Australia's Best Jobs in the World Competition Enters Second Round

150 people from 34 countries have made it through to the next stage of Tourism Australia's 'Best Jobs in the World' competition, with successful candidates submitting video entries from as far afield as Afghanistan, China, Kazakhstan, Korea, Latvia and Mexico.

Entries have proved extremely diverse and creative, including one Taste Master applicant 'singing for his supper', a spoof '007' assignment for the Park Ranger role and a candidate for the Chief Funster delivering his entire application in rap.

The United States has provided the highest number of short-listed candidates (33) followed by the UK (23), Australia (17), France (17), Canada (8) and Italy (5).

The best 25 video clips for each of the six jobs were selected from more than 45,000 videos that were submitted; with the 150 short-listed candidates now having two weeks to submit references to support their application.

Tourism Australia Managing Director Andrew McEvoy said it had been an extremely difficult task, sifting through tens of thousands of videos to select the best 150.

"It's already proving one of the hardest jobs in the world judging our 'Best Jobs in the World' competition. The quality of the entries has been amazing, with so many of the candidates doing a really great job of presenting themselves on video," Mr McEvoy said. "But, just like most other jobs recruitment processes, we want more evidence so we know we're getting the best candidate for each job."

Ms. Carmen Tam, Manager, Hong Kong, Tourism Australia said, "It's great to see that two Hong Kong applicants have got through to the second round. The two jobs they're competing for demonstrate how enthusiastic local youths are for nature, wildlife and the adventures that Australia has to offer. I hope they continue to progress in the competition and win the chance to visit Australia."

Among 150 short-listed videos, Hong Kong, China and Taiwan have two entries each. Both of the Hong Kong entries were created by local boys: Chris Leung is aiming for the job of Park Ranger (Queensland) while Raven Cheng wants to become an Outback Adventurer (Northern Territory).

Based on their original video submission and supporting references, judges will select the 18 strongest candidates (three for each of the six jobs), who will be invited to a final assessment in Australia in mid-June, with the six successful job candidates announced on 21 June 2013.

Tourism Australia's 'Best Jobs in the World' competition is part of a major international marketing push to promote tourism opportunities provided by Australia's Working Holiday Maker (WHM) program.

The six 'best jobs' are: Wildlife Caretaker (South Australia), Chief Funster (New South Wales), Park Ranger (Queensland), Taste Master (Western Australia), Outback Adventurer (Northern Territory) and Lifestyle Photographer (Melbourne, Victoria).