United States of America

Canada

United States of America (USA)

For the USA the working visa requires you to be a registered student at a university or college (excluding UNISA). The USA requires a J1 visa for student work – have a look at StaTravel's website and contact them for detailed assistance. If you want to organize your own job it will be cheaper, but more work and effort.
 

Au Pairs

Seasonal work and temporary work

Ski resorts

Summer camps

Internships

Au Pairs

Au Pair in the USA – requirements and regulations

·         You need to be at least 18 years of age (19 years if looking after babies up to 2 years old)

·         You must have finished high school (i.e. secondary education)

·         Most positions require you to work full-time (up to 45 hours per week)

·         You need 200 hours of recent child care experience

·         You must receive pocket money at a rate of at least the minimum wage (currently $195.75 per week) – see http://exchanges.state.gov/education/jexchanges/private/aupair_wage.htm  

·         You have to register for a course at a local college or university, which is financed (up to $500) by your host family

·         You must study for at least 3 hours per week during academic terms

If you wish to study more there is an alternative called the Educare system. This system requires you to look after school-going children before and/or after school, up to a maximum of 30 hours per week. You will receive 75% of the au pair rate per week, and you will be allowed 6 hours of study per week, financed by the host family up to $1,000.

These are links to South African agencies which we suggest you investigate further:

JCR South Africa

Au Pair Travel

Overseas agencies have much useful information to browse, so have a look at the following sites as well:

http://www.aupairsearch.com/
http://www.newaupair.com/

Seasonal work and temporary work

These general websites deal with seasonal jobs available in the USA and are very useful - keep in mind you must have a visa to (officially) work in the USA:

JobMonkey.com – lots of advice and information regarding all types of seasonal and unskilled jobs all over the USA

SeasonWorkers.com – a comprehensive site of all seasonal jobs available throughout the USA

Alaska fishing - the Alaska seafood industry operates year-round, with the bulk of the jobs available during the months of May through mid-September. Learn about jobs with onshore and offshore seafood processing plants as well as jobs on fishing boats.

Guide jobs - guides are required in many different places for many varying activities. It will help if you are able to speak Spanish (especially in the southern states) in addition to English.

Fantastic site with available guide jobs (and other jobs) in the USA - http://www.coolworks.com/guide-jobs/

Harvesting – various crops need sowing and harvesting throughout the year all over the USA. The Agricultural Labour Pool website http://www.agri-labourpool.com/jobseekers/alerts/ shows farmers currently looking for help.

The website of the California State University http://www.csuchico.edu/plc/agjob.html has a comprehensive list of agricultural jobs. Worth looking at, as California has a very large and active agricultural sector (their economy is as big as the entire South African economy!)

Seasonal work all over the world – available jobs at http://www.pickingjobs.com/

Ski resorts

Work in a ski resort has some useful information worth reading

JobMonkey.com – all types of jobs all over the USA at ski resorts, with lots of advice and information

SeasonWorkers.com – a comprehensive site of jobs at ski resorts available throughout the USA

The Overseas Job Centre – ski jobs all over the world, including the USA

Summer camps

The following links will provide you with lots of information:

Organisations which assist with finding work at a summer camp in the USA

StaTravel – South African agency assisting South African students

Camp Counselors USA – for South Africans wanting to work at US camps

Camp Counselors USA – homepage – choose which country you are in and get information relevant to you

Camp America – a UK organisation organising summer work in US camps, with offices in South Africa, Australia, Germany and Poland

Great Camp Jobs – part of CampGroup LLC which owns twelve camps with a variety of programs -- day camp, resident camps for girls, resident camps for boys and a resident camp for girls and boys -- and locations -- Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, New York and Michigan

Summer Camp USA – run by BUNAC (British Universities North America Club) for all nationalities

Interexchange Camp USA – arrange your summer camp work experience

Summer camps

MySummerCamps – a directory of thousands of summer camps across the USA

Camp Page – directory of summer camp jobs

Job Monkey – excellent resource for all types of jobs at summer camps

School of Cinema and Performing Arts – summer camp specializing in film and acting. You must be at least 21 years of age to apply

Internships

Job Monkey has excellent information on internships and has positions available in the USA.

Canada

Au Pairs

Seasonal work and Unskilled jobs

Ski resorts

Summer camps

Internships

To work whilst traveling in Canada you will require a Canadian Working Holiday visa – go to StaTravel’s site for detailed information.

