Thinking about working abroad for ~6 months. How easy/difficult is it to get a job in these countries w/o an education? I have experience as a waiter and as a bartender. How risky is it going there hoping to find something? I'm willing to do most things, I think.

If you know other countries where it might be easier, let me know

My English is pretty good btw, I'm not completely fluent though.

With experience I don't think you will have too much trouble in New Zealand getting a job as a waiter/bartender, just need to look around. Can't speak for Aus

How about labor jobs in these countries do they pay under the table?

As a Canadian you can get a working holiday visa. You don't need to work under the table. That said, hospitality work is limited. I would plan on doing something along the lines of manual labour, if you actually need to work while you are here. And by manual labour I mean bricklaying/gardening/landscaping/farming etc. Some of them will pay cash but you will be able to get a work visa assuming you are a Canadian citizen under 30.

US citizens cannot get a work visa since they don't offer Australians a reciprocal deal.

Thanks for the heads up.. Australia.. I wonder what it would be like living there.

If you really could not find anything in Aussie. Can always revert to fruit picking.

Are you sure about this currently being the case? I'm American and got an Australian working holiday visa last year (and one from NZ) as well. It cost about $150AUD and was valid for 1 year.

I worked on for a Wall Street Firm in a mid office position. Are there jobs open for my type of work? I feel like Australia's the place to be with all the money from commodities coming from China. I'm Canadian.

in sydney it wouldn't be too hard to get a bar job if you show that your keen and can do the job. but majority of the time your going to have to be a glassie, i would say a glassie job would be quite easy to find, a bartending job would be alot more difficult. (for guys)

also depends on what kind of club you wanna work at etc etc. and you could always look to get on the bar if you do become a glassie first.

You're right they have recently introduced a similar scheme with the US. The requirements are a bit stricter for Americans though, so check the Australian Immigration department website.

http://www.immi.gov.au/visitors/working-holiday/

You would be better off trying to get a sponsored work visa in this case. One of the stipulations of the working holiday visa is that you aren't supposed to work in the same job you do at home, and there is a limit on how long you can spend in any 1 job (cant remember if it's 3 or 6 months).

Suppose I land a job as a waiter; How well is it paid? Will it be able to cover living expenses (staying at a hostel, food, etc)? I suppose getting a room somewhere is difficult?

You will make about $20-$25 an hour, which is enough to live on (rent,food other expenses etc) assuming you get 40+ hours per week. You won't be able to afford to go out clubbing much on that sort of money though.

unemployment in australia is like 5.5% or so at the moment.

Pay in Australia is fine for 'unskilled jobs' and I'd say pokerspiv is about right for working at a bar (friend works at one and makes about that) but bear in mind it is pretty expensive on that sort of wage. For e.g. Canberra (absolutely do not go there) rent is bout ~130-200/week for most average sort of places (AUD is currently exactly par with USD and CAD) and food will probably run you 100-150/week without eating out. So basically don't expect to live all that well on 20-25$/hr (you'll be able to pay all bills fine though). Could probably get a labouring job otherwise (seems to be what alot of people from overseas do on working visas). Seems to be a ton of jobs in Canberra at least, but I don't really know for sure as i don't work (none of my friends have had probs getting jobs though).

NZ is definitely cheaper to live (dollar is worth a fair bit less) but you will also get paid much less (I believe min is about 13$/hr and i'd guess most crap jobs pay that). Was living in NZ for a few months last year and a friend was making $14/hr for the entirety of his building apprenticeship. Some of the bigger cities like Auckland are definitely more expensive although prob pay more (doubt you'd do well with a crap job though).

Presumably you might have some trouble getting into either country without proof of funds or some sort of plan/skills for paying your way while there?

Basically the polar opposite of Canada in terms of weather/geography/sports but fairly similar to Canada in other respects (as are alot of "western places"). Then again I'm half Canadian/half NZer so everything is jumbled together and I probably can't tell which things I associate with which side :/

FWIW I've lived in 5-6 different countries for long periods of time and Canada was so similar to Australia it was eerie. The only difference was the weather, culture and politics/wages/work conditions are all very similar.