Europeans I need your help!

[DalekJaas]

I have decided that in June/July of next year, right after I finish my degree that I am going to go and travel around Europe for a bit.

Only now I think I want to stay there for a good length of time, maybe a year on a work/travel visa.

I am going with a couple of friends, but they will be going home after a month.

SO basically I want to know where should I go? Where is a good place for an Australian to go and look for work?

I am a bartender here if that helps, and I will have a degree in multimedia journalism when I go.

And how do I set myself up for a long stay?

I don't know much about Europe except for the general knowledge kind of things, so any info would be appreciated.

 

[IndieForever]

Well, the easiest place to get a proper, legal work permit for you as an Aussie is the UK. We have a 'Working Holiday Visa' for Australians, New Zealanders, Canadians and Japanese citizens who are between 18-30 years old, but you'll need to have £1600 in your bank account before you come. This is a fairly reasonable requirement and should set you up for at least a couple of months during which time you can look for work.

London bars are full of Australian staff - in fact it's pretty much impossible to go anywhere in the capital without hearing an Aussie accent but London is quite expensive - think Brisbane/Canberra prices. Edinburgh and Glasgow are also very popular with people on these visas and Australians do seem to be able to get bar work, and in the high-end places, reasonably easily.

In the Summer there is tonnes of work, even with the current economic climate, for crop picking, general farm work etc. but the pay is, as you probably guessed, quite poor. There are lots of temp. job agencies which will place you doing warehouse work, that kind of thing.

Mainland Europe is quite depressed - Spain, for example, has a 25% unemployment figure at the moment and you will find it tough, especially as a non-native, to get work doing anything. Scandinavia seems to be riding the storm pretty well, but they don't have the work visas for foreigners that the UK does.

To set yourself up for a long stay, I would recommend basing yourself in the UK. Bring as much money as you can and use what work you can find to stretch it out. You will find it easy to rent a room in a shared house for reasonable prices or, if you're up for the outdoors life, a large tent and a motorcycle or cheap car will keep you mobile, especially during the summer. Not recommended for the winter!

From the UK, it's a cheap trip to France and the rest of Europe is yours, but as a non-EU citizen it will be tough for you to get work and it will most likely be illegal. If you want to travel Europe cheaply, I'm sure there's still a Europe-wide train pass and it's by far the best way to do it on a budget. The UK train system is a shambles but once you hit mainland Europe they're superb.

Sadly, I don't think your degree will help too much, but you could try hunting around for small, local newspapers that might be interested in offering you something. I think it's doubtful, but I don't know the industry at all.

I'm just wondering if you might be able to make something out of a blog or website (given your skills), documenting your travels and advising other Australians on how to do what you're doing. I'd bet most of the sites that do this already are pretty amateurish or out of date with respect to the European recession. If you write it well and know how to publicise it, you may be able to make some ad-type revenue, maybe even an e-book or similar but I wouldn't bank on it!

That's about all I can think of.

Good luck!

 

[Playful Pony]

UK would be easy because they speak English I guess... I don't know much about the functions of other countries in Europe, you likely know as much as me about that! Stuff like names of cities, good resturants I went to and other things wont help you one bit when it comes to work and whatever =p. I can talk about where I live though!

Bergen, Norway is not a very big city. It houses 250,000 people in total including the surrounding areas, but it IS a good place if your looking for a job. Many places are short on staff, especially in services such as resturants, bars etc. if you have experience in those fields. It's in the kitchen they really need people though, there is a huge shortage of chefs. My roomie is a chef and is very overworked due to the shortage.

It's also reasonably easy to get a job in something like industry and sanitation where there is also a need for people. Getting a job in any kind of store is also an option but you will need to be pretty fluent in Norwegian for such a job so I don't think you'll have much of a shot at that. Generally Norway (and the western parts in particular) has a good job market currently, a very unique thing in the current economy!

Western Norway has many oportunities for work visas and other things, I'm not sure how you'd go about researching this though as I have never needed one. One of the perks of being born here... It is a bit cold and snowy, the air is humid and compared to the rest of Europe public transportation is lacking. It's pretty and terrain is varied but hilly, the city of Bergen itself is stuck between several larger mountains. Because building roads in mountainous areas is hugely expensive the road network is also pretty poorly maintained, but it is finally being upgraded (about 10 years too late, but still...).

What more is there to say? I guess I covered the worky bits. Bergen has a huge shortage of housing too, so even basic apartments in outlying areas tend to be very expensive. It has become quite common for house owners to rent out their basement (including a small kitchen and bath) for a more reasonable price (me being one of them), but it's still pretty pricy. East Norway generally has much more reasonable prices unless you want to live in the middle of town.

