Finding a Job in Australia: KK Marketing, LMS Thinking, and the Fruit Shack

So when I last wrote an entry I was just about to take a course in Sydney to be certified as a manual laborer.  A lot has changed since then.  I am writing from a farm near the town of Leeton, a small community in southern New South Wales, a long way from Sydney, or any city for that matter.

The White Card certification class wasn't bad - it really wasn't all that helpful either - but having the card doesn't really get me much closer to landing a job.  A lot of it comes down to networking, scouring the Internet job sites, patience, and luck.

I was surprised at the level of competition for backpacker jobs in Sydney.  I switched hostels and several people staying there had been looking for weeks.  One of my dorm mates managed to find a restaurant job for a whopping one day a week.  Restaurant work certainly didn't seem promising.

While searching though job listings on the Internet I found two 'sales and marketing' companies who were hiring.  A quick Google search revealed some scathing remarks about one of them, KK Marketing (this one is particularly interesting).  Basically they run a sales campaign for a charity, sending people door to door around Sydney; those people have to sign up customers for a $48 a month commitment.  Apparently it's illegal to do door to door sales after 6 pm, yet the hours were until 8.

There's not a whole lot of info out about KK Marketing
for curious job seekers, which is probably a good thing
for the company 

I don't think door to door sales is for me!

Overall the job seemed shitty and a bit sketchy too, but I decided to still do the interview just to see for myself.  I did read one review from a backpacker who had stuck it out for a couple of months, so it is doable (not saying that's what I want in a job!).

The second company, LMS Thinking, didn't have any backpacker reviews and seemed more legitimate.  The company is based in London but recently opened up an office in Sydney.  I accepted their interview offer as well, so on Tuesday I had both KK Marketing and LMS Thinking.  KK Marketing was a group interview and aside from a guaranteed salary of $800 a week there wasn't much to get excited about.

The LMS office was only a few blocks from KK Marketing, and there were several other candidates waiting in the lobby when I arrived.  Unlike the first interview LMS expected business dress code - something that was hard to pull off as a backpacker (in the end I settled with a button down shirt and dress pants, but no tie or jacket).  I had a short individual interview with a manager named John who explained a few details of the job, but not many.  He then invited me to a second interview of sorts; I would shadow a salesperson for the whole day on Wednesday, which I took him up on.

On Wednesday morning I met Robb, who is the team leader of sorts - he has two other salesmen under him - and we drove around the city to close a couple sales.  He and his team go door to door selling ADT security to small businesses.  It seemed a step up from door to door charity work, but not much better.  If the team members find a business owner who is keen to sign up for the system, Robb will schedule an appointment to close the deal (and sign the paperwork, as he is the only one certified to actually sell the system).

ADT is the largest security company in the US and
is generally known more for its residential security
products; Robb was selling them to business though.

Essentially the guys beneath Robb - what I'd be doing - also go door to door all day.  Selling security products may be a bit better, but pay is totally commission based.  Robb frequently mentioned how quickly the company expects you to move up to a management role.  John, the interviewer, also talked about visa sponsorship for promising employees.  On the other had I was looking for a short term position.  John also said the salespeople are not considered employees for tax purposes.  That would mean if you were pushed to make a dodgy sale it'd be you who is accountable, not the company.  Not sure if that would ever come up but was another reason why it didn't seem like a good fit for me.

While this process was under way I also heard back from one of the working hostels I'd emailed.  The place, called the Fruit Shack, is a farm as well as working hostel.  The owner has work on his farm and also organizes work for backpackers in the surrounding area.  He told me there were oranges to pick, plus the grape harvest was coming up.

Before leaving Sydney I took a walk along the iconic Harbor Bridge.  Even though there was a bit of rain the views were still spectacular.  Here are a few photos:

CBD from the Harbor Bridge

Sydney Opera House; lots of ferries go from the
CBD to the northern suburbs

View of the city from the northern side of the bay

Two friends from back home are scheduled to visit Sydney in mid-March, so instead of waiting around on the job hunt and spending too much money in the city, I decided to try my luck at the Fruit Shack.  More on the farm experience next post.