Working your way around the world is a fantastic way of funding your travels.
A paid work experience will give you confidence, teach you new skills, help you learn how to face challenges, and lead to a whole new bunch of friends.
Remember to make sure you're allowed to do paid work if you're on sabbatical - check your career break agreement.
Here's how to do it.
- First, see what options are open to you. If you're under 31 (35 for Canada), you can get a working holiday visa. Too old? Then seasonal work (eg ski instructor) or TEFL are still open to you. If you're British, you won't need a work permit for the EU.
- Next, ensure you have the right skills, experience or qualifications. While working holiday visa jobs tend to be low-level (temping, bar work), there is a lot of competition so experience helps. If you want to do TEFL or adventure sports instruction, you'll need an internationally-recognised qualification. See our TEFL and Learn sections for course providers.
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Then you can decide where to go.
- Working holiday visa schemes are in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.
- Watersports (surfing, diving, etc) can be done anywhere but popular spots tend to be in warm places, like Thailand or the Caribbean.
- Winter sports jobs are mostly available in Canada and Europe - the USA, Australia and New Zealand all have snow resorts though.
- Seasonal work opportunities abound in the US and Europe.
- TEFL can be done all over the world, but there is greater demand in the Far East.