Retail Jobs in Australia for International Students
Retail jobs are some of the most popular jobs among international students in Australia.
Students can work in different areas in the retail industry, including supermarkets, chemists, clothing stores, electronic stores and others.
🛒🛍 So if you are interested in working in retail jobs in Australia, then read on.
Benefits of Working in Retail Jobs in Australia
Here are some of the benefits of working in Retail jobs as an international student in Australia:
✅️ Flexibility: It offers flexibility while studying
✅️ Good pay rates: Jobs in retail pay decent wages for students
✅️ Consistent work: Once you start working, you can usually expect consistent work
✅️ Multiple locations: Major retailers have stores all over Australia
✅️ Multiple shifts: They offer shifts across days, evenings, nights, and weekends as well
✅️ Penalty Rates: You receive additional pay penalty rates for working odd hour shifts
✅️ Work Experience: These jobs usually don’t require lots of work experience
✅️ Extra hours: During school holidays and busy periods, you can get additional hours
✅️ Staff discounts: Working in these retail jobs means you get access to staff discounts and other perks
Requirements to Work in Retail Jobs in Australia
✅️ Qualifications: There are no such formal qualifications required to work in the retail industry. However, if you have one, then that will be advantageous.
✅️ Work experience: You don’t need a lot of work experience to work in the retail jobs. However, having some local work experience will give you an edge over others.
✅️ Skills and knowledge: In most retail jobs, you are expected to deal with customers, so you must have good customer service and communication skills.
✅️ Valid work visa: You must hold a valid visa in order to work in these retail jobs. Student visas (subclass 500) allow students to work 48 hours per fortnight (or 24 hours per week).
✅️ Good attitude: Last but not least, a good attitude towards work and customers is always beneficial to get a job in retail.
Different Roles in the Retail Industry in Australia
There are multiple roles you can find in the retail industry, including but not limited to:
✅️ Sales Assistants
✅️ Cashier and Checkout operators
✅️ Shelf Fillers
✅️ Service Station Attendants
✅️ Store Persons
✅️ Customer Service Assistants
Popular Retailers in Australia
Here are some of the most popular retailers that hire international students in Australia:
- ➡️ Woolworths
- ➡️ Coles
- ➡️ Aldi
- ➡️ Kmart
- ➡️ Bunnings
- ➡️ Officeworks
- ➡️ Target
- ➡️ JB Hi-Fi
- ➡️ Ikea
- ➡️ Cotton-on
- ➡️ H&M
- ➡️ Myers
- ➡️ David Jones
- ➡️ IGA
- ➡️ 7-11
- ➡️ BP
Where to Find These Retail Jobs in Australia?
You might be wandering on where to find these retail jobs in Australia:
➡️ Online Job websites: There are multiple apps and websites in Australia where you can find these retail jobs. Some of the popular apps include Seek, LinkedIn, Indeed, Jora, Adzuna, and Student Job Board.
➡️ Retailers own websites: Some of these retail jobs may not appear on typical job websites. Because the retailers have their own job portals where they post these jobs. So it is always recommended to sign up via their portals.
➡️ Networking: One of the most popular ways to get a job in Australia is through references. And to build references, you need to do networking, which is all about building relationships. If you want to know, how to build your network in Australia, then we have complete guide on that.
🚫Important to note: Most retailers and supermarkets don’t accept walk-in job applicants. So you will need to apply online for those jobs.
Steps to Apply for Retail Jobs in Australia
Here are some of the steps you need to follow in order to apply for these retail jobs:
1️⃣ The first step is to jump online on the career page of the retailer’s website and create a profile.
2️⃣ Then look for the preferred jobs in your nearby suburbs/areas and apply them.
3️⃣ You need to upload your resume, cover letter and usually have to go through some questions regarding your job applications via their portal.
4️⃣ After applying, you might get a call for an interview (if selected).
5️⃣ Then, if you are selected for a role, you will get induction, training and start working.
💡Pro Tip: Even if you can’t find any job in your local areas, you can still create a profile on these platforms, so when jobs do appear, you can apply with a few clicks.
Another important thing that many retail workers do is they join the retail union. This helps them if they need to resolve issues with employers and acts as a bargain power when negotiating pay rates.
If you want a free resume and cover letter template, you can download that from our website.
Pay Rates for Retail jobs in Australia
The pay rates for retail jobs in Australia can vary based on level of experience, type of jobs you do and the location of the job.
But as per the General Retail Industry Award 2020, the minimum wage rate is $24.73 per hour for part-time and full-time employees and $30.91 per hour for casuals.
As per Seek, the average salary for the retail manager is between $60,000 to $70,000 per year.
You can check the pay rate of some other popular jobs in Australia here.
Personal Experience
👋 Sam, our founder, also worked in Woolworths supermarkets at the start of his career in Australia.
He says, “As an international student, I did enjoy working in the supermarket as it was considered a respectable job offering flexible hours and decent pay”.
“I did work in the overnight shifts as they worked out pretty well with my uni schedule and offered me much higher pay rates due to late night work.”
So, that was a detailed guide about finding retail jobs in Australia.
✅️ Now, if you find this information useful, then share this with a friend who needs a job right now in Australia.
