How do you make the leap from your current job to a Resources Job?

Employment in the resources industry often occurs indirectly through sub contractors to the larger mining companies, particularly when it involves an expansion or new project.

Typically, large subcontractors are hired to do much of the groundwork for a major project, such as earth moving and building of mining infrastructure, or for offshore, laying the pipe on the seabed.  Take the Gladstone LNG project in Queensland - they have engaged a major contractor in Bechtel who is now tasked with appointing sub-contractors to deliver the scope of works.  This means that on any new project or expansion, there can be literally dozens of sub-contracting organisations working on site at different stages.

These small businesses cannot possibly compete with the higher pay that mining companies offer.  However, not everyone can get into the high paying jobs and certainly not immediately.  This is critical for you to remember – too many candidates seeking an entry-level opportunity, cite a salary requirement that exceeds their level of skill and experience - but because media quotes high average salaries, candidates believe they can achieve the same level salary first up.  Put simply – you can’t and won’t so don’t exclude yourself at the outset by saying you want a salary that may be deemed inappropriate or outrageous to the employer.  

Large companies like BHP Billiton, Woodside and Rio Tinto receive hundreds of applications for trades and operator type roles.  When targeting your first opportunity into the industry, it is then often more effective to apply to smaller operations or contracting companies that provide labour to the larger companies.  Too many people overlook this simple, but highly effective approach. Construction sites or short term shutdowns, for example, are considered the best ‘grooming ground’ for those wishing to get a foot in the door and earn big dollars – however, they typically mean long hours and non-even rosters.

Even in this space however, people may struggle to get an opportunity.  For example, if you are someone who has worked in IT or sales  all your life, but recently completed your HR license and are now applying unsuccessfully, there is good reason.  From a recruiter’s perspective, you’ve never worked in an environment that was dusty, dirty and with long hours in extreme temperatures.  We see you’ve primarily worked in an office environment.  Given the number of people who are hired into the industry through referral and without experience, who can’t acclimatise to the conditions and leave quickly, recruiters are naturally even more wary of someone who isn’t referred and is untested.

You have a couple of options.  Firstly, apply to roles on site that match your current skill set.  Therefore, if you are a domestic electrician, apply to positions that maintain the village/camp.  If you are in IT, apply to site-based IT roles.  Alternatively, it may mean that you need to work on shorter term and less attractive civil construction projects or in an industrial environment, like in a factory driving a Forklift or for local gardening or roadwork contractors operating an Excavator.  If you look at roles advertised by many organisations, they ask for two years experience – this experience can be achieved in various ways.  You need to think more laterally.  For example, the transport industry typically struggles to often fill its vacancies, including Greyhound who wins many of the major contracts to transport crews from site to camp.  This is exactly the sort of position someone seeking a start in the industry should target.  Not all roles ‘in the industry’ relate to specifically working for a major mining or oil and gas employer, it is also the thousands of suppliers to the industry.