Amazing position available as astronomer at Ayers Rock Resorts

[Adox]

I am working here in Uluru for the past few weeks as astronomer for the tours organized by our astronomy department. We are looking for another full timer that will work with us.A degree in not required but only a genuine passion for astronomy and an astronomy knowledge to reply questions from guests. Here there is the job advertisment: http://www.seek.com.au/Job/28442952/?cid=
Send me a message if you want any other information and good luck.

[jenchris]

Doesn't enumerate salary.
I'd expect it to at least give a ball park figure

[leon]

Very interesting however:
Very difficult to apply on line, every time one logs in it tells me it is not correct, when I know it is.

Leon

[Nikolas]

The website where you apply online is borked.
What is the salary package?

[Rob_K]

Yeah, I'd like to know how much I have to pay. :P

Cheers -

[MattT]

You do get your own uniform and subsidised accommodation….what more do you want???? A fair day/nights pay for a fair/days night pay….forget it….and you probably have to provide your own instruments of the night…..
sounds like one born every minute to me….Tony and his kind love this kind of thing.
I won't be applying.

Now where is the thumbs down ikon????

Matt

[gaa_ian]

I have met people who have done this job and they loved it ! If you love astronomy, enjoy telling stories & public astronomy, it would be fantastic ! As for the pay, anything in tourism is usually a moderate wage, but what a great lifestyle. :thumbsup:

[blink138]

if this is real what you are saying................ you are the reason why unions were invented!
pat

[PCH]

Not asking about the pay has long been promoted as the way to go at an interview.

That's all twaddle imo.

Speaking practically, isn't the pay pretty much THE single most important thing you need to know?

Unless you're some sort of highly paid fat cat and you know the salary range is going to be megabucks to megabucks+, you need to know what the pay is!

What freakin' point is there pussy-footing around avoiding the subject, pretending the job's right for you and you're right for the job, only to find out after one or two interviews during which you've built up your hopes, that the job doesn't pay enough for you to meet your outgoings?

What a waste of time that was!

[OICURMT]

I assume that this is probably related to the Sound of Silence dinner that the resort has on offer. Touch the Silence seems to be an umbrella marketing campaign.

Anyway... I commented on the dinner here (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/showpost.php?p=957904&postcount=9) and can tell you that it would be good to have some people who know astronomy at a deeper level than the offering they had back then...

From memory, the resort had three SCT's on piers, all with wedges. I'd probably assume the job is real, but given the "light dusting" of Astronomy at the dinner, I would not expect much in the way of pay...

OIC!

BTW: The thumbs-down icon is at the bottom of the dialog box when you create a post...

[ZeroID]

Most jobs you'd apply for would fit to some normal payscale for that industry\skill and that is what you'd expect to be offered without it being mentioned in the advert.
A similar role over here at Mt John last year offered University payscales, actual numbers were not printed but you knew what to expect.

If I was in a similar situation over here with no indication but an interesting role on the table I'd be at least enquiring about the job. Easy enough to say 'no thanks' after an interview or discussion. Worse to find out later that it was a good offer and you didn't even give it a chance. A flight up to Uluru (at their expense of course) would be worth the effort for an interview if it came to that. :D

( I didn't apply for the Mt John position for other reasons btw )

With the current job situation in Aust as it seems to be I thought I'd be seeing someone from IIS checking it out at least. Depends on your personal circumstances of course. I'd imagine you'd have a lot of time to just stargaze in probably one of the darker places in Australia. Bit isolated though.
Pros, cons ... :question:

[blink138]

ha ha, and slave labour matt............... you forgot about slave labour!

hmmmmm............... and call me an "old traditionalist" matt but i would have thought getting paid enough to make ends meet would be of a fairly high priority, "planet matty" would be a very strange place methinks!
pat

[Camelopardalis]

Not everything is about money IMO. Being happy in your job is an important factor.

Obviously it has to fit your personal circumstances. I'd jump at it if it was a little closer to Sydney :lol:

[blink138]

sorry adriano, no further comment.
pat

[brian nordstrom]

:sadeyes: Man , if this had popped up a year ago I would have jumped in head first , what a great job , but sadly as said previously ' circumstances change ' and there is no way I could do this now , I only hope someone from IIS gets this job and keeps us all informed as to how it goes .

And as Dunk say's its not all about the money ;) .

ps. I have observed from the Rock , and its so dark there the constilations are very hard to pick out as they are swamped by thousands of other stars seen , horizon to horizon in a full 360 degree circle , just awesome .

Brian.

[IanT]

Regardless of the great views, awesome equipment and wonderful opportunities to learn, the fact is that without a salary, this position is not a job. Maybe there is a salary? It's hard to know - but the advertisement is not upfront about renumeration. Volunteer work for scientific institutions, not for profit organisations, NGO concerns and community groups is usually good fun and very worthwhile. Doing the same for a profit making hospitality industry venture is entirely different. By all means volunteer if you have the means or desperately want the experience (getting to know Uluru and it's traditional owners is worthwhile regardless of the night skies). However, do not insult the concept of a fair day's work for a fair day's pay.
Ian

[redbeard]

How much is the salary thanks? Question is for the original poster.

