Post: #1

Hi all , This is my first post so I feel a bit guilty asking for advice rather than contributing . I am sure I will contribute as much possible in the coming days .

Basically I am 27 and recently quit my freelance photography business and looking to take up a basic job and then travel for a while . I have British passport and I speak French conversational too . I am not good at hardship and manual work and that is not an option .

I was looking at Australia as I can get a working Holiday visa there or newzealand or canada (although the pay in Canada would be less I guess) . Also Scandinavia and Switzerland are an option as they are rich countries and basic wages are high . But I heard Sweden is really difficult to get english speaking jobs as foreigners abecause the locals all speak perfect english and swedish and I assume this would be the case for most of Scandinavia .

I intend to save some money by working for about 6-7 months and then travel as long as that money will last me . So working at a pub in London or similar is no good as I will spend 80 percent or more of what I'll make .

Any suggestions welcome and much appreciated ! cheers !

Post: #2

Working at a decent place you should have no problem making $30-35 hour in Sydney. Keep in mind it's also expensive to live there.

Post: #3

I would say that the Algarve region in Portugal is very nice. The pay can be pretty decent during the summer specially considering that Portugal has a lower cost of living. Nice food, weather and women.

Post: #4

If you want to save decent money then work as a bartender on cruise ships. Lodging and catering will be on the house so you will basically save every single cent you earn.

Post: #5

Yeah you will struggle to find a job in Scandinavia without speaking the language. I think Switzerland would be the same?

Post: #6

(06-01-2016 10:05 AM)Sidney Crosby Wrote:  Working at a decent place you should have no problem making $30-35 hour in Sydney. Keep in mind it's also expensive to live there.

You're talking Sydney, NSW right?

$35 an hour is high. There are jobs that pay that high for unskilled workers but they are rare and generally highly nepotist, you'd really need to know someone. Shit, when I was working in a corporate job, my hourly rate was $45 per hour.

There is always work in Sydney, but official 'on the books' work at the official exchange rate? No.

At any one time, the number of working holidayers, students and temp visa holders working in the CBD is 100,000+. Bar work is hard to obtain because they prefer locals with accreditation and hospitality in general. The backpackers get a job and just dissapear to do the north coast or whatever once their bankroll gets built up. They'll only usually get hired for cash in hand jobs in restuarants. We're talking $15 an hour here.

Post: #7

(06-01-2016 10:23 AM)Satoshi Wrote:  Yeah you will struggle to find a job in Scandinavia without speaking the language. I think Switzerland would be the same?

When I spent a lot of time in Scandinavia in 2010, there were a lot of Irishmen in Denmark especially working construction jobs.

The guy who ran the local convenience store near where I was staying was Polish and spoke hardly any Danish and locals conversed with him in English quite frequently.

Post: #8

I bar tended in my friends bar a bit to see if I liked the job enough to open my own place. The best/well paying bar tending shifts go to the guys with a resume (decent bars in a big city will toss your application without multiple years of experience) and typically who have earned their stripes at that particular bar, often by starting as a bar back which pays much less. At the places where there is enough volume to make 30-40/hr from tips there is far more experience and skill required than people think. It's a demanding and exhausting job that seems more fun than it actually is, and you will be instantly found out if you don't know your way around a bar/know all of the drinks/have the skill to take multiple orders and really pump out mixed drinks.

It's a job reserved for people who don't mind menial multi-tasking work and a fast paced/stressful environment. The easiest places to work your way into it are probably seasonal tourist economies, but they also probably don't pay as well. Any big city has plenty of veteran bar tenders vying for the well paying positions. Ideally you have a friend who owns or works in a bar who can allow you to intern, because without experience you're going to be stuck with minimum wage type positions most likely.

Post: #9

(06-01-2016 06:51 PM)CodyB Wrote:  When I spent a lot of time in Scandinavia in 2010, there were a lot of Irishmen in Denmark especially working construction jobs.

The guy who ran the local convenience store near where I was staying was Polish and spoke hardly any Danish and locals conversed with him in English quite frequently.

Yeah you're right. What I meant to write was that I think finding a job like OP is looking for would be difficult. I don't think he'd want to run the local convenience store... 90-95% of the people working in pizza/kebab stores are immigrants, but they usually make bellow minimum wage since they're running the shop themselves. And those guys speak the language at least to be able to to take orders and payments.

A Polish or other EU-citizent is much much cheaper than a local.. For construction jobs and similar the language isn't too important. Lot's of Irish coming over the summer to do tilting, some of them with really nasty habits. Police was warning about them in the paper just the other week.

edit; didn't realize he was banned...... and that was probably a good thing after reading his other trollish posts.

Post: #10

There's a Danish Bartender working in Skybar in HCMC in Vietnam. Trendy goodlooking guy. Dunno how much me makes. Getting a LOT of attention from chicks though haha.

I wonder if there's a market in high-end asian spots for a "trendy white face" behind the bar. Suave cocktail guy kinda thing. Probably won't make you rich... but could be fun.

Post: #11

(06-02-2016 06:26 PM)jcardial Wrote:  I bar tended in my friends bar a bit to see if I liked the job enough to open my own place. The best/well paying bar tending shifts go to the guys with a resume (decent bars in a big city will toss your application without multiple years of experience) and typically who have earned their stripes at that particular bar, often by starting as a bar back which pays much less. At the places where there is enough volume to make 30-40/hr from tips there is far more experience and skill required than people think. It's a demanding and exhausting job that seems more fun than it actually is, and you will be instantly found out if you don't know your way around a bar/know all of the drinks/have the skill to take multiple orders and really pump out mixed drinks.

It's a job reserved for people who don't mind menial multi-tasking work and a fast paced/stressful environment. The easiest places to work your way into it are probably seasonal tourist economies, but they also probably don't pay as well. Any big city has plenty of veteran bar tenders vying for the well paying positions. Ideally you have a friend who owns or works in a bar who can allow you to intern, because without experience you're going to be stuck with minimum wage type positions most likely.

This is a very well written response and extremely accurate from my experience.

One thing I would like to add is that you can make it to high-paid positions without many years experience by studying your drinks and hustling for a better job constantly. I started at a hibachi restaurant and within a year was serving drinks at the best club in the city while making 300-400 for a six hour shift. I emailed the GM every month for 5 months with my resume attached and one day he called me to fill in for a now show. I rang about 2500 in sales and was hired that night.

The point I'm trying to make is that with some determination you can land your self a good gig fairly easily.

Post: #12

In Sydney Australia, backpackers and working holiday visa people can fairly easily find bartender jobs. These jobs pay around 21-25 AUD per hour and more during weekend hours.