety of roles and industries in each country, and I learned a lot – often through trial and error – about how to search for and find work. Although conditions for temporary workers may have changed in that time, I am confident many of the principles remain.

My time in each of those countries was equally rewarding, though the types of work varied immensely. Through the work, I met many amazing, funny, and lovely people, who I still consider friends to this day. Below, I will share how I found those jobs, what they gave me, and – hopefully – explain why I can’t recommend the opportunity highly enough.

Contacts

The most influential factor in my successful job applications has been, without doubt, having had a reference from someone I knew to the prospective employer. In New Zealand, a friend of a friend had worked at the swimming pools where I applied to be a lifeguard – and name-dropping that person only helped my application. In Australia, on two occasions, I have benefited from a referral. Firstly, when a fellow hostel guest suggested I contact the employer he was leaving, to take on the role of a delivery driver. Secondly, when I stayed with my distant relative near Perth, they knew the owner of large orchard in the region, and they could directly ask if there was a vacancy for me – there was. A recommendation has on multiple occasions almost guaranteed I got the role.

Now, if you don’t know anyone where you are going, fear not. Approach people you meet – fellow travellers, hostelers, or the workers in their place of business – about how they found work. Socialise, engage in communal activities, join a sports team, play music, whatever it is. If you’re in a new place, contacts are vital to understanding the employment climate and job openings. Hostels often have noticeboards with employers who are actively looking to take on temporary workers. Recruitments agents may also be available, too (for transparency, I haven’t ever used these to any effect).

Show your face

For casual employment, the process for getting work is quicker and less bureaucratic than applying for a permanent role. As employers in casual sectors often need workers quickly, selection is often on a first-come, first-employed basis. With that in mind, it helps to meet employers in person as soon as possible, show you are keen, and available for work immediately. What’s more, face-to-face meetings allow for developing a rapport you don’t get through written communication. Also, you can get a feel for your potential boss, as well as the atmosphere at the place of work. If going to the employer in person isn’t possible, though, given them a call.

Get online

Casual employers have embraced technology, too. Social media, as well as popular employment websites (these vary in the country you are in) advertise casual work. There are often groups to join, or proficient guides for the area you are in, to search for available work, discovering seasonal variations.

I was successful with an online application in Queensland, Australia for a role as a telephone fundraiser for a company that worked on behalf of charities. Again, I was successful in Ontario, Canada for a role in a warehouse for a family-run company that made and sold birdseed across the entire country.

There are opportunities online for employment, however, you could be competing with countless other applicants. Try to make your application stand out, make sure your CV (resume) is relevant to the job you are applying for, and send it across. You may have low response rates to your applications, but stick at it, because it only takes one.

Off-limits

There were roles I would never apply for, including a common one for backpackers – working in a hostel. I couldn’t face the idea of cleaning up after fellow travellers, chiefly, those who chose not to clean up after themselves. There were also a few occasions I didn’t last long in roles. Delivering advertising material for an estate agent while riding a moped, was a fun job for the first two days. For the following four weeks, it was excruciatingly dull and, unsurprisingly, unrewarding. So, when I was warned twice by the police about driving on the walkways (pavements), I happily quit that role.

On another occasion in Australia, I turned up to pick cherry tomatoes, when apples were out of season. Unlike picking apples that are picked from shoulder height and above, picking tomatoes involves bending down to knee-height. I lasted about an hour before my back felt like it was about to break. I apologised to the supervisor, handed my small bucket of tomatoes to a friendly lady working next to me, and left.

My short stint as a cherry picker was for the third and final pick of the cherry-picking season – meaning most cherries had already ripened and been picked. That left us with measly amounts for inexperienced workers, and the pay for the day was far below minimum wage – it was barely worth it. On the plus side, it did allow me to eat generous amounts of cherries as compensation.

I think it is reasonable to have limits to the jobs you do. If you find yourself in work that you’re truly uncomfortable with, don’t stick it out for the sake of it. On another note, there are many stories of backpackers and immigrant workers being taken advantage of, and you shouldn’t stand that it, either. In fact, you should probably report it.

My experiences

I worked in positions abroad I likely wouldn’t have done if I hadn’t gone on working holidays. That included delivering leaflets on a motorbike (50cc scooter), coaching football, lifeguarding, farm work, fruit picking, fund raising for charities, and general labouring in a bird seed factory. Despite my inexperience in most of these sectors, I was genuinely eager to try them, and do well. Each were important learning curves for me, not just a means to an end, and helped me develop different skills, while boosting my self-confidence. It was also a great insight into a variety of different types of industries, and how hard the work is.

One of the most satisfying employments for me was being paid to play football in New Zealand. I had played at a decent level in the UK, but I had never threatened to make it as a professional, or even semi-professional. I had always kept myself very fit, and my near-obsession with playing football from my early teenage years to my mid-twenties allowed me to hold my own with more experienced players. So, with a great deal of good fortune, at the age of 26, I had the luxury of being paid to play a sport that I loved. Although it was a modest amount, it covered my relatively low rent at the time. Most significantly, it gives me bragging rights over my four older brothers.

The challenges

Beyond the (minor) glamour of playing football for a living, there were many other rewards from the jobs I did on working holidays. Life as a fruit picker, over two periods of around seven months, forced me to push myself physically as much as any sport or hike I ever did. After eight hours of picking and carrying fruit, as well as climbing up and down ladders, I would be exhausted, while knowing I had to be up the next day before sunlight to do it all over again. Because of the uncertain and seasonal nature of farm/orchard work, shift patterns can vary, and I once did 11 days in a row of fruit picking. That was tough, and only possibly by working alongside a great group, from countries all over the world, including Italy, France, Germany, Malaysia, and Papua New Guinea. We also lived together, cooked, and ate together. Those were unforgettable times.

Another job that tested me, but in a very different way, was working as a fundraiser for charity. Unlike physical work, it didn’t come naturally to me. I had to use my voice to persuade people to donate their money to several different charities (anyone who knew me before my mid-twenties, would surely know that I’d struggle at that). While the cause was a good one, the environment was harsh; if you didn’t sign up enough donators, you were quickly let go. That almost happened to me, but one manager at the organisation gave me a second chance, and I managed to hold out for three months – long enough to save for my next series of adventures. During my time there, I realised the subtle variances in tone, structure, and manner that speech can have, and that my generic, dull monotone style could do with an injection of passion, at least some of the time.

My time as a lifeguard in New Zealand forced me to improve my swimming skills, which had been lacklustre previously. Witnessing a family-run business in Ontario, Canada, manufacturing and distributing birdseed showed me how entrepreneurship generates successful and valuable trade. Coaching football to kids in New Zealand highlighted that I could find work I am deeply passionate about, and thoroughly enjoy. I look back at each role as an important part of my personal development.

Get out what you put in

If you approach the jobs with the right attitude; enthusiasm, a willingness to learn, to adapt, and to try something new, you will increase your chance of success. Quite often, in the roles I found myself in, it took me awhile to get up to speed. With perseverance – and understanding employers – I kept at them until I was able to do a half-decent job. You might struggle at first, but if people can see you care, and you are trying, they will be more patient with you. It may pay off for them as well, if in time you prove yourself to be a good worker.

A working holiday is a unique opportunity to travel and work in a different country. The temporary nature of the visa might restrict you from more permanent or long-term roles, but it also reveals a world of weird and wonderful work that you might have never dreamt of doing. These jobs test you mentally and physically. They will also offer the opportunity to develop skills that you can transfer to other areas of your life and career. You might, as I did, meet friendly and fascinating colleagues that help create memories that last with you for the rest of your life.