Wotjob - About Us

Funny how things begin, and then grow, into something …like WOTjob.

It happened when I (Howard) was chatting to a couple of our local backpackers, Peter & Mario, from the UK & Germany, who in order to stay in Australia longer both needed to get a job. The money was running out just as it always seems to do when you are having fun!

I, and my wife Bronwyn had just arrived back in Australia from the UK and decided to settle in Cairns in Tropical North Queensland after living a rather hectic life in London, where I had been working as a fellow Director with Bruno Brookes (ex Radio 1 DJ-UK). We had originally launched the most pioneering Internet Radio Station of its time called Stormlive (300k streaming webcams when nobody had Broadband in the UK! Studios in ultraexpensive New Bond St. etc.) during the dotcom boom in 1999-2000. At the time we were the online dedicated Radio station for Freeserve and The Sun Newspaper -so we learnt a bit about the Internet along the way (in other words ..probably more what not to do if you could do it again!... Like now).

Sailing Solid Air- PNG

Chillin' at Sea -----1996 Papua New Guinea

Having travelled to many parts of the world with Bronwyn my South African wife, during our early years of marriage(we met and married in 2 weeks in 1990, but thats another story),we have met many backpackers who were constantly looking for work.We could relate to that.

Brownyn looking at Sea Whip

Bronwyn Diving Coral Sea 2004

During our travels we were quite often broke and in particular when we first travelled around Australia and then in Africa & North America.Way back then i was wishing for something like WOTjob. This was before the internet was really even happening.The amount of hours we spent walking the streets and arriving to find a job we had heard about had just gone or "No, we haven't got any work, where did you hear that we had ?" Having been broke on the road we know how dispiriting it can be at times. Perseverance does not always win the day because we like you were on the road and every day you have to start again.

I had this germ of an idea when we were waiting for our visas to come through and finally settle in Australia. So I decided to hang out with Backpackers in the many hostels around London and then when we arrived in Sydney & Cairns, to find out what you need to make your travels

easier (Bronwyn told me it was just a good excuse to hang out and drink beer-okay so I enjoyed myself!). Again and again I heard that finding work was a priority for Backpackers. You want to party hard and need to earn the cash fast to fund your good times.

Peter & Mario (the Backpackers from Europe) were brilliant on the computers and I'm pretty good with databasing (the boring bit). So we worked together creating a website that would automatically connect jobs to people looking for them. You told us you needed loads to choose from, so we had to make them free for Employers. We've also included all the things you, the Backpackers, said you would want in a site. The ability to book hostels live-so we included 8,000+ that you can book with up to the minute realtime availability worldwide. You want to be able to book activities and tours so we included 2,000+. You told us it is essential to be able to purchase your phone cards before you leave home, so we did a deal with Vodafone worldwide that enables you to get your number before you even leave your shores. You wanted Insurance cover but it had to be cheap so we brokered the best deal on the net and so on.

The concept is easy and works. We knew from the moment we began that this was going to be the easiest way to find a job and give you, the Backpackers, the opportunity to stay and play longer wherever you are.

Bronwyn on Paradise Island

And since we were having so much fun putting it together, (we are now a team of 6), we decided that as well as having a huge choice of every different type of job you could possibly think of, we would also include loads of information and useful links to make getting organised and getting around easier.

Nautilus Shell at 40 metres 2004

Howard- Diving at 40 metres with a Nautilus Shell 2004

There’s nothing we'd like more than to endlessly travel around the world but unfortunately “Money makes the world go round and us go round the world”so we do need to stop and work. Mostly we are making sure no stones are left unturned in bringing you all and any jobs we can possibly find and to promote our service to the Employers and Backpacker industry. We want WOTjob to become a runaway success and ultimately you tell your mates about us because you are so happy with our service. For the employer it’s a free service – nothing to loose and heaps to gain!

Employers looking for staff are able to search for suitable applicants on line. Our candidates each have a current updated CV and photo(optional) to help you choose the right applicant for your vacant position. Our unique system automatically sends E-mails to both parties when the job and location match. This has never been done before for Employers and the Backpacker market (who are constantly on the move), which makes Wotjob the most instant job search and recruitment site on the net.

Needless to say the site will always keep us busy to keep you up to date with the latest but we will thoroughly enjoy the process and aim to keep it as simple as we can for your convenience.

We are always open to comments and suggestions because without the help from all the Backpackers and Employers out there we would never be able to connect you successfully.

We hope you enjoy WOTjob on your journey as much as we have enjoyed creating it. Like we say

"...put some miles and smiles on your CV"

Howard & Bronwyn Thomas

The WOTjob Team

Me Tandem Skydiving

Taking the drop from 14,000 feet Netheravon,Wiltshire UK