If you want to find out more about the best job in the world go to the official website.
NB: To my regular blog readers, this post is a sticky post (OK, I’m excited about the best job in the world, but not that excited), meaning I have set it to appear as the first post on my blog. My most recent posts will be following this.
The following is what I call my “visual CV”. The following photos, in chronological order depict me over the past 6 years of my journey, utilising skills and having experiences that have moulded me to be the ideal candidate for “the best job in the world”. Here it goes.
My first stop, being an English teacher in Korea
Becoming a seafood connoisseur with my Taekwondo Masters, Korean style (live octopus)
Spain, crewing my employer’s boat from France to Spain
Brazil, rising early to make the most of the picturesque sunrises and exploring the vast Pantanal by horse back
Hap the Assistant Marketing Manager - Finally using my Marketing and Management degree in the States
Taming the wild waters of the Rocky Mountains
The Fudge Packer making toffee apples under the watchful eyes of tourists’ video cameras while doing a snowboard season in Banff, Canada
Sleeping in a car, bathing in the local river and eating at soup kitchens with a my good mate Barney until we could find jobs in Alberta, Canada
2 months of sleeping in the car paid off, I gained employment in the Canadian Oil and Gas industry, I was finally a “rig pig”
Having my visa denied in Canada, decided to go to Mexico, live on the beach and learn to surf
Volunteered for 2 months at an orphanage on the Mexican/Guatemala border
Getting dreadlocks in Denver Colorado, making me the ideal looking island caretaker
Trekking in the jungle of South America’s “most dangerous” country, Colombia
After having some visa troubles in the US and being kindly put up at Atlanta City Prision and deported the next morning, I found myself back in New Zealand trying to find a legal way back into the US where my girlfriend Mandy was living. A trip I won’t forget- falling 5 metres from a rope swing, impacting on my upper spine, losing vision temporarily (someone reiterating to me to make the most of this life, and things happen for a reason). Without falling off that rope swing, I wouldn’t have had the 3 months of doctor ordered rest and relaxation in which I spent creating my blog.
Getting scuba certified with girlfriend Mandy in Indonesia and falling in love with life underwater
The year just been has seen me working as a geologists field assistant, exploring the northwestern Australian Outback in search of manganese (a black mineral used in the production of steel). This involves sleeping out under the stars, cooking on camp fires, all whilst being surrounded by the unique Australian Outback flora and fauna that I have grown to love.
Following my passion to learn to sail, I started going to a local sailing club here in Perth, Australia so I could get some experience. I know at some point in the remaining 3 years of my journey I will crew a yatch on a long voyage.
To read a newspaper article I wrote on trying to get a job in the Australian Mining Industry, click here
To read an article written about me and my goal, click here.
To listen to me being interviewed about my goal on ABC radio, click below.
To see me in action giving a motivational speech to a crowd of 500 at a College graduation, click on the video below.
With my video application for the “best job in the world” I wanted something that was going to stand out. I didn’t want to sit in front of my webcam and complain about the weather or tell the judges about the Great Barrier Reef facts I had just googled, eg, “Hi, I’m Bob, I’m sick of winter, I want to come to the Great Barrier reef where there’s 900 islands, 2900 individual reefs, over 1500 species of fish, and did you know that you can see it from outerspace!”.
Video Application – Part 1
The seed of the spa idea arose when at work (in the outback for the new readers), we had stopped off at a river that was inundated with weeds and mud, acting the clown I covered my face in mud and hair with weeds. Then I thought I could shoot the movie up in the middle of the outback and pretend I was at spa etc. The original skit plot was a lot more indepth, due to the 60 sec time constraint of the video application, I made do with the skeleton plot.
With an upcoming dive trip to Thailand looming, I was fast running out of time. I decided to get the video done in Perth before I flew back to the outback for work. The problem now was that I had no outback setting. The best setting I could find was the “lake” at the local golf course. I use the term “lake” very loosely. The “lake” has more mud than water, and the lack of rain lately meant the drain run off from the street gutters hadn’t replenished the stagnated water. To add to matters, my mate told me that I was stupid to do it there as he had heard that the lake is situated on reclaimed rubbish dump land, and the waters toxic, even the ducks get sores from the water!
