How to get a Hardrock Underground Mining Job
How to Land a Hardrock Underground Mining Job
(Gold, Copper, Silver, Zinc, or Base Metals)
✅ Identify the Right Job – Understand the specific roles available in underground mining and which best suit your skills and career goals.
✅ Know What Employers Want – Hardrock underground employers seek candidates who grasp site operations, safety practices, and industry expectations. Make sure you meet their criteria.
✅ Understand the Hiring Process – Learn how mining companies recruit and what steps you need to take to get noticed.
✅ Craft a Strong Resume – Ensure your resume highlights relevant skills and knowledge so it gets read—and lands you an interview.
✅ Prepare for the Interview – Foremen and project managers have clear expectations for new hires. Know what they look for and how to present yourself effectively.
✅ Maximize Your Job Search – Cast the widest net possible and focus on regions where mining jobs are actively available.
Following these steps will give you the best chance of getting hired and building a long-term career in the industry. Let’s break it down:
1. Identify the Right Job
Entry-level roles in hardrock underground mining include:
- Nipper
- Truck Operator
- Diamond Driller Offsider
- Agi Operator
- Paste Crew and Service Crew (for those well-prepared)
If you type “underground” into Seek, you’ll find job listings for these roles. Apply for all of them—regardless of the experience they ask for.
With metal prices booming, employers must hire new starters. While they prefer experienced workers, demand far exceeds supply. When they can’t find an experienced hire, they turn to entry-level applicants who proactively submit resumes—even for experienced job ads. It’s common for employers to have 20–100 resumes from new starters to consider.
2. Understand What Employers Are Looking For
Hardrock underground employers all want the same thing—candidates who:
- Understand how their mine works
- Know the jobs required
- Are aware of expectations on-site
Since all training is done on-site, this creates a challenge—high turnover rates among new starters. 3 in 5 fail in their first six months if they know nothing on day one.
This also makes it difficult to land your first job. You need training to get a job, but can’t get on-site training without already being hired—it’s a tough cycle to break.
That’s why Underground Training developed the only training in Australia that teaches what you’d learn on-site at a hardrock underground mine.
Knowing how the mine operates breaks the cycle.
If you can answer mining-related questions in your interview, employers gain confidence in hiring you.
Check out the Wall of Fame page to see others who’ve used this training successfully. Below is a video from our sponsored YouTube channel, Australian Mining for New Starters, on going in Green.
3. Understanding the Employment Process
It’s crucial to know who actually makes hiring decisions in hardrock underground mining. It’s not the HR department.
While HR plays an important role in collecting resumes, coordinating interviews, handling medicals and police clearances, they rarely have the final say. That responsibility falls on the Foreman or Project Manager (PM).
Because hiring is structured around their schedules, the process can be stop-start, with delays caused by site priorities or simply when they take days off. For Foremen and PMs, recruitment isn’t always a high priority—it’s often seen as a necessary chore, especially with the high turnover of new starters.
This is why interviews may happen at odd times—late afternoons, evenings, or even weekends—to fit around their availability.
4. Crafting a Resume That Gets You an Interview
A hardrock underground miner’s resume has a distinct format:
- Starts with the most recent mine worked at and moves backward
- Lists the role, duration, and machines operated
- No RII Tickets, S11s, or formal qualifications that employers don’t use
- 2–3 pages max, without a cover letter
Employers quickly filter resumes based on size and relevance, making it easy for Foremen and PMs to discard applications that don’t meet their expectations.
For new starters, it’s critical to place anything that strengthens your application on page one. This is why we ensure the Underground Training course appears front and center—it grabs attention and makes hiring managers take notice.
Below is a resume guide video from our sponsored YouTube channel, Australian Mining for New Starters.
5. Interview Prep: What Foremen and Project Managers Look For
The easiest way to impress a Foreman or Project Manager (PM) in an interview is by proving you understand exactly what you’re getting into.
Using the correct mining terms and language when answering questions can set you apart. Teaching someone to drive a truck is easy—but turning them into a safe, productive crew member is the real challenge.
If you show employers that your mining knowledge is already up to speed, they won’t have to teach it to you from scratch. This makes hiring you an easy decision, especially when you can confidently answer the mining questions asked in interviews.
6. Casting the Widest Net & Going Where the Jobs Are
Living in a Mining Hub vs. Moving to a Mining Town
If you live in a FIFO mining hub like Perth, Brisbane, or Adelaide, success comes down to being ready when opportunities arise. Mining jobs in these cities are competitive, so staying proactive and prepared is key.
For those who want to fast-track their start, relocating to a mining town like Kalgoorlie, Cobar, or Mt Isa significantly increases your chances. These locations offer direct access to opportunities, and being local can make you a more attractive hire.
Need a structured approach to get started? The Workready, 3 Step Plan Package and DIY Intro to Underground Mining packages will help you build the mining knowledge that employers look for—so you can land a job sooner.
I hope this info helps
The Mining Coach
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