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Looking for a job in Sydney, Melbourne and other big cities is definitely a challenge, but keep looking and you will definitely get one. Rumour has it, that at the moment it is really hard to find work in Australia, but there are always jobs available. It's just up to you to make sure you find one. The most important thing before you get that job is to make sure you acquire a Tax File Number (TFN). It stops the taxman leaving such a massive hole in your wages!

Here are a few tips to help you secure your first pay packet:

1. First of all you have an idea of what type of work you are looking for. Backpackers generally go for labouring, barwork/hospitality or call-centre work.

2. Prepare your CV before you go to Australia. There is nothing worse than trying to prepare your CV in a packed internet cafe at $5 an hour while loads of other backpackers are e-mailing all around you. Save your CV on a floppy disk and bring it over with you. Remember to bring a printed copy of your CV to recruitment agencies as many won't allow you to print off a copy from your disk. And just in case your hard copy gets dirty or lost, email a copy to yourself. While most recruitment agencies won't let you use a floppy disk in case of viruses, if you have a copy in your inbox, once they have internet access, you have access to your CV.

3. Register with recruitment agencies, and loads of them! You have to remember that people employed by recruitment agencies make money from finding you work so they will actually look for a job for you. When you are registering with the agencies, don't just arrive out of the blue carrying your CV and wearing a smile. Ring first of all and make an appointment. If you are looking for the type of work that will require you to wear a shirt and tie, wear a shirt and tie when visiting the agency. If it is an agency catering for labouring work, this obviously isn't necessary.

4. In Sydney, two free magazines are given out at train stations around the city on Monday and Thursday mornings. One is called The City Weekly and the other, Nine to Five. Both have lots of city agency listings, catering from everything to call-centre work to work in the hospitality industry. For labouring work, word of mouth is the best way to find a job. Speak to other people working in the labouring industry and see if they can do anything for you.

5. If you are looking for work in pubs, restaurants or clothes shops, the best way to do this is to approach the management personally with your CV. These types of positions usually aren't advertised through agencies so looking for the job yourself is usually the best approach.

6. Make sure you have the right type of clothes.
- take office clothes with you (shirt and tie for a bloke, suit for a girl).
- if you are planning to work on the building sites try and fit steel-capped boots in your backpack.
- most restaurants and pubs will usually supply you with some type of uniform, which can turn out to be memorobilia to remember your stay by.

Hope that helps in finding your first wage packet. Happy job-hunting!