Au Pairs

Au Pair in Canada – requirements and regulations

Canada does not offer an official au pair program, but au pairs can legally work in the country under the Live-In Caregiver Program. The Live-in Caregiver Program helps Canadians hire foreign workers to live and work in their homes to care for children, the elderly or people with disabilities. Every year, Canadian families hire thousands of foreign workers to help address skill and labour shortages.

The Live-in Caregiver Program is a special program to bring workers to Canada for live-in work as caregivers when there are not enough Canadians to fill the available positions. A "live-in caregiver" is someone who provides unsupervised care of children, the elderly or the disabled in a private household.

The caregiver must:

• work full-time in a private home;
• live with the family;
• receive a private, furnished room within the home;
• meet Citizenship and Immigration Canada requirements for language, education and work skills necessary to function in the Canadian labour market; and
• refrain from working for more than one employer at a time, or for a health agency, labour contractors, in day care or in foster care.

There are four main requirements you must meet to qualify under the Live-in Caregiver Program: [adapted from http://www.liveincaregiverprogram.com/ ]

• You must have successfully completed the equivalent of a Canadian high school education. This requirement will help to ensure that if you apply for permanent residence after two years as a live-in caregiver, you will be able to succeed in the general labour market. Studies indicate that the majority of new jobs in Canada require at least a high school education.
• You must have six months of full-time training in a classroom setting or twelve months of full-time paid employment, including at least six months of continuous employment with one employer in a field or occupation related to the job you are seeking as a live-in caregiver. You may have gained your training or experience in areas such as early childhood education, geriatric care, pediatric nursing or first aid. You may also have completed your training as part of your formal education. This experience must have been obtained within the three years immediately prior to the day on which you submit an application for a work permit.
• You must be able to speak, read and understand either English or French at a level that allows you to function independently in a home setting. For example, you must be able to contact emergency services if required and to understand labels on medication. You will be unsupervised for most of the day and may be required to communicate with someone outside the home. A good knowledge of English or French will also enable you to read and understand your rights and obligations.
• You must have a written employment contract between you and your future employer. The contract defines your job duties, hours of work, salary and benefits. The contract also reinforces your employer's legal responsibilities to you. This requirement helps provide a fair working arrangement between the caregiver and the employer and provides both parties with a clear understanding of what is expected of them.

Go to http://www.liveincaregiverprogram.com/ for more information on visa applications, medical benefits and your rights.

The Canadian government website is also very informative about the visa application process.

Seasonal work and Unskilled jobs

These general websites deal with seasonal jobs, and are very useful:

JobMonkey.com – lots of advice and information regarding all types of seasonal and unskilled jobs

SeasonWorkers.com – a comprehensive site of all seasonal jobs available throughout the USA

Ski resorts

Have a look at these sites to find a job or resort that appeals to you, and to get further useful tips:

JobMonkey.com – all types of jobs at ski resorts, with lots of advice and information

CCUSA –jobs at ski resorts available in Canada

BUNAC - jobs at ski resorts available in Canada

Summer camps

Although not as large as that of the US, Canada also has an active summer camp system for pupils aged between 7 and 16.

The following links will provide you with lots of information:

Organisations which assist with finding work at a summer camp in Canada

StaTravel – South African agency assisting South African students

Camp Counselors Canada – for South Africans wanting to work at Canadian camps

Camp Counselors USA – homepage – choose which country you are in and get information relevant to you

Summer camps

MySummerCamps – a directory of thousands of summer camps across Canada and other countries

Camp Page – directory of summer camp jobs in Canada

Job Monkey – excellent resource for all types of jobs at summer camps

Internships

The Canadian government requires you to have a valid Work Permit to do an internship, and / or to work. If you do not have a work permit and you volunteer at a company, you will be putting both yourself and the company in danger of prosecution by the Canadian Border Services Agency. You won't be sent to Guantanamo, but you will be sent home, with no right of appeal or re-entry to Canada.
The visa-scheme for South African citizens is the so-called 'C-30'. The 'C-30' allows you to work in Canada, provided that you also study in Canada. This visa also works for private career colleges, and would then give you the chance to learn or improve your skills in a trade and follow up with an internship in that new trade.
The only restriction on this visa is that your internship period cannot exceed your period of studies, so if you have studied for 2 months, you can work for 2 months.

If you are also a citizen of another country (eg. UK) then the visa requirements do not include studying, i.e. you do not have to be a student.

Ci.com has excellent information on internships and positions available in Canada.