Work Abroad Blog

If you asked me if I’d ever expected to find myself performing o­n the very streets where I’d o­nce walked and pitched a handful of change, I’d most certainly say no. But here I am, strapped to a drum and playing with my tattered hat just feet away. The coins in that hat translate to dinner and if at the end of the day there is no money in it, tomorrow I find another town.

I started traveling alone when I was fifteen, using my summers to their fullest. Year after year I despised traveling. Now I live for it. My first four years o­n the road were financially sound. I had money saved from childhood jobs. About six years ago, that ran out, but my desire to travel did not. My urge to see the world, coupled with college tuition fees, meant I was bankrupt.

I lost my street-performing virginity in Vienna, Austria at the age of nineteen. I had no money but I did have a harmonica. I decided to see what I could do with my instrument, o­ne that I had no idea how to play. I played for a while with no success. And then it happened. An old lady emerged from the chaos of Stephansplatz Road and handed me several schillings. I probably reminded her of her grandchildren and she took pity, but I cared little about her motivation and focused instead o­n the welcome change. I took the coins and bought a bottle of milk. But those few coins gave me more than a dairy product, they gave me encouragement.

Soon after my harmonica experience, I decided to switch to an instrument I actually knew: the drums. I had played the drums since I was five and was the son of a mother who drummed. I figured carrying a drum set o­n my back would become tedious so I decided to adapt, in the nomadic sense, and began playing the hand drum, specifically, an African De’Jembe.

How do you start drumming o­n the street? It’s simple: get a drum, put out a hat or anything to hold coins and start playing. True, the better you play the more money you’ll make. But as the cliche goes, you’ve got to start somewhere. In retrospect, I was terrible when I started, but I made enough for dinner. Now I can earn enough for dinner, wine and a chocolate bar for dessert.

The first place I ever played was Las Ramblas, the famed central avenue of Barcelona, Spain. It was intimidating but fun. I found that if you just do something you enjoy, it means you’ll have fun even if you don’t make much money. I did make a bit of change.

Today, I would never play Las Ramblas. It is overcrowded, and for any single performer, there are too few coins to go around. You learn over time where to find the best places to play and how to “work it” - how to “hustle.”

After playing the Ramblas for a month or two, I knew most of the other performers. There is a social scene among the street performers, complete with romance, differences, friendship and all the drama of any other life. Perhaps more.

I o­nce met a girl named Natalie. She was a fire twirler from Madrid. She looked a bit like a punk with her spiked hair and piercings…really cute. Anyway, she asked me to play drums while she performed with fire. Suddenly my take-home tripled. It was then that I learned that if you want some coin, you really have to perform. If you can eat glass and shove a five-inch nail up your nostril at the same time, then do it.

Upon Natalie’s guidance, I relocated to Ibiza, a Balearic island off Spain, famed for its night life and hippie culture. I was right at home. O­n the island I lived in a squat, an unoccupied house. It was perfect. I was making money, but I had no overhead, and besides travel, accommodation is the biggest money vacuum…unless, of course, you use drugs, something that has given street performers a bad name. “They’ll just take the money and buy drugs,” many people think. Maybe so, but you’ve got to convince them otherwise. Being personable o­n the streets is huge. Personality becomes your life source. Have fun with the crowd.

While in Ibiza, I befriended another drummer, Barry Roberts, who was a wicked drummer from England. Having traveled for years with his drum, he became my mentor. Likewise, my off-the-wall personality made me a mentor to his more uptight lifestyle. It was the perfect exchange. Barry and I traveled all over Europe drumming and taking in the sights. For a while I o­nly watched people’s feet. The strangest of things: you’d be surprised how much people’s feet change from country to country.

A travel partner is huge, especially as a busker. I would never bring o­ne from home because I’ve found that if you bring a friend, you end up having o­ne friend. But if you go solo, everyone is your friend. Two people are better than o­ne for hustling. o­ne plays and the other o­ne “hats.” The “hatter” is real magic. Even if your music stinks, a good hatter can make you rich. Hatters are like good beggars, except they’re seen with kinder eyes because they have an act. o­n the street the performer has the right to sway a pitch. In other words, if a beggar is in a good spot and you want to play there, you can kick them out. There may be a little scuffle but it is a common rule. The hatter can take 50 percent of the action if they’re good enough.

