Work-study model is popular among international students in Australia. It is good to make arrangements for your own living alongside your studies. If you want to follow the work-study model, it is basically the sign of your maturity. Work-study can be very helpful to you if you do not have a favorable financial condition. What are some good part-time jobs that you can do alongside your study in Australia? You may have this question in your mind. Don’t worry. We are here to guide you.
We have prepared a list of 10 good jobs for international students in Australia based on our study. A brief introduction to the job along with its pros and cons have been mentioned. Go through them in order to find out which job fits you the most.
Retail sales assistant
You will have to be involved in helping customers in a store or a shop, dealing with goods and cleaning. It can be helpful to you in learning the business environment of Australia. Another benefit you can have is an improvement of your English.
Pros: Flexible working conditions, lots of time to practice English, usually finish at 5.30pm.
Cons: Low pay rate, early starts, on your feet all day.
Administrative assistant
You could be making coffees, sorting the mail, writing emails, managing calendars, making copies and more. You will be asked to do fairly simple repetitive tasks in the office since the administrative assistant is an entry-level position in an office environment.
Pros: Relatively easy work, good working hours (9am-5pm), good pay rates.
Cons: Can be quite boring and monotonous, not a lot of interaction with others.
Waiter
This is a typical job for international students in Australia. A waiter/waitress will work in a restaurant to ensure hungry diners are left satisfied. You will be cleaning, serving food and drinks, taking bookings, dealing with patrons and more. Some restaurants take customer service very seriously, so the training and the stress involved in this line of work can vary widely.
Pros: Reasonable pay rates, lots of time to practice English, always busy and rarely bored.
Cons: Long hours can be tiring, some chefs are crazy, no tipping culture in Australia.
Kitchen hand
One of the most physically demanding jobs, a kitchen hand will wash dishes and do easy food preparation tasks in a restaurant’s kitchen. You are often the last to leave the restaurant as you will be scrubbing pots while the waiting staff finishes.
Pros: Reasonable pay rates, time goes quickly because you’re so busy, a good work out!
Cons: Long hours can be tiring, not a lot of conversation, can be a stressful environment.
Bartender
This is the job for those that enjoy talking to strangers, like making cocktails and have a strong work ethic. For this job you need to be tolerant of drunk people, be able to work long hours but also not take yourself too seriously to get along with customers and fellow staff.
Pros: Good pay rates, fun atmosphere, a great way to practice English.
Cons: Long hours, have to deal with drunk people, can get very boring on a slow night.
Call center staff
No other job will give you this much practice for your English. Your job is to be on the phones all the time, either selling something or helping people through customer service. Many international students quite enjoy this line of work, and it’s the Insider Guide’s pick of the lot!
Pros: Excellent pay, flexible working conditions, often a fun work atmosphere, good practice for English.
Cons: You have the same conversation hundreds of times a day, no physical activity.
Customer services officer
This job was invented for those that are good with people. Your job is to deal with customer complaints, requests, specifications, issues and more. If you take this job, your job will be to be the bridge between the company and the customer, which can be challenging but also quite rewarding.
Pros: Good place to start if you are looking for a better job in the organization, reasonable pay rates.
Cons: Can be stressful.
Cleaner
This is a kind of job that doesn’t require much skill. This is a job for those that don’t mind night shifts, low interaction with people and hard work. Big companies employ hundreds of cleaners and then assign them to office blocks to clean each night.
Pros: Not a lot of communication required (if you don’t speak English well), not overly complicated.
Cons: This industry has issues with the exploitation of workers (so be careful), often have to work at night, you don’t get to practice English.
Receptionist
The front desk can be a good platform for you to grow in your career. As a receptionist, your work will be to welcome guests, assist with administrative duties, book flights, and prepare meeting rooms and more. You are often a company’s first interaction with walk-in guests, so you need to be very professional and punctual. This job can be very difficult for those who are weak in communicating.
Pros: Good pay rates, excellent hours (9am-5pm), and lots of interactions with people from the company.
Cons: Mundane tasks can be boring, can be very stressful, difficult to manage workload as staff members keep giving you work.
Sales representatives
Not everybody can work as a sales representative. This is a stressful job where one has high chances of failure. You need to be very good in dealing if you don’t want to face a rejection. The job also accompanies a very strong work ethic. You may be paid a base wage + commission, or you could be paid just on commission. We advise you not to undertake the job which promises you just commission.
Pros: Can earn a high salary if you can deal well, lots of interactions with people make it a good way to learn English.
Cons: You face a lot of denials, may have to work in an unknown corner of a street dealing with people whom you have never known. Risky since you can be paid just on commission (which means you don’t get paid unless you sell).