Menu
3 different approaches people take looking for a Mining Job
There are 3 different approaches people have looking for a mining job. All 3 get different results, but often not the result the person wants. There are many reasons this happens when looking for a mining job. Hopefully identifying these areas will allow you to make the right decision in choosing a pathway to the job you want. After all isn’t everyone looking for that high paid, full time, even time mining production job? The 3 different approaches we will be looking at today are;
Rose coloured glasses (RCG) looking for a mining job
RCG’s do NO or very little research, rather believing that they already have a full understanding of what the employers what. The employers must use the same system that I use in my current workplace, right? The national training system, right? Sorry 80% of the production mining companies fall under the state-based system, that the mine is located in. These state-based systems all require on site equipment ticketing and procedures that are non-transferable.
RCG’s end up spending $1000’s on RII tickets and the S11, that 80% of production mining employers can’t use. The S11 is a Coal mining induction that is only required on coal mines in QLD. It is not required on NSW coal sites, they have their own version you have to do if you want to work in coal in NSW. Just to be clear the S11 is NOT required on any hardrock mines around the country including QLD.
RCG’s are well intentioned, it’s their belief they know what the employers want, someone with a S11 and a truck ticket. They are not helped by a bunch of predatory training providers that sell them RII tickets and the S11, without giving them the whole picture. You can see in this video below how these companies indemnify themselves from customers when they work out what is going on.
It’s not fair or right that these training providers indemnify themselves by saying you should have known better. That you should know how the industry works before you signed up for their training. But that’s what they do. A very small amount of RCG’s find their way into a traineeship on a QLD coal mine. However most spend months if not years applying to jobs out side the QLD coal industry without a result. When an RCG sends their resume into one of the other jobs (the 80% that don’t use RII tickets or the S11) full of tickets that the employer can’t use. It just screams to the employer that you have no idea how their mine works and the resume gets culled straight away. If you’re towing the line that having a bunch of tickets on your resume. Makes you look eager to potential employers, this is totally misguided. Like it or not, it’s actually having the opposite effect and your resume will be culled.
I just want to, get my foot in the door (GMFITD) looking for a mining job
Next are the GMFITD’s looking for a mining job. These are the people that believe that just getting any job on a mine site will start them on their path to a production mining job. This is all good in theory and apparently still happens on Coal mines in QLD. However, the other 80% of production mining employers have to deal with the onsite poaching rules. These rules normally say that if you move from one employer to another. Then you have to go off site for 6 months before you can come back with the new employer. This makes moving employers once you get to site almost impossible and why most people are pigeonholed into that first area of the industry they get into.
I can remember in the late 90’s when these rules were first bought in. It was to stop the Foreman or Project Manager stealing the kitchen hand for a Nipper or Truck job when someone moved on. What it means now, is when you get to site, whatever contacts you make. That you think, can help you get a job. Won’t be able to help you on that site. If they wanted to help you, they would have to help find a job on a different mine site. This is often a bridge too far for most people, as it can have huge ramifications for the person helping you if it doesn’t work out on the new site.
The GMFITD’s often spend big money on getting their resumes done without doing any research into the career path they need to take to get to the full-time mining job they want. It only takes a week of watching the social media pages to see how many people are trapped in these jobs and can’t move on. Unfortunately, the areas of the industry that GMFITD’s get into, are either temporary jobs (shutdown work) or low paid jobs (utility work). With there being little to none transferable skills, I have only seen a handful of people make the jump across to a production mining job. The one thing they all have in common was their charisma and that’s what got them over the line.
Let’s do some research first (LDSRF) looking for a mining job
Lastly the LDSRF’s looking for a mining job, are a small group of people that take some time to have a look at what is going on in the industry before jumping in. I like talking to these people, they ask really good questions and you know they are setting themselves up for success. Questions they ask are;
Why do the job ads keep repeating themselves?
My mate says I need equipment tickets but the job ads say I don’t. What do I need?
How is automation affecting the industry, is it only Iron Ore?
How long do you think I will keep my coal mining job, if I get one?
Where are the best long-term, full time jobs?
I’ve been told the S11 is a national safety induction, is that true? Why isn’t it in the job ads then?
Is there really an oversupply of surface truck drivers?
Is it worth getting my resume done? Or can I do it myself?
What is the experience that the production mining employers want and how do I get it?
It looks like lots of people in the industry can’t get into a full-time production job, why?
Don’t I just have to get on site and go from there?
Most LDSRF come to the conclusion that getting their full-time dream mining job isn’t as straight forward as they had been led to believe. If you get on the right pathway at the start, you can get where you want to go. However, if you jump on one of the others first, it can be almost impossible to move onto the pathway you want. So, what’s the moral to the story? Do your research and make sure you know exactly what you are getting yourself into otherwise you might not be in it very long.
You can use one of our training packages to get a Hardrock Underground production job. If you type “Underground” into Seek you will see all the jobs come up. The training not only teachers how the mine works, it also goes into great detail about the information your buddy should be showing you on the job, down the hole. The seminar has interview prep and detailed instructions on how to write a mining friendly resume for the Hardrock Underground jobs, saving the cost of getting it done professionally. If you can talk to the employer about how their mine works then you have something to offer them. Not just at the application stage, but in the interview as well.
Over the years I have been involved with the training and teaching people. Just about everyone that does the training and follows the instructions, gets an interview. Then it’s up to you, to show the mining production employers that you have studied. Once the employer works out you know the rules, language and what is going on, it’s an easy decision to hire. However, the employers have been doing this for a while now. So, it’s just as easy to spot someone that hasn’t studied and is trying to half-arse their way into the industry. It’s easy for employers to say, thanks but no thanks, to people like this, don’t be one of them.
If you want to talk to someone leave your details in the link.
Good luck, hope everyone gets the mining job they want.
Regards
The Mining Coach