The best hatter I ever worked with was in Galway, Ireland, and was known as Moe, a crazy tattoo-teardrop Scottish bloke, fresh out of prison and totally brilliant. He had a smile and an aura that would bring people from across the street just to put a coin in the hat. “Help,” he’d yell. “Help! I’ve got five wives and 22 kids, three cats and a blind dog. Can you spare a coin?” Moe was good at hatting, but also was a heavy drinker and drank away most of what we earned. That’s life sometimes; you have to know when to move o­n.

I worked with fire jugglers, dancers, puppeteers, guitarists and even played with an African choir o­n the alter of a cathedral in Tours, France, during mass. Amazing experiences. But do not be fooled. There are hard days and lots of them. Days when you make no money. Days when the police are glued to you. Days when you question what the heck you’re doing. I read o­nce in a hostel sign-in book in Bam, Iran: “It’s not always fun but it’s always an experience.” I’d like to inscribe those words o­n a bronze plaque and put them o­n my mantle, if I had o­ne.

There is a world waiting to be explored. A playground of opportunity and adventure. Countless streets to be busked. So if your o­nly excuse is that you don’t have money, it’s not an excuse. Get out the door, o­n the road, and like the Rolling Stones song goes, “You may not get what you want, but you’ll find you get what you need,” or something like that.

See you out there. And hey, if we’re traveling in opposite directions, the world is round and we’re bound to meet up somewhere. From an article by DavidMushegain in Student Traveler

It’s a big world out there. But how do you decide where you should work overseas? If you are a teacher or would like to teach English overseas, consider Asia and Eastern Europe. There are a lot of jobs, the pay is good, and you can travel around if you want.

Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Japan all offer skilled work visas that will allow you to work up to a year (and in some cases, renewable for another year). Check out our post from last week on how to get these skilled work visas.

Also consider working in a country that is a member of OECD, and international organization of 30 countries that accept principles of representative democracy and a free market economy.

OECD members are Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourgh, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, US, Japan, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Czech Republic, South Korea, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

Feeling the effects of a recent layoff? Or just bored with your job and looking for a new adventure? Consider working overseas!

Certain countries with low unemployment, such as Australia, the UK, Japan and New Zealand are hungry for accountants, architects, teachers and engineers.

Also, if you are skilled as a graphic artist, Ski or snowboard instructor, skydive instructor, nurse, IT, anything in the medical field, journalist, or fashion designer you should also consider working overseas.

We found these skills by looking at the web sites for skilled work visas in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. Each of these countries will give you a work visa up to one year that is renewable in most cases, based on a point system according to your age, skills, and education level.

There are other factors that affect your ability to get the work visa. If you are currently bankrupt, have a criminal offense, or are over 45 years old — in most cases your work visa will be denied.

It should also be stated that France, Germany and Italy all have higher unemployment rates, so getting a job in these countries may be more difficult.

Next week, on this blog and at Student Traveler Magazine we will look at 30 countries that follow representative democracy and a free market economy, and may be a good fit for working overseas.

There are many ways to work overseas.  A corporate job can pay the big bucks and give you all the benefits working with a huge company. But it also may put you in a cubicle, and give you zero time to visit the places you travel to.   Bar work and farm work are also available, but you need to have experience to mix a good drink, or work on the outskirts of the city, and in dirt at a farm. A job that many travelers are doing to work overseas to kill time is working abroad in a hostel.

 Here is what Justin Jones said about working in a hostel in Student Traveler Magazine.

Hostel work overseas may not be for everyone, okay, it’s certainly not for everyone. Chances are you’ll be cleaning toilets, changing bed sheets, and standing around behind the front desk. You’ll probably have to scrub a floor or two and you’ll be doing it for almost no money, but don’t fret Cinderella, it’s all worth while in the end. Because while you’re working, you’ll also be meeting groups of beautiful young women from Scandinavia and charismatic young men from Italy. You’ll be boozing and hobnobbing with the hip young travelers of the world, and living the adventure together.

 Working in a hostel doesn’t really pay the bills. You’ll only make enough money to fund the further destruction of your liver, but the people you’ll be working with will make it all worthwhile.

In most cases, working overseas won’t make you rich and famous – but it does buy you time to experience life in another country. What hostel do we recommend to work at: The Hostel Bar.

Here is an article at Student Traveler Magazine on 12 Jobs that Keep you on the Road. The other is our annual directory that lists different job overseas for each country. Yes, this page is not the prettiest on the web. But it has a lot of content that will help you choose where to go.

Here are other sites that will help you work overseas:

U.S. Department of State. The U.S. Federal Government offers numerous overseas positions, and most of them start from this site. This is the career site, which will ask you some basic questions about yourself and offer the best opportunities for you to work overseas through the government.

