I have recently finished school and am deferring from uni for a year to earn some cash and hopefully travel late next year. I am currently searching for a job and my friend suggested i be a bike courier in Sydneys CBD. The idea interests me as i dont feel i could handle an office job or retail job where you have to be stuck inside all day. Getting paid to ride sounds ideal.
The only problem is i have absolutely no idea how to land a job. :?
From what ive read so far the best way is to know a bike courier and wait for a position to free up. But i dont know any couriers. Its such a niche job and i dont know where or how to start looking. Are there any specific companies in sydney which i should contact??
Also what kind of distance would i have to cover in a day?
Im getting the impression that there are alot of bike couriers, former bike couriers and people in the know that might be able to help me out. If you could answer any of the questions i have asked it would be greatly appreciated.
Ah, the innocence. Maybe this is more appropriate: you are getting paid to take parcels from one location to another in heavy traffic full of retarded drivers and iPod zombies all while smelling bad and feeling not much better. Before I say anything else, what are you planning on riding?
At present i only ride road bikes. So id have to buy something for the job. Any suggestions of a reasonably priced bike suitable to the job? I understand what the job is and it sounds better than any office, retail or hospitality job. I havent really got any other jobs in mind and i dont think i can bare packing shelves at coles much longer.
Thanks for the contact heavy metal. Ill email him today.
You wanna travel? Suck it up and start labouring. You know at the end of the week your getting paid and not waiting for the next pick up to come through as a courier. Most likely with no experience and being young if you do land a job its going to be commission based. Commission based wage isn’t going to make you rich to cover yourself overseas. Work hard for a few months labouring and you will have a heaps better time overseas.
Im 6’1 and skinny. Not really the right build for labouring but maybe i should look into it. I want to work outdoors doing something interesting. Thats why i thought couriering would be a good job. But from the sounds of things its more difficult than its worth. Any job suggestions?
Yeah, hospitality generally sucks but if you can get a job as a bar tender in a small bar it’s a grear way to, um, ‘get to know’ people, and you get a good discount on big nights out, which is probably every night for you.
Retail… how about a job in a bike shop?
I agree with Gypsy, get a job with consistent cash flow, some companys in Melbs used to pay hourly (or maybe it was hourly rate + smaller commission). Full commission base is quite volatile, and we all know it’s the geometric mean that counts in the long run*.
Anyway, I can’t help you with courier companies in Sydney, but when you find out, call, front up, be persistent, have an appropriate bike, lock and shoes, get a gregorys, ask to tag along and if you hear that someone is quitting, jump on it. IMO the best bike for the job is a rigid MTB with spds, 1" slicks and disc brakes.
You will be rooted everyday, regardless of how fit you are. If you aren’t fit, you just won’t earn as much (assuming it is still comission based). If you aren’t rooted, you could have earned more (unless there is no work).
To find work anywhere, you must be prepared. Front up, know your shit and have plenty of patience. If you wanna go down the labouring path then you just gotta show your keen. Everybody knows a tradey ask them for a referral. I’d just get the phone book out and start calling landscapers. I know that the pay rates down in Sydney are heaps higher then Brisbane which is a big plus.
if you wanna do it, just find out courier companies, then hassle them everyday, on the phone. then if you get a job, cool, but it’s a shit time to get into it. the christmas period might be busy, then it’s dead. no money in it.
get a job as a postie for Aust Post. You ride around, deliver shit and actually get paid. Courier job won’t get you overseas, I’d stay stick with the packing shelves, it will pay a whole lot better.
But they have to wear a wanky sun smart uniform. And you don’t get to ride fast. In fact, they ride very slow. So slow. Too slow. Pretty much walking pace. And they stop a lot. Although the one I go past every Friday in Richmond really looks like he’s enjoying the day…I guess being outside is enough to make some people smile.
As slow as sitting in one spot waiting for a job for hours on end?? At least you make money every hour, thats the reason I compared and its kinda similar. Lots of courier company uniforms are wanky too. Kings red top is fugly as.
go landscaping did it for 3 years on days off and it is interesting and getting skills you will have when you are no longer skinny and you never forget em’ and you can use them overseas i still pave lay sleepers do gardens when needed. And the best bit you deserve that beer at the end of the day… and chiks did a tradie.
Find work as a labourer. I worked in Port Hedland (WA) for six months after finishing school in 2006 and I still have some cash left in my bank account for a rainy day-even after spending my first year of uni without a job and going out far too often.
yea, there’s good money in labouring. i’ve done it on and off for a couple of years when i finished school. it keeps you fit, you’re outside, and you make some good coin.
if you want to make money from riding a bike you could become a professional cyclist who doesn’t deliver packages between businesses but you occasionally have to deliver a victory in a race plus i hear the training is easy and the pay is amazing
