By Simon Bidwell, Posted Feb 05, 2008
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Good place to make some $$$
The good news: while guides on other countries might tell you how overqualified/lucky/illegal you have to be to get work, you can forget all that in New Zealand. With the lowest unemployment rate in the developed world, and a steady flow of people leaving for the big smoke overseas, New Zealand is practically begging for bright young foreigners to come and settle down.
This doesn’t mean you can just turn up. The best idea is to apply for a one-year Working Holiday visa, which allows you to work casually while you travel in the country. Citizens from a long list of countries from Argentina and Belgium to the USA and Uruguay can get this visa if they are between the ages of 18 and 30.
The New Zealand Immigration Service website (http://www.immigration.govt.nz) explains all the various options, which as well as the Working Holiday include general skills, work-to-residence, study-to-work, thinking-about-studying and so forth. Basically it boils down to: if you have a college degree, speak reasonable English and can convince someone to offer you a permanent job, you can probably stay as long as you’re willing to fill out forms.
For casual travelers, picking up work is better than easy. You’ll probably find notices and leaflets stapled all the over the notice board at the first hostel you stay. Fruit picking is a major occupation for backpackers in the summer months, mainly in north and east of the North Island or in Marlborough or Central Otago in the South Island. You should earn around $100 USD a day if you stick at it.
If you can’t be bothered slaving away in the sun, there are plenty of jobs in bars, cafes or elsewhere in the hospitality industry. People with special skills in skiing, snowboarding, kayaking, rock climbing or similar have a good chance of getting work as an instructor or guide in one of the tourist areas or skifields. If you’ve got a college degree, you can probably get work through a temp agency in Auckland or Wellington that will pay better rates and let you chill out in an office.
As well as the hostel notice board and word-of-mouth from fellow travelers, good websites to check out include “Seek”:http://www.seek.co.nz ) and the failsafe “TradeMe”:http://www.trademe.co.nz).
With no visa at all, things are very much harder. New Zealand is so small, and it’s so easy for travelers to get a visa, that only the least scrupulous fruit and vineyard owners are likely to employ someone without a stamp.
