When you’re staying in Auckland and you don’t want to spend too much money, there are two options : only do free activities, which can be quite annoying once you’ve visited the Auckland museum, Victoria park and other sightseeing… The other one is to work in backpackers in exchange for accommodation. Almost every backpackers has a few places for this kind of job, and, obviously, the biggest the backpacker is, the more places there is. This is why the easiest place to get one of these is to look for it at Base Backpacker, the biggest in Auckland city. I first checked the internet to find out where I could do such a thing, and I saw that there were three free posts at Base Backpacker. So I showed up there one morning, asking to talk with the staff manager. We had a short talk, then she just hand me a contract, ask me to read it then sign it, and that was it : I was hired. The only thing that made me different from the other candidates was that I got there the first. About the job, the first thing to say I that it isn’t hard work. Obviously, you can’t ask someone who’s doesn’t get paid to work too hard. Let’s face it : even if you do, they won’t. Most of the time, backpackers has two types of jobs : reception and cleaning. I was hired as a cleaner, since it was the only vacant post. The tasks are mainly vacuuming, cleaning the kitchen and changing the beds sheets. At Base Backpacker, they ask for 4 hours a day, from Monday to Friday (20 hours a week), in exchange for a bed in an 8 beds room. About the place now, staying in a backpacker and working there is of course very convenient to meet new people, since everyone in your room does the same job than you do, plus that you spend many hours working, cooking or just chilling in the lounge and other TV rooms. The main advantages of this backpacker are : the big and complete lounge room, including couches, two TV rooms, a Cyber Café and a Job Office The kitchen is clean and spacious, and the location is very good, on the middle of Queen street, with many bars, restaurants and the Metro Center nearby. The main problems are : first of all, 20 hours a week is, in my opinion, too much for an 8 beds room, in a country where the minimum wage is around 13$ an hour. The place sometimes feels too big with its ten floors. The smokers will have to get out of the place if they want to have a smoke, since there is no smoker room or balcony. If you plan in advance to do such a job, you can call most of the Auckland backpackers and see if they have any vacancies. Some only ask for 2 hours of work every day (14 hours a week), and a smaller place asks for more quiet tasks. These types of jobs are very convenient for those who look for jobs in Auckland and don’t want to spend money on the accommodation while doing it. And when you are only asked two hours of work each day, you can even combine it with a job !