BUNAC. This non profit offers short term work visas for college students to work in Britain, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. There is a $290 fee for these work visas, but they are golden for getting a job for up to two years in any of these countries without working “under the table”.

Monster.com: Because this career site is so giant, it spreads across many countries. This is the home page to reach any of the 39 country web sites in 5 continents.

So take a look at these sites for different ways to work overseas, either for a working holiday or for longer term jobs.

Cruise ship jobs is just another way to work overseas. If you have ever been on a cruise, you know that the waiters, porters, food service, photographers, casino dealers, and bartenders are spread out all over the place. And don’t forget about all the entertainment, and even those instructors on what to do in case of an emergency.

It seems that there are many positions to fill on a cruise ship, and is a legitimate job that will put you in a new port of the world every day.

Of course, there are pros and cons to working on a cruise ship. The pros are that you get a 4-6 month contract and sail around the world. You also work with a crew, typically from over 40 countries. And you are on a cruise. Everyone is happy.

The biggest con is the competition to snag a position. Many people apply for cruise ship jobs — so many that the companies generally don’t post on job sites, or even accept e-mail resumes.

In an interview in Student Traveler Magazine, Mark Landon of ShipJobs.com talks about the best positions for young people.

Student Traveler: What kind of jobs are available, like in the entertainment department, especially for students or recent graduates?

Mark Landon: Students should avoid a job such as deckhand, bellboy, busboy, dishwasher, and painter. The jobs that are good for students, entry level opportunities, are assistant purser (which is like an administrative assistant), receptionist (like in any hotel), activities director. This is an excellent opportunity for someone with great social skills. This is just a staff of individuals that organize activities for passengers, helps out with any and all lectures, sometimes they work backstage for entertainment shows. They also perform gangway duty, when they have to put on their uniforms and stand at the gangway to greet passengers when they arrive. Another good job would be retail sales assistant in the giftshop. Pretty much a no-brainer. Bar waiter is good too. DJ, believe it or not, even if someone has no DJ skills, is great. Most jobs aren’t very difficult, so the cruise line isn’t looking for technical details, but social skills.

Landon also suggests on his web site that there are many crew agencies out there that will help place you with a cruise ship. There are many to choose from, but he advises to avoid the ones that offer a “no risk guarantee” — since these are usually scams.

Over 50,000 U.S. citizens for the U.S. Federal Government overseas. Most of these work as a foreign service officer in over 230 U.S. embassies worldwide. There are paid and non paid opportunities in DC, also. Go to the Department of State web site for more information.

Here is an excerpt from Student Traveler Magazine that gives other agencies and their links:

The Peace Corps is a government agency that places U.S. Citizens over 18 and in good health as volunteers in overseas communities in the areas of education, small business development, the environment, health, youth development and agriculture. For details call (800) 424-8580

The U.S. Information Agency offers a limited number of salaried internships for a summer-hire program. Paid positions available as tour guides in Russia.

The Agency for International Development recruits students in areas of public health, accounting, finance, agriculture, and international relations.
Washington, DC 20523

The Agency for International Development offers 130 intern positions a year that can lead to full-time positions.
The Central Intelligence Agency offers limited opportunities overseas.

The Inter-American Foundation is an independent government corporation that supports social and economic development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

International Trade Administration
Within the agency, employees are hired into one of four departments; International Economic Policy,Trade Development, Trade Administration, Foreign Commercial Services

Of course, there is also an opportunity to serve in the U.S. Military and serve your country. The U.S. Marine Corps, US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, US Coast Guard all have opportunities overseas, both as soldiers and civilian workers.

Working overseas can be a great opportunity to explore another culture, increase your language profiency, and add global experience to your resume. It can also be a pain to find a job. And when you do, get stuck in a cubicle 9-5 like here in the U.S. Our suggestion?

If you want to work overseas, get a 3 month working visa through someone like BUNAC or CCUSA. The visas work throughout the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, and the Republic of Ireland. This will get your feet wet in another country, and your job can be as professional as an office job or as casual as working at a coffee shop.

If you are eager to find a work opportunity more secure and long term overseas, check out these comments from Matt Gross in an article in Student Traveler Magazine.

1. Your resume. This should be obvious. Any employer, anywhere in the world, will want to know what experience you have. You may, however, want to simplify the language somewhat or clarify your job, as the distinction between Editorial Assistant and Assistant Editor may not be immediately clear to a personnel director whose first language is not English.

2. A suit. You may be in the tropics or the Outback, where it seems ridiculous to wear even a shirt with long sleeves, but a suit always makes a nice impression, especially if your language proficiency doesn’t allow your witty interviewing skills to shine.

