My quest for the Best Job in the World ended a week ago. Tourism Queensland announced the top 50 last Monday and I didn’t make it. I’d actually known for a few days already since everyone in the running for the top 50 had been contacted for further information and psychometric testing at the end of February.
Thank you to everyone who supported my application – it really meant a lot to me on both a personal and professional level. I don’t feel at all bitter that I missed out on the job – I’m just very pleased that I gave it a go as I learnt so much from the process and met some cool people along the way. I feel like the application and campaign was a huge personal success – I won’t go into the reasons why since I elaborated on this in a post last week.
The other reason I’m not too disappointed is that I’m actually going to the reef next month for my honeymoon. (I hope cyclone and rainy season will be well over by then -fingers crossed!). I won’t promise to share every detail with you, since it’s my honeymoon! And the two weeks will be a definite email and blog hiatus as well. However, I do promise to tell you all about the islands when I return – I’ll write blog posts and share photos and perhaps some video with my new Flip (which I won as a raffle prize at London Twestival).
The only reason I’ve put off writing this post is that I wanted to look at all the top 50 videos so I could share my thoughts. I’m afraid I’ve not yet managed to do that. I’ve decided to go ahead and write the post since voting is only open until 24 March. Tourism Queensland is choosing 10 of the candidates on the shortlist and the eleventh place is reserved for a wild card candidate chosen by public vote. You get one vote per day.
I would like to throw my support behind some of the candidates that I got to know through www.islandreefjob.ning.com, a social network set up by one of the applicants. Please consider voting for Hailey from Queensland and Anny from Vancouver. If I get time I may add to this, and maybe do my personal top 10.
My first impressions? They’ve chosen a spread of candidates from around the world (from 22 countries apparently), which I expected this since it will help maintain interest and exposure in all their target markets. I don’t know if this is true but I heard that the Tourism Queensland subsidiary offices around the world were the ones that actually did the shortlisting (this means my video would have been reviewed by the London office rather than the Australian headquarters). There’s also a balance of male and female applicants. Quite a few of the candidates have (or claim to have) media or tourism experience, which again stands to reason since the job spec asked for one year’s ‘relevant experience’, though it was never specified what that meant.
The only thing that disappointed me is that there wasn’t a greater diversity of ages and that none of the families made it through. From what I’ve seen so far, and from what others have also commented, the short-listed candidates are nearly all young and single (or at least they didn’t mention their other halves or families in the application). I thought there were some great ‘two for the price of one’ applications and also some lovely pitches from families – such as Shane from Cyprus – so I was surprised that not a single one made it to the top 50.
I find this strange for two reasons. Firstly, Tourism Queensland billed this as a job that was open to all and made it clear that the applicant could bring their families, or indeed anyone they wanted, to live with them in the three-bedroom villa. (I guess they would have been in breach of Australian employment law if they’d said otherwise so maybe they said it didn’t mean it).
Secondly, I think they are missing a marketing trick. The reef already attracts plenty of young backpackers – what’s needed are more slightly older tourists who come for a longer stay and spend more cash. I think appealing to families and couples would have been a smart move. These potential customers are online and do read blogs but they want to have something in common with the chosen candidate and they’re probably not going to tune in to watch a 21-year-old who looks cute in a bikini when you can get that just about everywhere.
That said, it was still a fantastic campaign – very clever and extremely well executed. I bet it got a lot of people thinking quite seriously about a trip to the Great Barrier Reef and in this economic climate, even maintaining tourism numbers would be a coup.
What do you think about Tourism Queensland’s selections for the top 50? Do you agree with me about the age range and lack of families? What sort of person would you most want to follow? Will you be voting for the wildcard candidate?
You are awesome. So many people were super bitter. But you are above that, hopefully I can be as big as you if I don’t get picked for the 10. Have a wonderful honeymoon. Congratulations.
Apologies that this whole thing – kind of passed me by a bit or you would have had my support.
I am sure you would have done a fantastic job.
