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Setup to fail in a production mining job
Setup to fail, why so many fail in their production mining job. It’s not a nice thing to talk about but it happens far too often with people trying to get into the industry. Over the years I have seen hundreds fail on the sites I have worked on. It happens in the production mining jobs that everyone wants. Jobs that are full time, on even time or 2&1 rosters, paying big dollars that are going to give you that 10year plus mining career that everyone’s after. This is the Hardrock (Nipper, Truck Operator, Agi Operator or Diamond Driller Offsider jobs) and Exploration (Surface Offsider) side of the industry. Just to be clear doesn’t include Shutdown, Civil construction or Utility work.
So how are so many people setup to fail? Often it has to do with the advice they get going in. They get pointed in the right direction (which is easy to do, lots and lots of jobs going) by people selling resumes or giving out free advice on the internet. These people aren’t from a production mining background and often have no idea how it works on site. You will have heard the saying, being sent to a gun fight with a knife. I liken it to being sent to a gun fight with a spoon, when you go in green to one of these production mining jobs. I outline what happens to a new starter in video below. It goes for 20minutes but well worth watching.
Often people think the big struggle is over and done with once they get the job. Only to be blindsided once they get to site. Find themselves in a sink or swim training situation that soon becomes a nightmare. You see employers have to issue their own onsite tickets and procedures to every new employee. These tickets and procedures are non-transferable and have to be redo on every new mine you go to.
The really silly thing about this is it only takes 5 minutes. To look at some job ads and see what the employers really want. If you type “underground” into seek and click on a job ad, you will see no one is looking for equipment tickets. Yes, most want people with experience. However, it’s the experience of knowing how their mine works, is what the employers are after. We can help you learn that, for the hardrock underground production mining jobs around the country using our training packages.
Knowing how the system works gives you a huge advantage over everyone else. It allows you to take control of the situation yourself. Not only in getting the job but also keeping it once you get to site. People that do our training get themselves up to speed in weeks, instead of months it normally takes when they get to site. Remember the longer it takes for you to get up to speed the higher the chance of failure.
If you can show the employers, you know how the mine works then you have something to offer them. There is 50 hours of important information in the DIY Introduction to Underground Mining package. It includes interview prep and full instructions on how to make a mining friendly resume. The resume only takes a couple of hours to put together and is designed to appeal to the Foreman or Project Manager. Those are the people that decide who gets hired and who doesn’t. If you don’t want to become a statistic, then education is key.
I hope that info helps.
The Mining Coach