Crime rates are relatively low, east Norway and the capital Oslo being somewhat above the average. For someone coming from outside Norway is a very expensive place, this is compensated for by higher wages so if you do get work there shouldn't be a problem. This is also a benefit for us Norwegians when traveling to other parts of the world. It's pretty common for Swedes living along the border to work in Norway and live in Sweden.

Good luck on your European adventure! If you do decide to visit Bergen you can always give me a shout X3.

 

[IndieForever]

I just did quick bit of Googling and that Working Holiday Visa appears to be available for many different EU countries (Norway included). I thought it was a UK-specific thing, but I was wrong.

The UK is going to be your easiest option (due to the language as PP says) but it does appear that if you're prepared to go a little outside the usual comfort zone for work-tourists then you can pretty much go where you want. The language barrier is going to be an issue but I have to say if I was still young enough and free of responsibilities to do this kind of thing I might try somewhere like Norway, Sweden or Finland, but the amount of cash you'll need to bring goes up proportionately.

I'm guessing you're in your early-twenties or so, and that generation of Scandinavians speak English as well as me and thee, probably better in fact. Older generations are a little more reserved in my experience. I've been fortunate with my job to have travelled to pretty much every country and continent on the globe and I do like the Scandinavian countries - the people have the same kind of 'just get on with it' spirit as the Australians, and they are very direct. You don't get b/s from Norwegians, Finns, Swedes or Danes - they tell you what they think!

They are very, very expensive though and there's a reason Norwegians do booze-cruises to Scotland....

From a practical point of view, I'd still pick the UK as a base for your travels, but hold out for more replies as something may scratch that itch you obviously have

Worth ten minutes of your time - one of the funniest comedians, and one of your countrymen, Steve Hughes, in Sweden, talking about.. well.. Sweden, the Netherlands, the UK and others.

 

[omega 616]

Australian ...I am a bartender

There is a reason that stereotype is thrown around.

From what I hear a lot of Australians do what you intend and work as bartenders to make some cash. I say "from what I hear" 'cos I don't go into bars or clubs.

I actually think saying "I am an Australian bartender" means you automatically get the job, I kid, I kid.

 

[Queen Michael]

Here in Sweden, you might have langauge problems. We Swedes speak fairly good English, but don't understand any accent that's not exactly like on American TV shows.

 

[Saxnot]

first of all: where you want to go very much depends on what you're looking for. any country can be fun or not depending on what kind of person you are. i'm sorry i cant be very helpful here, but you really have to get to know europe a little better yourself before you can be sure.

you should probably avoid the countries worst hit by the crisis: spain, greece and portugal, as jobs there are tight.
also, remember the the level of english - fluency (outside the UK and ireland, obviously) varies wildly. most everyone here in holland can speak and understand a reasonable amout of english, but in italy and france, for example, you're going to have a lot more trouble communicating (especially with older people). you should probably focus on the bigger cities, as oppertunities for foreign bartenders will be much more plentiful there. Your degree won't help much outside the uk and ireland (don't know what it's like there), as almost all journalism is in a country's native tongue.

it might also be a good idea to try to get to know some people, or find some organisation that helps visitors like you where you're going before you go there. having some people to help you get to know the area and possibilities in more detail when you arrive might be a big help.

finally, find out what the visa procedures you need to follow are well in advance. i think a one - year stay wont be a huge problem, but it's good to have that stuff done before you leave.

good luck and good times to you!

 

[teebeeohh]

Berlin is nice, everybody speaks English, there are a lot of bars and clubs that need bartenders AND it's rally cheap.
and personally i have never been attacked or mugged or anything but apparently that happens.
just don't ask us to build stuff, our new airport is at least 18 month late

 

[Esotera]

I hear that Spain, Greece and Italy have many opportunities for employment

I'd say you should just make a shortlist of a few countries you want to go to, and try and visit them in a rough order. Also have a flexible plan so you can stay in some places for longer/less time than you initially wanted.

 

[Trivun]

The UK has been describeed in detail already, and I don't know a massive amount about travelling here (despite living here), so I defer to my fellow Brits' advice in this case. However, a quick idea of the main places to stay depending on where you want to travel to. Despite common misconceptions, Leeds is referred to as the capital of the North (and also where I went to uni, so I can tell you a fair bit about the place), and has good transport links elsewhere, so that's a decent starting point. If you want to stay near the middle of the country, try Birmingham, the country's second city. London is definitely expensive, but it's nice to visit, and there are some decent hostels and such that you can stay in for a short while - not sure about finding the cheapest places to live in London, though. Still, if you work as a bartender or whatever then you'll earn a better wage there than anywhere else in the country, so it'll be easier to afford digs. Really, those and Manchester are the main places to stay, I reckon. It's up to you at the end of the day though