Austria is slowly moving to a more service-oriented labour-market as heavy industries and traditional areas like mining and forestry decline. The public sector is cutting spending every year and also the hospitals and other medical institutions face tough times with monetary constraints. Luckily, new jobs in the service industry, in marketing and in the information technology sector compensate for other job losses. Austria is strongly supporting entrepreneurs – it has become very easy to start your own venture.
Tourism
If you want to find a job quickly and only for several months the tourism industry might be the place to search for opportunities. The difference to other job markets is that the jobs are likely to be found outside the big cities on the countryside or in the famous ski-resorts of Austria. Foreigners with good language skills are welcome. The country districts with most tourism in Austria are Carinthia (Kärnten), Tyrol (Tirol), Salzburg, Styria (Steiermark) and last but not least Vienna (Wien). The best way to search for jobs is to do it locally. The employment service (AMS) can also help you as they maintain a list of open positions especially for tourism related jobs. Contracts will always be for a limited time (a couple of months), the demand is high in summer (except for the ski resorts) and low in winter.
Internships
As usual, getting a foot in the door is the hardest. Internships are a good and quite common way in Austria to finally get a permanent contract. The downside of internships is the low payment – sometimes hardly enough to live. Once the people in the company know you and value the quality of your work you can try to switch from internship to a standard job. Internships are offered by many big companies on their websites. Try to apply as early as possible, as closing deadlines are sometimes half a year before the actual internship is about to start.