But have a fabulous honeymoon – I never did make it to Aus. I used to work with so many Australians and heard so often about just how good it is that it kind of put me off ever visiting – felt like I had seen it all.
But I shall go one day.
Good luck with your blog break – looking forward to reports on your return.
Thanks, Steve. I’ll be around for a few weeks yet but the blogging hiatus will be in action from 4-20 April, except perhaps for some timed posts if I’m organised enough. – Caitlin.
Have a great time on your honeymoon, what an awesome place to have it
Looking forward to some posts on that (:
Even though I’m a single twenty-something, I also agree that they missed out big time with the lack of families. One family AT LEAST should have gotten a Top 50 slot. There were several family applications that made me feel really lacking! Not just cute kids, but engaging kids who would be blogging to the next generation. It’s amazing what kids will latch on to. I mean, the Great Barrier Reef has been on my “Must-Do” list ever since I watched Ocean Girl on TV as a kid and that was when I was in elementary school!
That’s a really good point about hooking in the next generation. I was more thinking about their parents but you are totally right. I’m no longer a twenty-something but I’m only 32 and I don’t yet have a family – I was just surprised by the lack of diversity, especially considering how good some of the family applications were. – Caitlin.
Congrats on your upcoming nuptials. April is the end of cyclone season so it should be nice weather.
I agree with you that they’ve let an opportunity go begging by targetting the same demographic that their other marketing already appeals too. However, and I’m certainly no good at marketing, perhaps in the current economic climate they see it as a way to shore up falling visitor numbers? Keeping the customer group they already have instead of broadening the appeal?
On second thoughts, that doesn’t make sense either – Queensland is known (at least down under) as being kid and family friendly.
You raise a good point about the age range that they’re marketing towards, and having been to Port Douglas and Cairns myself it certainly has something for everyone.
It has been interesting following their ‘best job in the world’ campaign, and it has certainly been a marketing/PR success. Hopefully other tourist boards will start to engage and interact with travellers using social media.
European destination boards are dreadful.
I think you are right, they really did blow it as far as families and older people are concerned. We thought about applying, but their marketing so clearly shouts out to the very young bikini crowd,( partying young adults types) that it is almost a caricature.
That crowd doesn’t tend to have any money to speak of. Now moms do most of the travel decision for families, so that is a dynamic they should have thought about and the over 40 or even over 50 crowd ( who tend to have the most money to spend).
I am actually quite surprised by some of the people that made it and many good ones that did not. They should have done much better on diversity.
By picking a family, they would have a MUCH larger market to sell to, but most of that market will be totally turned off by the college crowd types they seem most interested in. It is a tiny little world ( young backpackers) that most who have money to spend, are completely oblivious to.
Apparently, that is all they want in Queensland. Seems a bit illogical to me.
It got a lot of attention, but will it be sustained? I doubt it, as it is already so “yesterday’s news” and it’s not even over. The only people really excited about it, were the people trying to get the job. I have only seen a handful of the tapes…some were unbelievably atrocious. …even some in the top 50 are really bad. Go through a few of those snoozers & one just gives up.
You did a great job & I thought you’d be in the top 50, but these things have a way of working out for the best. I wish them all luck! Happy Honeymoon!
I never thought I would make the top 50 – I thought I was a strong candidate but with 34,000 applications, I knew that even getting noticed would be hard. In regards to the demographic, I think perhaps they were thinking social media = Generation Y. Actually the average age on Twitter is 31 and my mum and all her sisters and friends (women in their 50s) are on Facebook, so it’s mainstream now. I wonder how much it had to do with the age group of the people doing the judging and the tendency for people to choose candidates like themselves. I’m on the cusp of Gen X and Y, so my age wasn’t critical – these are just general observations. – Caitlin.
I was totally pulling for you! I am so sad you didn’t make it — you would do an excellent job. And I, too, was disappointed that the top 50 was so homogeneous.
Congrats on your coming wedding, though! I didn’t know that was on the horizon for you. Bravo!