3. Your diploma. Degree fraud can be a problem (and is apparently rampant across Asia.) But unless you went to Harvard, don’t expect anyone to have heard of your school. What matters is that you went to college and graduated. The document is proof.

4. Money, enough to live on for a couple of months. Taking the time to make friends with locals, meet other ex-pats, and learn the language and geography will make you that much more competent a candidate and will get you the contacts you need to find a job

5. Imagination. Just because you majored in English doesn’t mean your only option is to teach it. Your most valuable asset is not specialization, but rather your status as an educated, rich foreigner in another country. You can be a Web designer or work in an art gallery or teach yoga or perform acupuncture (assuming you actually know a little bit about how to do those things.)

6. Initiative. You cannot sit in your hotel room and send out resumes. Decide where you want to work, put on some decent clothes, throw the diploma, clips and resume in a briefcase (or backpack), ride a moped to the office and ask to talk to somebody, anybody, about a job. Even if you don’t come home with a paycheck, you’ll likely get hints about positions elsewhere or the phone number of someone else who can help. Don’t give up!

DON’T BRING
1. Attitude. It can be difficult to find a job, especially if there’s economic or political turmoil. High expectations, an inability to cope with the realities of cultural isolation, the language barrier, loneliness, poverty and a sense of entitlement will combine to destroy you. Remember: You can leave at any time. This is not your country. Relax.

2. Shorts. No one wears them outside America, unless you want little kids to laugh at you in the street and employers to spot you as an itinerant backpacker immediately.

3. Letters of recommendation/introduction from college professors, your manager at a fast food restaurant and other respected adults. No one wants to read about how responsible/talented/loyal you are. Though if you can get a letter of introduction for someone specific, or written in the native language, that can be helpful.

4. Your college term papers. No one cares, really. Not even you.

Most volunteer organizations require you pay a fee for volunteering abroad with them. The advantage to this work, is of course the humanitarian effort, but also the fact that many people will help you with funds to go on your trip.

Volunteer abroad can be paid for with fundraising, and it’s not too difficult. As long as you are sincere about your effort where you are going, friends and family will open their wallets.

Student Traveler wrote this about an example to raise funds to volunteer overseas.

If you are going to work in Guatemala, for example, contact either a local or national Guatemalan community organization and see how they may be able to help you. Maybe you can perform a slide show for them upon return, or speak at a function they sponsor, and they may have funds to help you help their homeland community.

Shaun Skelton of Visions in Action adds

Volunteer abroad fundraising takes is time and a genuine feel that you want to make a difference where you go. Writing a letter is the most effective way to promote your trip. You explain that you plan to volunteer abroad and that you need help raising a specific amount of money by a certain date. Next, show how you are working to raise money on your own for the volunteering abroad opportunity. Finally, request what amount you would need from them to help the cause.

Once you are overseas, it is a good idea to send gifts or updates to those back home that supported you.

In the U.S. we work over nine full weeks more than our friends in Western Europe do. No wonder so many Europeans travel when they have the chance. They have all kinds of time!

So if you want to follow in their footsteps and work in Spain, or another Western European country, here are some tips.

First, know that is it difficult. It actually became more difficult when the European Union formed. An employer in Spain or another country in the EU must prove to the government that you can do the job better than anyone else in the country (or EU). And they usually need to pay a fee for you to work in their country.

So it’s no wonder why accountants, salespeople and fresh graduates are on the next plane to find work in Madrid.

Teaching English is not much better. Because the United Kingdom is part of the EU, any Brit applying for a teaching job in Spain will get it over you (even if you are better looking) simply because they have that golden EU passport and you don’t.

So what are you going to do? First off, don’t despair. There are jobs that you can work in all over the world. And the best part is, they don’t confine you to a cubby hole.

Student Traveler Magazine ran an article on 12 Jobs That Keep You on the Road:

“If you want to work your way around the world, there are plenty of not-so-serious gigs to keep you from going broke. Governments work with organizations like BUNAC (www.bunac.org) and CCUSA (www.ccusa.org) to give out short-term work permits for their countries. These countries include the United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa, Ireland, Canada, and New Zealand. Just pay a small fee for the work visa, and you get a list of employers contact once you arrive.”

Also, check out temp agencies and Craigslist (which has many international sections now) like you would here in the U.S. . OverseasJobs.com lists international job opportunities for college graduates. EscapeArtist.com’s job listings are also good. They always have some interesting gigs available, from teaching math in Egypt to nursing in Australia.