Asking for a friend who's looking for work and is here on a working holiday visa

drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 03:56
Last edited 23/05/2019 - 12:36

Hey all, got a friend I knew since we were in diapers crashing with me at the moment and is trying to find a job. Been applying in-store (even did trials) and online but got nothing so far. She's got 1 whole month of an experience helping out in her aunt's seafood restaurant as the sole waitress. Half a year in McDonald's grill section and another half a year as a retail assistant. Anybody got any recommendations/places she can look into?

I've been trying my best to help out but she's getting discouraged so I'm hoping someone here more knowledgeable in the area can help?

Cheers

Edit: located in Melbourne

Education & Work

Comments

  • bossmode on 23/05/2019 - 05:55

    Hi drumroll, is that all the experience she’s had since you and her have been in diapers?

    Has she specialised in anything or have any particular skills/hobbies she likes? Might just be that her resume and approach to the interviewing process needs a review.

    • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:19

      Unfortunately yes- she only started working when she left home and started uni overseas in her home town.

      Unfortunately not, I've tried my best with her resume and Well- for interview there wasn't much of an interview, mainly 'trials' that she said went alright but that's it. Told her to act eager to help/please and her response to me was if I could act I'd be an actor. Oof

      • bossmode on 23/05/2019 - 12:21

        Might also be an attitude thing if that’s her response to you. If you’d like to PM me (your inbox is disabled), I can assist further :)

        • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:30

          Oh dang why is my inbox disabled, I'll try to fix that but I'll on you first thanks a bunch!

          And unfortunately she's a bit dry, I've taken her out to restaurants and she says she's surprised people here are so chatty. So waitering might not be an option, she now prefers working in the back rather than front of house

          • Vote for Pedro on 23/05/2019 - 18:06
            +1

            @drumrollplease: There’s nothing wrong with a dry attitude. Not all of us are ‘bubbly’. Can’t stand walking into a cafe where the staff are annoyingly OTT chatty/friendly.

      • Randxyz123 on 23/05/2019 - 13:56
        +1

        Told her to act eager to help/please and her response to me was if I could act I'd be an actor. Oof

        Wtf. You are helping them out so they need to kick that attitude.

        FOH jobs are what a lot of the WHV jobs are…

        What did she study ?

        You mentioned she didn’t put down much availability. Why? What else is she doing ?

        • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 14:14

          Wtf. You are helping them out so they need to kick that attitude.

          I've tried telling her to improve her attitude as well but she goes on the spiel of personalities. I told her I dislike her attitude but not her as a person and she says the attitude is her etc ugh haha…

          Exactly- she wanted FOH in the beginning but got discouraged at how 'chatty' you have to be

          She's in her gap year- biology.

          Said wasn't interested in doing night shifts although I've mentioned that's what a lot of employers are interested in usually. She's not doing much and she already stays up late.

  • o53djz7qTPY4der on 23/05/2019 - 06:00
    +3

    It's hard on a WHV because you're limited to six months with any one employer.

    I think this puts employers off as in six months they'd need to find someone new.

    You can get exceptions to the six month rule but it requires employer support.

    All-in-all is just easier to hire someone who doesn't have this limitation.

  • onetwothreefour on 23/05/2019 - 06:23
    +3

    *nappies

    • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:32

      Sorry? Nannies?

      • onetwothreefour on 23/05/2019 - 12:34

        Yes, nannies sometimes wear nappies.

        • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:35

          Have recommended nannies but she says she doesn't do well with children despite having a younger sibling 11 years younger than her

        • xuqi on 23/05/2019 - 12:53

          Mannies too.

  • whooah1979 on 23/05/2019 - 06:25

    How good is your friend's English and are they fit?

    • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:23

      Pretty good, not fit unfortunately. Pretty fragile

  • Yoo on 23/05/2019 - 06:37
    +3

    Tell her to send her resume to HR agencies. They take WHV workers for warehouses (Telstra, Foxtel, pharmaceutical,..) Easy job and big turnover. If you are in Sydney I can PM you contacts.

    • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:24

      Oh awesome, I'll tell her, unfortunately I'm in Melbourne but thanks a lot :)!

  • WreckTangle on 23/05/2019 - 07:02

    McDonalds again

    • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:33

      Yep, although sadly I think she put her availabilities too little, have had her apply again but with longer availabilities now

  • try2bhelpful on 23/05/2019 - 07:40
    +1

    When I was at Uni you, many years ago, could get good money for doing stock talking work. It is pretty tedious but not that onerous. I don’t have any contacts now, you would need to Google, but it is usually done outside hours leaving the days free. Just a thought.

    • dasher86 on 23/05/2019 - 08:09
      +2

      Talking to stock would be pretty onerous.

      • altomic on 23/05/2019 - 08:19
        +1

        "what is the deal with emojis?"

