Job Trials and Tribulations

Sooner or later every traveller begins to realise that they have been a having a bit too much of a good time and they are in fact running out of funds. Unless they want to end up fighting a hobo for a share of a doorway in King's Cross and eating free meals at The Gaff every night (there's only so much watery pasta a girl can take), then the only solution is to begin the near impossibility of searching for a job.

Many will of course bemoan how hard it is to find a job when the reality is that partying every night, waking up at 3pm and sitting around the hostel all day before repeating the whole process again. They will of course tell their parents of their difficulties in the aim of yet more hand outs. Although this is clearly true in a lot of cases, in actual fact, finding a job in Sydney when no one gives a crap that you've got a degree in English Literature, darling, really can be quite a trial. Although you are well aware that Sydney is expensive, you become seduced by its charms of having it all and you begin to believe the boys that flatter you and tell you 'don't worry girl, with your winning smile and a low cut top you'll find a job in no time'. Before you know it, you've blown $2500 and haven't gone anywhere because you're 'searching for a job'.

The two tactics for finding a job are traipsing the streets of Sydney in a pool of sweat, trying your best to give simpering smiles to pervert bosses or send endless emails to online advertisements, in the vain attempt someone may reply. I have tried both these tactics and had very little success in either. I made my way to a cafe in Bondi Junction once for an interview and again for a trial, but the trail went cold. When I called the boss he informed me that now a former employee had got in contact he was no longer interested, despite his previous protestations in my favour.

In fact my time in Sydney had led me to believe that backpackers are actually seriously taken advantage of. They know we need the money and are in no position to complain. Let me tell you of my friends' experiences. The standard waiter/waitress can expect to earn $15-$25 an hour and minimum wage is around $13. However, my friend Lauren was offered a job in a cafe for just $8 an hour. Caren must be the unluckiest girl I know. The sweetest German girl, she landed a job promoting a clothes store. One day she was ill and couldn't go in, but sent in her Swedish friend Julia. In the end the store decided they preferred Julia and sacked Caren. Caren went on looking for jobs without success, eventually succumbing to asking in the local kebab shop, despite being a vegetarian. She went in for a trial at 10pm on a Saturday night and arrived home exhausted and unpaid at 4am. She had been offered the job for three nights a week (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) working 7pm-7am for $10 an hour. She felt like a princess for turning the job down, but acknowledged that she would never get any sleep in the hostel during the day and at less than minimum wage it wasn't worth the hassle. Caren then had another trial, she worked unpaid from 10am-6.30pm without a break and was told of for taking a drink of water.

Working for free is illegal, working without breaks is llegal, working for less than minimum wage is illegal, yet backpackers are left with little choice but to join the system because there is always someone willing to work in those conditions for that money.

But I'm not reserving my space under the bridge just yet. I am one of the lucky ones who managed to save plenty before I arrived. Besides, being unemployed in Sydeny is still a million times better than being stuck on my bum in Dover! However, living without a job is living without a purpose. Over the last few weeks of fruitless job searching, endless rain and as people have begun to leave I realised it was time for me to move on too. If it hadn't been for the promise of this job trial, I would have moved on long ago! But tomorrow I leave for 5 weeks in New Zealand, by which point I probably will have reached dire straights with money! I have thoroughly enjoyed my time in Sydney and really could see myself living here in the future. I will be sad to leave my last few remaining friends, the ladyboys, the tramps, the drug addicts and the general weirdos of King's Cross, but that's life!!!

Things I have learnt

- Taking yourself out of your comfort zone is acknowledging you want something more

- Some people cannot be helped (honestly some of the boys I see travelling here, I can't help wondering if their mums are at home worrying about how they are coping or are glad to see the back of them)

- Canadians will always find other canadians and treat them like brothers

- A Mcdonalds a day will make you fat

- Going out in the evening of Valentine's Day in Sydney, I encountered more desperate weirdos than last year in Jesters.

- Think very carefully about who you travel with

- People will teach you things you never even knew you had to learn

MISS EVERYONE!!!! xxxxx