Need Advice - Best place to work ?

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tebs
tebs

Hey,

I am a 21 year old guy from the UK and I am going to be starting Uni (possibly - awaiting reply) in September/October so I now find myself with time on my hands and I would like to spend it working overseas.

I do have some previous expierence in travel/working as I travelled through Africa and then worked in Oz when I was 19. My only real qualification is in IT where I have a fair amount of expierence, but this is just a side note, I am not especially going out to look for a job in IT, but I am willing to work one to get by. I am really looking for anything, Bar work, labour, office work, it doesn't really matter to me so much as the being somewhere new and meeting new people.

My immediate thought about where to go was America because I have wanted to go for a while and I think that this would be a good way to go about it, however I am not sure how hard it is to get a working permit or even to land a job over there (this forum post is the beginning of my initial research - I'd like to get an idea of where I am heading first). That being said I am also very interested in travelling to Asia sometime, and I guess teaching English is another possibility, however I may be a bit restrained on time because I am planning to head out around March as this gives me a reasonable amount of time to travel before the term starts.

As you can see, I am not really sure where to go with this and I'd like to get it sorted as soon as possible to maximise my time overseas. I have considered the possibility that I may not be accepted into Uni, or I may yet have a radical change of mind and want to stay abroad - whether or not this happens will only be revealed in time.

So finally bringing myself to the main topic at hand - from previous expierence where would you recommend I go? What is the best place to work, where will I get the fairest wage? And since March is only a couple of months away am I being unrealistic with my timeframe? I figure if I end up going to the states I will not require any vaccinations, and I already have money saved up so I don't see that there is a lot of planning to be done.

Thank you in advance for your replies :)

n.b. As a side note I'd like to point out that I am not opposed in any way to volunteer work, but with Uni looming and the costs that will incur I am not eager to add any more debt to my bank account, so I would have to at least have food/shelter catered for - in addition I have been a bit put off my the amount of 'scam' organisations out there.

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ellecarumba
ellecarumba

I wouldn't spend too much time and energy trying to work in the US. There is no working holiday visa scheme comparable to the UK/Oz/NZ system available to you. There are short term (three month) visas available to British university students to work in the US during their summer holidays (for example in a summer camp) but you would need to have a university place before you could apply. I have had the visa twice and it is a bugger to apply for, involves an interview at the US embassy in London and loads of paperwork to process. You would require a sponsoring organisation (eg BUNAC or a camp company) which requires money. I am not sure if you would be eligible anyway as you would not have started your degree but you could check with one of the sponsoring organisations.
I've not be a camp counsellor but I have friends who have. You work long hours and are usually stuck in the middle of nowhere which means there is nowhere to go on your afternoon off. On the other hand, there is nowhere to spend money. There are very strict rules about conduct- alcohol is sometimes banned, even on your time off. If you have a special skill such as a sport (and qualification in it) then you would have a better pick of jobs.

If you are planning on going in March and coming back in Sept then you aren't going to be around very long to teach so more reputable schools aren't likely to be interested, given that you also have no degree (required in some countries for a teaching visa) or a TEFL qualification (such as CELTA)

I assume you've used your WHV in Oz but what about NZ or Canada? You could find bar work/casual labour fairly easily and the visas are straightforward to get.

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tebs
tebs

That's exactly the information I was looking for - Thanks Elle.

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koalasrule
koalasrule

Agree that trying to get a work permit for the US is almost impossible, but that said my cousin tried to get a work permit for Canada a few years ago and was refused 3 times. I think from what others have said it is almost as difficult to get a work permit for Canada as it is for the US, but I'm talking about Australian citizens, as a UK citizen it may be a different set of rules, I'm not sure. NZ would be a good option, although the cost of living is a bit higher than in Australia.

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tracyg17
tracyg17

Go to Santorini, Greece!!
As a UK citizen you don't need any visas. I'm Canadian and worked there the 2006 season and it was amazing. You can get bar work, work in a restaurant, moped shop, hotel anything in tourism really. They look for young english speaking people for the busy summer season. I worked in the village of Perissa as a waitress in a bar. I had no experience what so ever when I started but caught on fast. A lot of place will give you free accomodation with the job as well and you get free food when you work in a restaurant, free drinks when you work in a bar. There are a tonne of other people around your age that go and work there its great fun but a small village so everyone knows everyone very fast. You spend the days on the beach and the nights at the beach bar. You can witness the most beautiful sunsets in the world as well. Good luck!

Tracy

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