If you’ve got time on your side and you’re looking for a life-changing experience to kick off your career in tourism/ health/ nutrition/ human movement or management, consider applying to new five-star eco health retreat and day spa, Gwinganna’s, work experience program. The retreat is perched atop a ridge on 50 acres of private land in the Tallebudgera Valley, a breathtaking pocket of the world, and is surrounded by lush rainforest, fruit orchards, organic vegie gardens and herb mandalas. The program asks for five weeks of your time as a volunteer helping support the inspiring facilitators with everything from conducting morning tai chi sessions and bushwalks to guiding evening candlelit adventures, serving the organic feasts, tending to the gardens, leading guests through the day spa rituals, helping with cooking demonstrations, and keeping the open fireplace well stocked with wood. The reward is getting to reside on site in the gorgeous restored timber suites, use of all retreat facilities, all organic meals, and the chance to interact with and learn from staff, other volunteers and guests. And, to top it all off, you get to be pampered for the final week as a guest at no charge. Yes, it’s six weeks out of your life but I’m guessing it’s six weeks you’ll never regret. The volunteers I met there were shiny-eyed with excitement for the pure and revitalising experience they were living as their new reality.
Monitor green sea turtles in the Northern Territory’s remote Cobourg Peninsula, work with local Aboriginal landowners to conserve a nature refuge behind Broome’s Cable Beach, or spend an afternoon restoring remnant bushland around Brisbane. Australia’s largest practical conservation group, Conservation Volunteers Australia, teams volunteers with short and overnight-stay conservation projects nation-wide. With over 10,000 volunteers a year and over 2,000 conservation projects under its tool-belt, there are stacks of unique opportunities to contribute, learn and explore. Connect to a local opportunity, or plan a trip to the other side of the continent.“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes.” - Marcel Proust
I may regret what I’m about to do. If I do in fact know a secret that few of my peers are privy to, I am about to let the cat out of the bag.
A year ago I felt like I was wandering in the mist of the job world, not sure what section of the careers paper I should be looking at in order to find things I might be suitable for. Has anyone ever seen an ‘interdisciplinary creative half qualified to write, act and speak French’ column? Us in the Arts world, we are told that jobs for us are as rare as hens’ teeth. And indeed, I believe ‘Arts’ has only recently become an industry choice on Career One or Seek. Even now when I bother to look on the afore-mentioned sights under Arts/Entertainment, I must sort through 10 pages of ads offering nude model, ‘dancer’ and bit part auditions before finding that, yes, there is nothing for me.
Then last Christmas, a friend said to me, ‘Have you heard of Arts Hub?’ Well, ladies and gentlemen, now I have and there is no turning back. Apart from being a central hub of jobs specifically in my industry (whatever that is) and other creative disciplines, Arts Hub collates new jobs in an email bulletin once a week, delivers interesting and otherwise unheard of industry news once a day, and goes a step further to organise industry cross-promotion and special offers where previously there was none. Continue reading ‘love the hub you’re in’
Aspiring to develop your career behind the lens? Embracing the increasing power of citizen journalism and the beauty of kismet, a UK-based website is giving exposure to the work of talented fledgling news photographers throughout the world. Scoopt enables would-be photographers (or anyone with a camera and a savvy eye for newsworthy vistas) to sell their work through various media, gain an income and increase their profile. Rookie photographers simply register their details online, ensure a camera or camera phone is firmly strapped to their person at all times, then wait for the photo ops to happen. Scoopt accepts photos with news currency and interest and a lot of the photos seem to be taken by people simply at the right place at the right time: their mantra is ‘Be prepared!’ Some categories in which photos are grouped include Breaking News, Famous People, Natural Disaster and Protests and Demonstrations. Once photographers submit their images to Scoopt, Scoopt act as an agent, marketing and trying to sell the images through a worldwide network of media contacts. If the work sells, the photographer receives 40% of the gross sale price after taxes. The site also has a pretty interesting blog in which ‘Scoopters’ swap tips and generally wax photographical.
Wine technician, fashion designer, inventor, museum curator, zoologist, orchestral musician… Confucius said, “Find a job you enjoy, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” I’ve always envied people with really cool jobs and wondered how they were able to turn their passion into a living. Ace day jobs is a series of five-minute video episodes of Aussies talking about their covetable ‘out of the box’ gigs. Get the lowdown on your dream job and tips for getting a foot in the door from those who’ve done it. Imagine a world where we each use our unique skills and do what we love every day… Think of the rise in productivity as we spring out of bed in the morning, hover over pet projects into the night and steal into ‘the office’ on weekends because we love what we do! As for me, well, I no longer covet from the sidelines, taking heed from another Confucius pearl: “If you do not change the direction in which you are going, you will end up where you are headed”. During my first day of life AD (after desk), I lucked upon a ‘job’ which combines so many of my passions it’s spooky. Now I can’t wait to get to ‘work’!
Somehow, in pursuit of my dreams, I inadvertently swapped espressos for express buses and midweek martinis for megaplexes. My move to the ‘burbs as a house-sitter temporarily killed my lifestyle, but the free rent helped pad my pockets as I hatched my escape from my corporate career. It also gave me temporary guardianship of a needy poodle, absent cat and three loudmouth birds (I couldn’t work out whether their various antics meant they dug my music or detested it). A handful of house-sitting websites exist to pair willing house minders with absent owners. It costs between $50 and $300 to register as a house-sitter for a year – not bad when you consider the potential rent savings. House sits can range from a few days to a few months, with the average lasting from two to four weeks. Terms are negotiable, though the obvious perks are free rent for the minder and live-in security and/or pet-minding for the owner. The sitter usually pays for utilities and fulfils the gamut of domestic duties. So, is it worth it? I’ve had plenty of offers, but not all suitable for me. I’m still waiting for the call about the cute hinterland cottage with an open fireplace and a deck overlooking the rainforest! But in the tight rental market it can work out well if you have somewhere to kit down in between sits and a ‘try anything once’ attitude.
I had a job interview a few weeks ago. I met Tina, the office manager and we clicked. I articulated my skills for the job well, Tina smiled and nodded approvingly and asked me back for a second interview. I had the job in the bag. On the second interview, I met Larry, the general manager and was asked to sit a ‘wealth test’. It was a computer-generated multi-choice of about 30 questions. It cost $150 US. I thought this was a little strange, yet completed the test, giving completely honest answers. The questions seemed fairly standard. I felt quietly confident that the role was mine. After completing the test, pages and pages of results were printed, detailing my wealth profile. She explained to me that these results revealed the ‘type’ of person I was, to identify the field of work I should be engaging in, according to my ‘path of least resistance’ to success. In their terms, success meant ‘making money.’
Continue reading ‘a, b, or c?’
