The reasons people have for living and working on the road vary widely: they may have retired and want to remain useful; they may need to work; and some people volunteer to add something to remote areas and become part of those communities for a short time. Many long-term nomads have invested their money and have a kitty which they top up by working. But no matter what your reasons are, if you need to find work we have a few tips to help you.
The work is there. Many communities are desperate for reliable workers and some rely on nomads to get them through their busy seasons. We have taken jobs from time to time over the last four years and we have found our jobs in several different ways.
We have found that the jobs we have done on the road are usually different to any work that we’ve done before we retired. I worked as a journalist in the past but now I have done farm work with citrus, avocados and prawns, been a tourist guide, and worked in retail. Geoff has worked on heavy machinery in the Pilbara and in Alice Springs, and most times employers are happy to train you because they train you to do the job THEIR way, so experience doesn’t matter that much.
Here are some tips for travelling workers:
Give anything a go
Determine whether you are looking for paid or voluntary work before you search. Start online. Google sites like Seek and Gumtree for more general employment lists and the Australian Government site has harvest information…just do a Google search for ‘harvest trail’. Also there is a Harvest Trail book available at Tourist Info centres and newsagents.
For volunteer work, the Grey Nomad sites are a good bet and you can also look for internet sites on volunteering and house sitting. Google is your friend when looking for work! We have found local papers are of very little use; the internet is far more useful.
Local people are a great source of work
Talk to locals. I found volunteer work by talking to the newsagent in Julia Creek and ended up working with Home and Community Care. In Mareeba our neighbours at the caravan park worked on an avocado farm. They needed more workers and we both found jobs.
In the Pilbara, as we were booking into the caravan park at Point Sampson we mentioned that we might stay a while if we could find work. The receptionist gave us a tip which landed Geoff a great job at a local quarry. Employment in the country is often a very casual affair. It’s who you know.
Local job agencies
In many towns, local job agencies are contracted by the farmers to find new hires. Sometimes, this is the only way employers find workers, as it’s easier for the farmers during busy picking times. You can Google “job agency” (and towns name) or “labour hire” and “recruitment” for information about local agencies.
BUT BEWARE… you might be paying some of your wage to agencies although some arrangements see the employer paying them which is preferable.
In the past grey nomads were vying with backpackers for farming jobs but more and more often we are finding that nomads are valued for their reliability and work ethic – which is good for us!
Knock on doors
We landed a great job on a prawn farm in Queensland after approaching a farmer in his paddock in NSW. He didn’t have any work but his son, who managed a prawn farm in north Queensland, was always looking for workers, so when we were in the area we phoned him and now we’re back for our second season.
Ask ahead at caravan parks if they need workers. We did that and spent 3 months at Bitter Springs in the NT.
In Alice Springs I went to the Old Telegraph Station and volunteered to help out around the precinct and they gave me a job. I was there 8 months.
Hairdressers and handymen – just hang out a sign!
Pensioners can work
You do either lose your pension temporarily or receive a reduced pension when you’re employed, but it resumes when you stop – you don’t have to go through all the rigmarole again.
Here’s how it works: you register online or in person with Centrelink to open the ‘Job reporting’ facility when you start a job. Every two weeks you report online, or via their app, how many hours you have worked and your pension either diminishes or stops in relation to how much you’ve earned. When you stop working you close down the reporting facility and your pension automatically resumes. If your pension is several hundred dollars a week and your job brings in $1000 or more, you are way ahead if you’re working.
Superannuation
If you have retired you may need to open a new super account to deposit the super from your new employment…if you haven’t retired, use the one you’ve always used.
Important tip: when you start a new job MAKE SURE you give them the information on which super account to use, or you’ll end up with super in many different accounts. This can get out of control if you are doing lots of short term jobs. We just work now and then but we’ve worked in many different places and before long you could easily forget what super you had and where it was.
If employers open a new account for you, make sure you roll it into your main account ASAP, to keep things under control.
TAFE is a great place to start
I did a certificate in Tourism/Guiding and it landed me two great jobs in Alice Springs, and Geoff got tickets for heavy machinery. It cost a bit to do the courses but those qualifications have landed high-paying jobs and were well worthwhile. There are courses for bar work, food handling, child care and aged care. All of this work is readily available in remote areas for people working on the road.
Some courses are available online.
Older workers
Look at “older workers” websites for specialised employment with employers open to capitalising on reliability and experience. Older workers are people over 45. There are a number of sites specialising in these jobs. Rural families in particular like older people to farm sit and this information is on Grey Nomad sites.
Put a CV together
Update this regularly. For administrative and office work you are expected to be tech-savvy and many employers will search places like LinkedIn to see if you are on the site. This will demonstrate that you are up-to-date, using the latest ways of getting yourself out there, and will be a plus in their decision process – thus putting you ahead of someone else.
Heidi Holmes, the Managing Director of Adage, a leading Older Workers site, has a blog detailing 13 tips on writing a CV and securing your next job. It is worth going to their site and reading it – visit blog.adage.com.au and use the sidebar on the left to locate the articles written in September 2014.
Keep faith with employers
This is important for all people working on the road. We have a great reputation for reliability and keeping faith will make sure it is preserved. If you have a good name with an employer you will stand an excellent chance of return employment if you are passing that way again.
We are about to start work at a prawn farm that we worked on 3 years ago because we kept faith, worked hard and they are happy to have us back. After this we are off to an orchard where we have worked before. Reliability pays off in spades if you are working on the road.
Here is an important, additional tip: If you are working on the road you’ll need to make sure your accommodation is comfortable for a long term stay. Often you can stay on site; we have spent several months living between citrus trees in a beautiful orchard, and during the hottest summer on record in Alice Springs we were grateful for a site that shaded us all day long. Get a site where your awning is protected from prevailing winds. In Cardwell and Mareeba we were lucky enough to be under shade structures, protected from sun and rain. Be fussy about setting up because you’ll live with any mistakes for months.
You’ll need good shower and clothes-washing facilities for work clothes. Often you’ll work long hours, sometimes seven days a week, because seasonal work has a short window for optimum farm income. It’s a similar case with tourism work, as tourists come in seasons too.
Be prepared: it’s boom or bust working on the road – but the best part is your involvement in remote communities and with other travellers. The people you meet working on the road make the life rich and rewarding.
ONLINE JOB SEARCH OPPORTUNITIES
Grey Nomads Jobs: greynomadsjobs.com.au
Adage: adage.com.au
Seek: seek.com.au