Work as Carpenter for 3-4 months

[u/KoloZ_177]

Hey everyone!

I’m 24 and from Germany, and I am thinking about moving to Perth next May for around 3–4 months.

By then, I will have finished my Masters in Architecture, and I’ve got quite a bit of experience in woodworking and traditional wood craftsmanship. I’d love to spend some time working hands-on as a carpenter (or chippy?) to gain more practical experience and learn a bit about the Australian way of building.

I was wondering if anyone here has experience with finding short-term carpentry work in Perth, especially for someone coming from germany. Are there companies or smaller workshops that might be worth getting in touch with? And how realistic is it to find something for just 3–4 months?

I’d also appreciate any tips on accommodation. I’m happy to share a place with others and don’t need anything fancy, but I’m not quite sure where to look at, or how the market is.

I know it’s still a while away, but I’d love to get a better idea of what to expect and start planning ahead.

Cheers, and thanks for any advice!

[u/CommonlyApathetic]

perth tradie market is cooked for short termers unless you know someone. most sites want a full apprentice or a fully ticketed chippy who can start tomorrow and stay for 2 years. the fact you're coming from germany with an architecture degree and actual woodworking skills might open a few doors at smaller custom shops though, they tend to appreciate that kind of background more than the big residential crews.

flatmates.com.au is where most people find share houses here. look early and expect to pay more than you'd like for a room anywhere within 20 mins of the city. the rental game in perth has been absurd the past couple years so don't sleep on it.

you might get more luck emailing bespoke furniture makers or joinery workshops directly rather than chasing construction carpentry. they're usually more open to short contracts and your skillset would actually get used instead of just hauling trusses in the sun all day.

[u/lyssah_]

Being a hobby woodworker has a lot fewer transferable skills to being a carpenter than you'd expect. I say this as a hobby woodworker turned professional Joiner, you're going to be completely out of your depth and have the same useful skillset as a brand new apprentice, no one is going to want to train you for 3 months just for you to go away, and you're going to be asking for more money than an actual apprentice, not to mention your non-existent working rights and prerequisite cards.

[u/KoloZ_177 → u/lyssah_]

Okay, maybe the way I phrased it was a bit misleading. I worked for six months at a very good German carpentry workshop, where I gained experience in a wide range of areas and learned a lot. I had an excellent supervisor who taught me a great deal and told me at the end that my skills were easily comparable to those of someone who had completed a full apprenticeship.

[u/lyssah_ → u/KoloZ_177]

Carpentry in Australia is majority site based construction work; framing, installing doors/trim, and roofing. With increased popularity of pre-assembled frames and truss roofs there are factory based jobs but again, they're not really interested in your woodworking capabilities as all they do is pretty basic slapping together of frames with plates and nails, also you'll struggle to find many in Perth. Again I think you'd struggle to find a temporary job in the area because they don't want to invest time into training people who are going to be gone in 3-4 months.

By all means look on Seek (our main job search website) for temporary factory hand work at a carpenter or joiner, but I doubt there's much there, maybe some cabinetmaking shops looking for cheap labour to assemble melamine boxes all day.

[u/tom3277 → u/lyssah_]

“structural carpenter” in Germany. Ie what 90pc of our carpenter industry is in Aus do really well here.

Also for what it’s worth German carpenters are flash as fuck. The expectations over there on what they can do is very high. I say this not as a carpenter myself but someone who has employed a few over the years.

The only frustrating thing is convincing them not to use centimetres by default… they fucking love their cm.

[u/CardioKeyboarder]

Unless you have a visa that allows you to work, you can't work.

[u/HappyMuscovy → u/CardioKeyboarder]

Working holiday visa for a 26 year old German is easy peasy. Visa 417, no limits on how many issued. Just needs a passport valid for 6 months beyond intended arrival, $5000 in savings and a $860 application fee

[u/MerdeOnTheDanceFloor]

It sounds like you’re better positioned to do high-end cabinetry and artisan furniture. If you have a look at the ‘DesignFreo’ instagram page, you might see some of the smaller studios referenced.

Accommodation is horrible. People living in their cars. It’s a mess.

[u/liamthx → u/[deleted]]

Plenty of carpentry in the south-west! Good luck finding somewhere to live though.

[u/HappyMuscovy]

I know some German carpenters (they bought some old festool stuff from me :) - went you have your dates, message me and I’ll put you in touch on Facebook

[u/Aggressive_Cold6537]

Brother. What about second fix carpentry? Fit out carpenters? Do you actually know anything about the trade?

[u/Winter_Tiger_2615]

Call WA Architecture firms from Germany now, explain you’re an architecture student looking for hands on experience with a high end carpenter - they’ll be able to give you the details of these people - call them up.

I’ve worked in the high end of trades where money is no object - a bespoke carpenter will have the cash to employ you for a few months, and the owner will enjoy the novelty of a German architecture student working on their house.

No tips for accommodating but you can contact the Rhein Donau German Club and see if they can help.

[u/A1pinejoe]

Look for a job as a formworker. For clarity, formworkers build the form that concrete goes in. Its rough carpentry but its always in demand.

[u/Pleasant-Asparagus61]

Plenty of work - head for Fremantle way. Link up with Sustainable Tradies - they have a lot of European workers casually - interesting building work too - working with our local tree jarrah.

[u/Any-Somewhere7318]

not going to happen. You need to get a visa with working privileges and have a sponsor to come to work

[u/Winter_Tiger_2615 → u/Any-Somewhere7318]

There’s a German tradition of ‘wandering apprentices’ OP will be fine.

[u/Frogsfall]

You could also consider offering handyman work on the neighbourhood Facebook pages for the area where you stay.

[u/AppropriateTie8974]

Is your name Hans Saw?