Work Travel Volunteer

The main two types of seasonal work are fruit picking and/or agricultural work and bar or resort work.

Why do it?

It's casual work - this means you can generally pick and choose where and when you work giving you the flexibility to travel too.

You'll meet friends for life.

If you pick fruit, you'll be outdoors in sunny conditions.

On the flipside, it's poor pay, the hours are long and it can be boring and you are not guaranteed work, unlike a contract role. And it's unlikely to be the job of your dreams either!

Where can I do it?

Australia, New Zealand , Japan , South Africa , Europe , USA and Canada all offer working holiday visas which are ideal for this type of casual, temporary work used to fund further travelling. Europe is also a good option if you don't want any visa hassles.

Visit our visas section for more details on obtaining different types of visas.

One thing to bear in mind before you go is to determine what season the country is in. Will there be adequate work available?

Fruit picking is dominant in New Zealand and Australia and Greece, Cyprus, Spain, East Coast of Australia, the Rockies and the Alps are all good bets for getting bar work.

How do I find work?

Visit our directory to search for organisations that offer seasonal work.

Other options once you're there include;

• walking around and asking at various places
• Looking on hostel notice boards
• Looking on tour operator websites
• Word of mouth

What exactly will I be doing?

Pulling pints, washing dishes, cleaning floors, answering phone calls in reception, operating the lift
Picking and packing fruit

If you have experience in operating heavy machinery, you could also drive tractors and forklift.

Becoming a jillaroo or jackaroo in Australia is also popular - so popular that you usually have to pay to begin with so you can be adequately trained up before a farm will let you loose upon their horses and sheep!