Long Time No Speak....
Very long story short: one month into my Working Holiday Visa I picked up my first “casual” job. For anyone unsure what that means, it’s essentially work with no obligation from the employer to provide a certain number of hours or give notice of termination. It’s how a lot of us backpackers choose to work here as it’s mutually beneficial to both parties: better pay and flexibility for backpackers, and seasonal staffing for businesses.
Anywho, I got about three weeks into my first casual job when it became apparent a lot of what I had been told over the phone by my new employer was not quite true. The main problem was the promised 35+ hours a week, which were more like a maximum of 15. It turns out these kinds of situations are rife when looking for casual employment, and my problem seemed minuscule compared to some of the other stories I heard. It’s honestly a minefield. There is unfortunately a large power imbalance in employers’ favour for a handful of reasons, a major factor being the “88 days” that some visa holders have to tick off in order to be eligible for a second or third year. The 88 days are required by the Australian Government to encourage Working Holiday Visa holders to contribute to Australia’s remote workforce.
I looked for something like GlassDoor for backpackers in the hope of finding a tool that levels the playing field during the casual employment job hunt. There was nothing. So I thought, f**k it, I’ll do it myself.
Fast forward many headaches and bouts of self doubt later, with a little perseverance (and a lot of help from Claude; she knows a thing or two about coding), I now have a fully functioning (WordPress) website. I’ll break it down simply. Backpackers add reviews, and workplaces if not already listed, of places they have worked, and they are not able to see other reviews until they contribute first.
Admittedly I am very early into my marketing and branding outreach (like two weeks early). However, I can already see a common pattern of generally very positive and enthusiastic feedback with very minimal conversions.
I’m wondering if anyone here has scaled a similar business or has any ideas that might get me over the “yeah, that’s a nice thought” hump. Realistically, the site does not become a valuable tool until I have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of reviews. Part of me is considering that maybe there is just not as much need as anticipated, and another part of me knows something like this can and should be a staple in one’s job search. If the stories that are shared by word of mouth could find their way onto my website, I am sure it would provide invaluable information that could save a lot of backpackers many heartaches. Not to mention the value it could bring to decent employers by helping them build a solid reputation with the community and streamlining their hiring.
I’m aware there is some self doubt bleeding into my writing, which I think is natural, and the hard truth might be that I need to grind out the outreach until I have some sort of foundation, and I am prepared to do so. However, I figured it doesn't hurt to ask you lovely people for your two cents.
Thanks for reading
For anyone wondering my website is WanderTrustJobs.com
Very long story short: one month into my Working Holiday Visa I picked up my first “casual” job. For anyone unsure what that means, it’s essentially work with no obligation from the employer to provide a certain number of hours or give notice of termination. It’s how a lot of us backpackers choose to work here as it’s mutually beneficial to both parties: better pay and flexibility for backpackers, and seasonal staffing for businesses.
Anywho, I got about three weeks into my first casual job when it became apparent a lot of what I had been told over the phone by my new employer was not quite true. The main problem was the promised 35+ hours a week, which were more like a maximum of 15. It turns out these kinds of situations are rife when looking for casual employment, and my problem seemed minuscule compared to some of the other stories I heard. It’s honestly a minefield. There is unfortunately a large power imbalance in employers’ favour for a handful of reasons, a major factor being the “88 days” that some visa holders have to tick off in order to be eligible for a second or third year. The 88 days are required by the Australian Government to encourage Working Holiday Visa holders to contribute to Australia’s remote workforce.
I looked for something like GlassDoor for backpackers in the hope of finding a tool that levels the playing field during the casual employment job hunt. There was nothing. So I thought, f**k it, I’ll do it myself.
Fast forward many headaches and bouts of self doubt later, with a little perseverance (and a lot of help from Claude; she knows a thing or two about coding), I now have a fully functioning (WordPress) website. I’ll break it down simply. Backpackers add reviews, and workplaces if not already listed, of places they have worked, and they are not able to see other reviews until they contribute first.
Admittedly I am very early into my marketing and branding outreach (like two weeks early). However, I can already see a common pattern of generally very positive and enthusiastic feedback with very minimal conversions.
I’m wondering if anyone here has scaled a similar business or has any ideas that might get me over the “yeah, that’s a nice thought” hump. Realistically, the site does not become a valuable tool until I have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of reviews. Part of me is considering that maybe there is just not as much need as anticipated, and another part of me knows something like this can and should be a staple in one’s job search. If the stories that are shared by word of mouth could find their way onto my website, I am sure it would provide invaluable information that could save a lot of backpackers many heartaches. Not to mention the value it could bring to decent employers by helping them build a solid reputation with the community and streamlining their hiring.
I’m aware there is some self doubt bleeding into my writing, which I think is natural, and the hard truth might be that I need to grind out the outreach until I have some sort of foundation, and I am prepared to do so. However, I figured it doesn't hurt to ask you lovely people for your two cents.
Thanks for reading
For anyone wondering my website is WanderTrustJobs.com
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