Cheers,

Damien

[Nikolas]

OP has been very silent. Salary please

[deanm]

And, as of today (Monday), the ad has been removed.
According to Seek, they are supposed to be posted for 30 days...
Dean

[OzStarGazer]

If you can't save some money for yourself, most jobs are slavery. You get paid to pay for food, bills and accommodation. And in most cases you have to drive to your job in peak hours. Life is not funny. :(
I am not sure, but I think that if I wasn't a beginner and if I didn't fear the cold nights there, I could have given it a go, but I am really not sure.

[OzStarGazer]

I think the ad said "full time"? If it is really a full-time job the astronomers who work there might have to work 8 hours a day? I cannot check now as the ad has apparently been removed.
Well, a few months ago I had started a thread about Ayers Rock. I am not going this year, but whenever I go I will get a better idea of what this job really is, as I will certainly participate in some astronomy tour or adventure.

[Nikolas]

43k? below the poverty line for full time work. pfffft

[Kunama]

You do realise that they aren't asking you to dig holes or anything like that, it is just looking through scopes and answering a few questions and giving informal talks about the hobby that is Astronomy . :shrug:
Seems to me this would be the perfect way to spend a year in Australia's outback ..... like being on a holiday but getting paid for it. If, for instance, I were a teacher, I would be quite happy to take a year's leave without pay to get out of the classroom.

Actually I would be keen to sit in on Adox's talks, Adriano being an aerospace engineer, an astrophotographer and Solar eclipse chaser, I would think his talks would be very interesting.

[astroron]

I would think his post was in Jest, well I would hope so anyway..
I thought about applying myself,but seing as there was so much uncertainty in the post didn't bother.
Maybe they would have liked a younger person anyway. ;)
Cheers

[Camelopardalis]

Dunno where some people get their salary expectations from, it's not like it's a test pilot for NASA or a brain surgeon, I mean no disrespect but it's a role in hospitality :shrug: realistically the audience is going to have a limited attention span besides the odd occasion when a real enthusiast rocks up.

Sounds like a great way to spend a year or two under the stars IMO. May not pay the mortgage but if I had no commitments I'd be applying :)

[rustigsmed]

Yep exactly, if I had no ties it would be a great way to spend a year or two. :thumbsup:

[PCH]

Beginning to sound a bit like Sir Humphrey - lol

"Well I agree in principle, but....."

[AstralTraveller]

Digging holes is the way to good pay? Only test pilots and brain surgeons get livable pay? I think some parallel universes have collided.

I wonder whether some people have done public outreach. It's fun every now and then but ... mein Gott ... who'd want to do it every night? Apart from answering the same questions over and over and over again you have to be nice to the moon-landing-conspiracy nutters, the aliens-probed-me nutters and any other random fruit-loop who has paid their money. Generally you are answering 2-3 questions at a time while helping someone get their eye to the eyepiece (or stopping little Johnny from swinging from the counter-weight bar). Two hours of that and I'm knackered and in need of a stiff drink. Of course you never get to look through the ep except to verify that the object is in the fov ("Yes it's there, you just need to get your eye in the right place".) OK, you should be able to do some viewing after hours, if your up to it.

As a place Yulara combines the worst aspects of isolation (lack of services and horrendous prices) with the worst aspects of a tourist trap (crowds, crowds, crowds). The 'subsidised' accommodation will absorb >25% of your take home and I'd be quite 'interested' to see what you get for that money (hint: rethink the wide-screen tele).

I'm not saying the job wouldn't suit anyone but get the rose-coloured specs off before deciding.

[simmo]

I'm a little concerned how this thread has gone.

I belong to another website forum which has no regard for ones feelings but for a thread such as this there would be none of what you guys have put down.

It's called threads hitting. regardless of view you guys should behave responsibly and keep judgements to yourselves. Start another thread to discuss poor pay vs country living or whatnot.

I am concerned that your irresponsible ideals have got in the road of proper judgement and perhaps turned someone off this website or jeopardised someone's ability to get a job that they have been longing for.

Shame

[PCH]

Hi Simmo,

don't worry too much buddy, - it's only a few harmless points of view which a person considering applying for the job may not have thought of.

The comments are well placed since they relate precisely to what the OP was offering.

In any case, those interested can either take the comments and research them for validity, or not, as they wish. But people are as entitled to make their comments as you are to make your observation.

No offence intended :)

[sn1987a]

Would buying your own big **** scope/s qualify as as a work related expense?, trips overseas to NEAF, Hawaii ect,ect?. :P