Top 10 Part Time Jobs for International Students in Australia

According to a friend from insiderguides – oneshift, who run a reputable job seeking website in Australia, base on their database for the jobs that best match for international students in Australia. They have concluded the top 10 jobs for international students below;

1. RETAIL SALES ASSISTANT

This job involves assisting customers in the shop, dealing with inventory and hygiene. It’s a great way for the international students to practice their English because they will have so many interaction opportunities with their colleagues and clients.
Pros: Flexible working conditions with lots of opportunities to practice English, some jobs will be compensated by commission.
Cons: Low pay rate, stand all day.

2. ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

You could be making coffee for the senior colleague, sourcing for stationery, managing schedules and calendars, replying emails, making photocopies and more. This role is an entry-level position in an office environment and you should be doing relatively simple repetitive duties.
Pros: Fairly easy work, good working hours (9am-5pm), good pay rates.
Cons: Can be boring and repetitive, not a lot of interaction with others.

3. WAITERING

The typical job for international student, a waiter/waitress will work in a restaurant to ensure hungry diners are left satisfied. You will be serving food, drinks and cleaning, taking bookings 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 opportunities to practice English, always busy and rarely bored, some restaurants might provide free meal during the shift.
Cons: Long hours can be tiring as you have to stand all day.

4. KITCHEN HAND

One of the most physically demanding jobs, a kitchen hand will do easy food preparation tasks and wash dishes in a restaurant’s kitchen. You are often the last to leave the restaurant as you will be cleaning pots while the waiting staff finish.
Pros: Reasonable pay rates, time goes quickly because you’re so busy,
Cons: Long hours can be tiring as you have to stand all day, have to deal with the crazy chef, not a lot of conversation, can be stressful.

5. BARTENDER

This is the job for those that enjoy chatting with strangers. For this job you need to have a strong work ethic as you will be dealing with drunk people and 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.

6. CALL CENTRE STAFF

Your job is to be on the phones all the time, either promoting something or assisting people through customer service. No other job will give you this much practice for your English. Many international students quite enjoy this line of job.
Pros: Excellent pay, often a fun work atmosphere, flexible working conditions, great deal of opportunities to practice your English.
Cons: Can be quite boring as you might have the same conversation hundreds of times in a day, no physical activity, you get rejected a lot.

7. CUSTOMER SERVICES OFFICER

This job was invented for the people person. Your job is to deal with customers’ complaints, requests 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 organisation, reasonable pay rates.
Cons: Can be stressful.

8. CLEANER

This is a job for those that prefer working at night, low interaction with people and hard work. B companies employ hundreds of cleaners and then assign them to office blocks and street to clean each night.
Pros: Not a lot of communication required (if you don’t speak English well), not overly complicated. Great pay rates.
Cons: This industry has issues with mistreatment of workers (so be careful), often have to work at night, you don’t get to practice English.

9. RECEPTIONIST

Your job is to say hi to guests, assist with administrative duties, flight booking, 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.
Pros: Good pay rates, usually good hours (9am-5pm), lots of interactions with people from the company.
Cons: Routine tasks can be boring, can be very stressful, difficult to handle as other staff members keep giving you work.

10. SALES REPRESENTATIVES

Not a job for everybody, Sales Representatives require a high resistance to failure (you’ll get rejected a lot) and a very strong work ethic. You may be paid a base wage + commission, or you could be paid just on commission (which we don’t recommend).
Pros: Can earn a high salary if you can close sales, lots of interactions with people make it a good way to learn English.
Cons: You get rejected a lot, may have to work on street corners selling to strangers, can be paid just on commission (which means you don’t get paid unless you sell).