Melbourne traffic controller who rakes in $2k a week reveals downside

Maria Kefalas said she once went three weeks with no work.

A Melbourne traffic controller has taken to social media to complain about making A$2000 every week because of a hidden cost to the job.

Earlier this year, a Sydney lollipop lady boasted that she made almost A$3000 in a week in seven days, including one 15-minute shift where she made A$148.

However, the eye-watering wage doesn't tell the full story, according to her Melbourne counterpart.

Maria Kefalas, 21, said on TikTok she almost immediately applied for the job after hearing about the lucrative role.

"Oh my god, I'm going to be so rich," she joked to viewers.

But she said this was "false hope" because "it has got to be the most inconsistent job I have ever done in my life".

"That was one of your good weeks," Kefalas told her viewers in the clip which has since been viewed 222,000 times.

"What people don't tell you is you can work that whole week from Monday to Friday and get that much money [A$3000] but then you could … have a whole month with no work."

She also said she was told if she wanted more work, she should get a rail ticket so she could also work along railway lines.

Kefalas said the extra qualification cost A$1000 to obtain and that there was no guarantee there'd even be shifts waiting for her.

She also said another con to the job was that she had to work in the rain.

While she made the video, she was huddling in her car on her lunch break as it stormed outside.

Her number one piece of advice was, look into the role before applying.

And if you did end up getting a traffic controller job, make sure you're with a union, she explained. This meant your shifts could be rained off and you'd have more regular work hours.

Back in July, TikTok user Chloe Taouk stunned viewers by revealing she raked in a whopping A$2949 in seven days. She worked 58 hours in that time.

For one shift on Thursday she worked just 15 minutes, scoring herself A$148, while Sunday was the most lucrative with A$717.40 in the bank for 12.5 hours due to double time.

Her longest shift was 14 hours on a Wednesday, which netted her A$611.50, while a higher rate on Saturday gave her A$557 for nine hours.

During the week, she worked for 12 hours on the Monday raking in A$496, while her 10-hour shift on Tuesday scored her A$409.45.

Overall, her pay packet equated to an incredible A$50 an hour for her working week.

The average salary for a Sydney traffic controller is A$130,000, although the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union revealed some are on a whopping A$180,000 per year with huge demand due to Sydney's booming construction industry.