Green’s Dictionary of Slang

an appointment, a job (in Aus. uses the implication is of a sinecure with useful bonuses attached); thus (Aus.) billet-hunter, a job-seeker.

1821–5		‘Bill Truck’ Man o’ War’s Man (1843) 226: You had a snug billet enough of it yonder.
1848		Launceston Examiner (Tas.) 1 Nov. 3/3: Every wretch who can talk slang, [...] who is versed in the vocabulary of vice, is promoted to ‘billet’ and power.
1856		Age (Melbourne) 13 Dec. 5/2: The hard and heavy labor allotted to all prisoners can only be lightened a little by their getting what they call a ‘slant,’ in one of the numberless ‘billets’ on the ground: servants’ places, for instance, wardsmen, cooks, barbers, lamplighters, &c.
1867		J. Greenwood Unsentimental Journeys 230: I wish I had your billet, young ’un.
1879		Barman & Barmaid 12 July 6/2: He [...] has lost his billet, as he can’t write with an injured hand.
1881		N.Z. Observer (Auckland) 22 Jan. 182/1: Would Mr. Wilson like another billet as - musical companion?
1886		Kipling ‘The Post That Fitted’ in Departmental Ditties (1890) 19: Anyhow, the billet carried pay enough for him to marry.
1888		‘Rolf Boldrewood’ Robbery Under Arms (1922) 64: He said he’d give him a billet on the run — make him under-overseer.
1890		Bulletin (Sydney) 5 July 6/2: There are dozens of hard billets to be filled in this work-a-day world, but hardest of all, from coal-mining to computation, is the situation of the woman of to-day.
1896		Regiment 8 Aug. 293/2: My husband [...] was duly appointed an assistant in the regimental school. This ‘billet’ carried with it sixpence a day ‘extra duty pay’.
1899–1901		H. Lawson ‘Water Them Geraniums’ in Roderick (1972) 573: I got a billet there then, and was going to send for her in a month.
c.1900		F. Leo [perf. Wilkie Bard] ‘All Becos ’e’s Minding a ’ouse’ 🎵 'E lived around our neighbourhood, as humble as a mouse / But now ’e’s got a billet in the West.
1900–10		Stephens & O’Brien Materials for a Dict. of Aus. Sl. [unpub. ms.] 15: BILLET HUNTER: Australian equivalent for American office-seeker.
1904		Sun. Times (Perth) 27 Mar. 8/3: Well, he has had 32 years of it, and it is up to the old man to have a spell, albeit it is quite likely that he could hang on to his billet till he was 90 if he wished.
1914		E. Dyson Spats’ Fact’ry (1922) 143: Nettie left Odgson’s and took a billet boxing sweets.
1922		E. Dyson Missing Link 🌐 Ch. i: In this latter billet [i.e. undertaking] he had to keep his hair dyed a presentable black.
1925		(con. WWI) Fraser & Gibbons Soldier and Sailor Words 22: Billet :[...] a job, a position.
1934		(con. WWI) G. Bruce ‘The Flaming Arrow’ in Goodstone Pulps (1970) 48/2: The pilots [...] considered that they had drawn a very ‘cushy’ billet.
1941		Baker Popular Dict. Aus. Sl. 10: Billet, a position or job.
1970		T. Parker Frying-Pan 57: My previous billet was five years, and the next one I hope will be about the same.
1984		B. Ellem Doing Time 29: Each prisoner is assigned to a job when he is classified. [...] Billets: General cleaning of the prison. Some serve out the meals.
1991		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper From The Inside 133: Alex was the food billet.
2019		V.D. Hanson Case for Trump 326: Trumpism, [...] did not appeal to Republicans with prior government service, blue-chip academic billets [etc].