TAS

As miners move to layoff workers and job prospects in the sector tighten, desperate jobseekers are offering thousands of dollars in cash to anyone who can help them get a mining job.

BRISBANE - A downturn in parts of Australia's once-booming mining sector is having an unexpected silver lining - freeing up labour and resources for at least $190-billion of liquefied natural gas projects being built in the country.

Operators:  Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd

Location: Galilee Basin

Timeframe:The Test Pit for Alpha Coal has been completed and construction is due to commence this year with first shipments expected in 2016.

Cost:  $7.5b

Employment: 2,500 construction jobs and 1,600 permanent jobs

According to the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, Australia’s easing mining boom has continued to impact negatively in the opening months of 2013 on the job outlook for geoscientists. More than half of them do not expect to find new work  with the sector appealing for Federal policy intervention to help arrest the jobs slide.

New data released today shows the unemployment rate among this key professional group climbed further over January, February and March this year to a current high within the profession of 7.9%.

Whether you are applying directly to a company or via a recruitment agency, you will be dealing with a recruiter.  This is the person you must impress first and foremost.

From a recruiter’s perspective, there are a number of mistakes that job seekers consistently make.  Here is your guide to avoiding them.

Getting the Basics Right

The number of emails we receive each week from job seekers either seeking employment or information is significant.  So, too are the grammar and spelling mistakes!

Recent reports indicate that BHP Billiton’s Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) has received more than 18,000 applications for 1,100 roles on the Caval Ridge and Daunia mines near Moranbah.

The mines will be FIFO only and candidates will be sourced from a 100km radius around both Cairns and Brisbane, with the majority of roles being filled from the greater-Brisbane region.

In March 2013, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) released its Industry Dimensions of the Resource Boom research paper. 

Despite sweeping job losses across the industry since September 2012, the resource industry continues to be the fastest growing source of employment for Australian’s having created 130,000 direct jobs over the past five years and 28,500 new Australian jobs in 2012 alone*.

Key findings of the RBA report include: 

There has recently been a great deal of debate and media coverage of the 457 skilled migration scheme, leading many to believe there has been widespread rorting of the system by companies and that a significant number of jobs are going to foreign workers at the expense of Australians. 

Listen to the podcast here.

As Sam Walsh, the Director of Rio Tinto says “There are many lessons to be learnt from manufacturing”.

Welcome to our latest Project Update.