      • try2bhelpful on 23/05/2019 - 12:05

        Actually stock normally say baah, Moo, etc. Arghhh, typing on my mini Ipad, first thing in the morning with smeared glasses. Obvious "stock taking"

    • [Deactivated] on 23/05/2019 - 08:42

      I think stock talking is called pump and dump/boiler room now.

    • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:30

      Thanks that's something I haven't mentioned yet to her cheers

      • Geekomatic on 23/05/2019 - 15:52
        +1

        RE: stock-take.

        I know our local Officeworks hires people JUST for their stock-take. Only a day or two, but it's still $$$.

        • try2bhelpful on 23/05/2019 - 16:01

          The guys we went with were a hire firm for stock taking; you had to ring them at a pre set time, to see if there were any places available, and then they would send you to the stocktake place and tell you what you had to do. For the amount of hours worked the pay was pretty good; particularly when I was an impoverished student. However, it was very much a casual arrangement - you had to be available when they wanted you, they didn't guarantee how much work they would give you and you had to make your own way to the stocktake place.

  • 6000SUX on 23/05/2019 - 08:16

    Was on this myself at one stage. Befriend recruitment agencies. Lots of them

    • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:34

      Have you got any suggestions for which agencies? Am located in Melbourne

      • 6000SUX on 23/05/2019 - 18:05

        Google 'melbourne job agencies' a ton come up. Hays is a major one

  • Seedy seed on 23/05/2019 - 08:23

    Pizzahut, lol they use alot of backpackers.

    • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:33

      Haven't seen a pizza hut in the CBD unfortunately

  • [Deactivated] on 23/05/2019 - 08:40
    +2

    Fruit picking then selling a fruit picking horror story to the newspapers. Au pair if you're connected.

    • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:36

      I remember they're not treated well and she's unfortunately not fit. I've seen some au pair posts but she doesn't want it

  • tre180 on 23/05/2019 - 09:17
    +1

    You don't mention your location but try areas where backpackers frequent as businesses near there tend to know the score with the WHV. I've had mates work in cafes, bars, call centres, backpacker hostels, cleaning companies, etc, all on the WHV visa.

    • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:25

      Melbourne sorry I'll try to mention in post if I can and thanks a lot for the suggestions

  • JIMB0 on 23/05/2019 - 12:04

    Massage parlour.

    • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:34

      Don't you need a certificate for that? I say this because I found out rmit has a cheap one available because they're done by students

      • zonra on 23/05/2019 - 14:21

        “Massage parlour”

      • Seedy seed on 23/05/2019 - 15:40
        +1

        He was suggesting a seedy happy ending sort of massage…

      • JIMB0 on 23/05/2019 - 22:11

        There is no requirement for a certificate to work in massage even in the legit places. Extra money can be made in the dodgy places by offering extra services.

  • Randxyz123 on 23/05/2019 - 12:20
    +1

    Where are you located? How’s her English?

    She should drop her resume into cafes and bars in popular touristy/backpacker areas.

    Even hostels sometimes have bars /front desk/ cleaning jobs.

    She should do a RSA if she doesn’t have it will help a lot.

    • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 12:27

      I'm in Melbourne, her English is pretty great.

      Yeah, have told her but she's very discouraged at this point. Been applying to places in the CBD

      I'll recommend her to try to get the RSA to although I've already said hopefully she'll be more recipient to the suggestion now.

      • Randxyz123 on 23/05/2019 - 13:57
        +1

        Try St Kilda, Fitzroy etc

        • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 14:15

          I've told her to go out and explore in her own time but she's a homebody it seems now but thank you for the suggested suburbs, I'll tell her to try them out as well

  • bpop99 on 23/05/2019 - 13:29
    +1

    Here's a something something I heard in the grapevines…. Call centre jobs for well spoken english WHVs are in abundance. Tell her to look it up. You have to be a bit shameless on the phone (like basically calling up old people to ask for donations, but word is getting them to open their wallet is actually fairly easy).

    The other is less known jobs - those that maybe the average people don't know much about. The bank royal commission for example has created loads to temp jobs for those with WHVs and you can get similar roles in other industries. Specialist recruiters from Robert Half, etc do exist that focus on this market, so she should speak to them.

    Temp nursing is also possible, though this is not for the faint-hearted.

    Lastly, i'd suggest looking off the beaten path - don't go to the cafes everyone is frequenting. Go to the quaint bakeries, bars, restaurants, or any other customer facing business somewhere. You can walk up and ask and some of them would likely have the owners / manager around that can give some feedback/guide/indication on available roles.

    • drumrollplease on 23/05/2019 - 14:16

      Thanks! That's a lot of good suggestions, I've sent her a screenshot of your comment, sounds plenty helpful cheers!

      • bpop99 on 23/05/2019 - 14:21
        +1

        Just passing notes ;)

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