Dear fellow backpackers,

I am sure you will agree that there are not many countries as suitable for backpacking as New Zealand is. However, I am sure you will also agree that a green land far far away is not so keen on our pockets, which makes working here necessarily for almost everybody who wants to stay more than a month or two. And we all know that not even six months is enough to explore all the beauties of Kiwiland. The work itself is a nice opportunity not just to make some money, but to get to know the working system in another country, learn some extra skills and meet other travelers. It is great to put down a backpack for a few weeks and stay still in one place for a while before the travel bug starts kicking in again. But I am sure you already found out that this is harder than it sounds. It is not work that it’s a necessary evil, it’s finding it. Yes, there are different job agencies and services which you would expect to provide you with work and all the information you need, but my own experiences show, that like at many other things in life, you have to shift for yourself. Best way to get seasonal work is to go directly to managers of orchards or vineyards. Most of job seekers do that, which means they skip the middlemen and therefore they do not have anything to offer you. Ask travelers at the hostel you are staying and get managers contacts from previous employees. Call them and do not wait for the phone call you were promised to receive at an agency. Even locals I met didn’t prove to have very reliable information. They are all saying things like: “Oh, yeah! There’s hips of work here or there,” but they don’t know that there are also a lot of backpackers fighting for that spots. Websites like www.backpackersboard , www.agstaff , www.seasonalwork, ect weren’t very useful to me, but they can help you to find out what kind of work is coming up in different regions. Build your itinerary based on that.

One other thing that is important if you are looking for work in an orchard or a vineyard is having your own ride. There’s a reason why they ask you if have on at every agency. My experiences show that you are more likely to get a job if you have a car, but that’s not completely true, especially if you go directly to managers. Also not completely true, is that all job agencies are useless. Barbara at Wanaka Job Agency is a great girl and she does not just give you false hope, she indeed calls you, and not just once.

If you are looking for other types of work, the story is not that different. The best thing is to go to a sore, a restaurant or a café you want to work in and hand your CV directly to the manager. Be persistent. Go there many times so they will remember you and know you are serious. In my opinion work is easier to find in smaller and quieter towns where backpackers usually don’t stay for more than a night such as Twizel or Arrowtown. The competition in bigger cities is tough, especially if you are trying to get a job in a city center. Stores along Qeen St in Auckland will reject you by showing you a pile of CVs they receive every day. Again, try your luck in quieter neighborhoods.

Bottom of line, there is a lot of seasonal work in New Zealand and it is possible to get it, although it sometimes looks like it isn’t. Just don’t lose hope, look around you and be open to anything that comes your way.

Happy travels and best of luck,

Tomaz from Slovenia