So you are a backpacker, your funds are getting low and you want to work in Cairns? Great idea considering the strength of the mighty Aussie dollar at the moment! Well, there are a few things you need to get sorted before you start looking for a job, such as a visa, a tax file number and a bank account. Click on our getting ready to find a job page to find out exactly what you need.
So you have arrived in Cairns with your trusty backpack, you have your working holiday visa, tax file number and a bank account and are ready to look for work. Most backpackers will either find work in the hospitality industry, working at bars, restaurants or on tourist boats and the like, or find fruitpicking work. Other jobs tend to be hard to find with most employers preferring locals to backpackers that will be gone in a few months. By far and away the best way of finding a job is to register with the various employment agencies-get some resumes printed and drop them off at their offices. Dress appropriately for the sort of job you are looking for. There are many such agencies in Cairns, below are the main ones.
The good thing about fruitpicking work in Cairns is that it is available all year round. The best locations are Mareeba, Tully and Atherton/Innisfail, all within an hour drive or so away from Cairns. Accommodation will usually be provided by the farmer and pay usually depends on how much you pick. It can be lucrative but also extremely exhausting work.
Mareeba is a hot relatively dry town about an hour west of Cairns and is the biggest agricultural hub in the Far North. Transnorth Coaches have regular buses there leaving from the bus stop on the ground floor carpark of the Cairns Central Shopping Center, just a 5 minute walk away from Cairns City Backpackers. Papaya, citrus and bananas are harvested all year round, with avocados (February to May) and Mangoes (November to March being possibly the most important crops. Lychees, longans, pineapples and peanuts are other fruits harvested. For current jobs try this harvest trail Mareeba link. It is also worthwhile calling Grunt Labour Mareeba on (07)4092 3233 to see if they have any jobs going.
Atherton receives more rainfall than Mareeba and is therefore to different types of fruits. Access is still by car or by Transnorth Coaches. Fruits harvested include avocados (Feb to June), bananas (all year round) and custard apples (March to July).For current jobs try this harvest trail Atherton link. Once again it is worthwhile contacting Grunt Labour Mareeba to see if there are any jobs going.
Both Tully and Innisfail are hubs for banana picking-there is not much else going on. However, banana harvesting goes on all year round so it is one of the best places for finding work. Banana picking is hard work though, if you are a guy you will be required to cut and carry large weights of bananas. Females will usually be given the easier job of packing. Innisfail is only an hour south of Cairns, along the main highway, whereas Tully is another hour south of Innisfail. For current jobs in Tully try this harvest trail Tully link and for Atherton try this harvest trail Innisfail link.
If you are a qualified chef then you have it made in Cairns. There is ALWAYS a long list of jobs advertised in the Wednesday and Saturday edition of the Cairns Post which never seems to diminish (also in Career One). If you are not do not despair-you may still find bar or restaurant work, and here are the best ways to do so.
The first one is to register with the employment agencies above, especially Signature Staff. This will more likely get you short stint jobs here and there as opposed to one regular job. Also, check the Cairns Post newspaper on Wednesdays and Saturdays which is when all the jobs are advertised (warning-you will have a lot of competition!). For an online option try Career One. Probably the best method of all though is just to go door knocking (make sure you are presentable!) and hope you get lucky. Take along lots of copies of your resume for places that seem interested but don't have anything available at the moment. Be aware that all bars and most restaurants will require that you have your RSA (Responsible Service of Alchohol) certificate. You can get this online, for example with Etrainu for about $60. Get this before you start looking for work.
There are 2 types of jobs in hostels;work for accommodation and paid work. Most jobs at hostels will be work for accommodation, and usually consist of hostel cleaning and housekeeping type of work. Cairns City Backpackers use 1 or 2 backpackers to help assist our head housekeeper. Please email us a couple of days before you are due to arrive if you are interested. You need to do 2 hours of work a day in return for dormitory accommodation (4 share) and your dinner vouchers at the woolshed pub. Many other hostels in Cairns do the same type of thing.
Paid hostel jobs tend to be either driving jobs (ie picking up guests from airport etc), or reception jobs. If you are looking for reception work having previous experience will help but even then it will not be easy. Some of the smaller hostels in Cairns do use backpackers for reception work but most (including Cairns City Backpackers) do not. The hostel reception software can take weeks or months to master, and many hostel reception staff will be also required to provide information/advise and book tours for their guests. With no less than 30 trips out to the reef alone there is a lot to learn, and becoming truly efficient at this aspect of reception requires you actually going out on as many tours/trips as you can.
There are other jobs out there for backpackers such as room attendant work (cleaning hotel or cruise boat rooms), cruise attendant work on dive boats and labouring jobs. Door knocking is the best way to find these types of jobs. If you have any particular skill such as being a dive instructor, an experience horse rider or a tradesmen then you have a much greater chance of finding work and you should just take your resume along or telephone as many employers as you can.