I was fast running out of time, and had to utilise the lake. When you watch the video application, and think that the setting looks pristine, think again, watch this behind the scenes video of me rubbing mud on myself and trying to cross the stagnated ankle deep mud that sends up a repugnant odour when you stir up the mud.
To bring my video idea into fruition I called on the help of my mates. The ”production crew” consisted of my girlfriend Mandy as my “publicist”, number 1 fan and co-star. Long time mate Bugz was behind the camera, taking a day off from his reason films commitments. And finally Matty as logistics manager and behind the scenes photographer (also ball thrower for the dog that wouldn’t leave us alone).
I thought the video wasn’t going to get off the ground as concerned morning joggers saw us heading into the park with a petrol can (filled with water for me to wash myself with), a mirror, and video camera, especially after the weekend arson attacks on Perth’s King park that saw major roads into centre city shut down as fire crews tried to contain the arson blaze.
It did get underway, but the funny looks didn’t stop. There were many bemused morning walkers stopping to rubber neck at the skinny dreadlocked guy covered in mud (and no doubt duck fecal matter) wearing a rubber ducky shower cap lying in the repulsive water that not even the ducks were swimming in - I don’t blame them either.
But all in all we had a great laugh, and found the end result to be a success, a big thanks goes out to my “production crew”, and also my workmate Jacko for letting me use his video camera.
Video Application 2
With my marketing budget depleted (a carton of beers for my mates that helped me), Mandy my girlfriend at Pilates, mates at work, the battery of the borrowed camcorder nearly depleted, and fly out day to work looming, it was up to me to “get er done” as they say on the rigs in Canada.
So “get er done” I did. I hung up a sheet, set the camera up and talked the talk. My origianl idea was to wear a suit on top and a skirt and high heels on my bottom half. Then at the end of the video after being all serious, the camera would zoom out and I would be dressed like a woman on the bottom (ummm yeah, I think some of my ideas are best left in my head). But when I got changed into the skirt, I had no one to operate the camera zoom, and realised it was bad idea aswell. So I did all the takes wearing a skirt, in the video posted in my visual CV, I’m actually wearing a skirt (No high heels though, I couldn’t find any high heels in the house that fitted me)!
But the funny part of me wearing a skirt and videoing myself was when my flatmate came home from work early and walked in on me wearing a skirt with a video camera set up! His frist thoughts were that I was making some weird kind of homemade porn movie, and he says “do you want me to leave you alone?”. After I explained about the best job in the world and the need to make a video application he was a little more understanding, haha.
That wraps up behind the scenes, I hope it gives you a little bit of an insight to my video application. Wish me luck!
NO, I’m not talking about my current job. You may have already heard about it. It’s being dubbed as “the best job in the world”. Tourism Queensland launched a worldwide publicity campaign last week, as they ask for applicants all over the world to send in their 1 minute videos of why they should have “the best job in the world”
So what is this job? It’s being promoted as an “island caretaker” where you live in a luxurious 3 bedroom mansion on Queensland’s Hamilton Island for 6 months. During your 6 month contract you are required to explore the vast array of surrounding islands and take part in island activities. The successful applicant is required to keep a weekly blog and video diary of their experiences. And if this didn’t sound good enough, they are also paying the lucky person $150,000 for their troubles!
As you can imagine, the interest in the job has well surpassed all expectations, with the website crashing last week due to heavy traffic. Which isn’t a surprise considering its been launched in 18 different countries and has been broadcast on the likes of the UK’s BBC. To find out more about this “best job in the world”, go to the official website www.islandreefjob.com or google “best job in the world”.
And yes my good friends, the question you’re probably thinking “Is Hap going to apply for the job?” Of course! I have not been this excited about a job application in my life. When I was reading through the credentials of the ideal candidate, I was thinking to myself “I tick all the boxes!”. To some it is a dream job due to its location, pay packet, plush living etc, but for me it’s a dream job as it encompasses all that I am passionate about: blogging, public speaking, writing, dealing with the media, outdoor adventure, the sea, travel, exploring a new place -it’s just perfect. Needless to say, I’ve put all my time, thought and energy into this project.
Keep an eye out on the islandreefjob website for my video application, or stay posted to my blog as I want to have my video up and posted before I fly out to work tomorrow morning.
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