Getting down to business

Getting down to business What you can earn and how to do it

Make it pay

How much you earn as a UK working holidaymaker depends on where you live and what your qualifications are. If you’re looking to do casual work such as bar work, you can expect to earn the minimum wage (currently £9.50 an hour for over 23-year-olds) or above, plus tips. The average salary in the UK is £25-26K, although this differs massively depending on your industry, experience and where you live. Accounting for the higher cost of living, salaries in London are normally higher.

On the job

A UK working holiday visa gives you the freedom to work in most sectors. So, if you’re qualified in the worlds of finance, IT, marketing, accounting, construction, beauty or another industry; you can enter the job market like any Brit would. You’re even able to set up your own limited company to work on a freelance or self-employed basis. If you’re looking for more casual work, typical backpacker jobs include hospitality, tourism, sales and childcare (nanny or au pair).

Cost of living

Just like your capacity to earn, rental costs differ depending on where you live. The average rent for a room in a shared house in London is around £700-1,000 a month, dropping to anywhere between £300-600 outside London. Websites like Spareroom or Gumtree will give you a good idea of what to expect. The currency that all backpackers understand, expect to pay £4-6 for a bottle of wine in a UK supermarket and between £3-6.50 for a pint in a pub depending on where it is.

How we help

How we help BUNAC job support

Work goals + travel goals, on top of three nights’ accommodation, day trips and nights out - our 4-day Essential UK includes the following job support.

What we include

Comprehensive job assistance workshop when you arrive in London to get your CV UK ready and run over what type of work is available.
24 months’ access to our job listings. Jobs posted are mostly around London, but we have hospitality and tourism contacts UK wide.
24 months’ access to our BUNAC working holiday resource centre in London, with long-term work and accommodation help.
If you’re looking for more career related work, an introduction to the UK recruiters we partnered with.
UK bank account and National Insurance number set up.
Click here for the full itinerary, accommodation and trip inclusions.

Why you need it

Get job support that works for you. Want to start working straightaway? You’ll have access to our regularly updated job listings, packed with jobs looking to be filled immediately by working holidaymakers. Want to travel around Europe first? You’ll have access to our employer database, with jobs in sectors such as hospitality, retail, construction, sales, marketing and more for the full two years of your visa. Looking for more career focused work? We’ve partnered with several UK recruiters who can assist you with your search.

Cost and inclusions

Don’t enter the backpacker blackhole when you land. Our Essential travellers get access to our job database for the two years of their visa. Typical jobs posted by our employers include:

Restaurant server roles, London
Live-in pub roles, UK-wide
Bar staff in pubs across London
Activity Specialists in school adventure camps, UK-wide
Teaching assistants, London
Office admin roles, London

Working holiday London

Based in London, our BUNAC team will help you to settle in, find work and point you in the direction of the good boozers (pubs). Here are a few things you need to know about living and working in the capital.

Living in London

The honey-coloured spires of Westminster, manicured lawns of Kensington Palace and gilded hotels of Mayfair are pure English stiff upper lip. And while Londoners embrace these traditions with gusto (who doesn’t want to drink Pimm’s in the park as soon as the barometer tips over 17°C), London is a rebel at heart. You only need to walk past the punk shops of Camden, street art of Shoreditch or drag brunches of Soho to see that anything goes here and everyone can belong. Expressive and eclectic – it’s easy to get lost in London, but even easier to feel at home.

Working in London

From construction and IT to media and the arts, London attracts the best talent from around the world. Innovative and influential, it’s a city where you can grow your career, trade or craft – learning from leading professionals in your field. It’s also home to a pub and pop-up on every corner, so there’s no shortage of hospitality jobs to tide you over until your next adventure. Work hard and party hard, weekends in London routinely start on a Thursday night – with bacon sandwich sales tripling every Friday morning as weary workers head for their desks.

Surviving in London

Multicultural and diverse, Londoners are tolerant and accepting. UNTIL you commit one of the following cardinal London crimes. These are: standing on the left on an Underground escalator (right side is for standing, left is for walking), not having your Oyster or contactless card ready when you go through a turnstile, and dawdling on a pavement during rush hour. Outside of commuting and transport, this mixed bunch are a busy but kind bunch – with a fierce loyalty for their city and love for its free culture, relentless creativity and 3,000 (you read it right) parks.

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