iMINCO Q&A

Helping people get resource sector jobs in Australia

Question:

“I am looking for some advice. I am currently looking for opportunities in Australia in either the Oil and Gas or Mining industries.”

“I am currently working in Scotland and have 1 year experience as a Graduate Structural Engineer for an well renowned Oil and Gas service company. I also have a Masters degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow.”

Answer

Hi Craig, thanks for your question. I would first come to Australia on a working holiday to get a feel for the place.

Two things will come of this.

Number 1, it means you can experience the country and decide whether you want to work here or not, because where the mines, oil and gas fields are, it is generally very hot and isolated.

Number 2, whilst you are here, you can scope out jobs and get to meet some of the recruiters in the industry. There`s no substitute for a face to face meeting and the fact that you have travelled all the way to Australia, means you are really committed to seeking out work.

You are also very qualified, which is a big plus.

There are a lot of websites in Australia you can check out, mostly I`d go to the online jobs boards like SEEK.com.au, Indeed, CareerOne, MyCareer, and some of the job aggregator websites like Jora and jobsearch.com.au.

The best place to start is to do a keyword search for jobs, something like “civil engineering jobs oil gas”�, or “mining engineer jobs western australia”�.. something like that.

In Western Australia you will find a lot of offshore gas and oil fields, especially up the North West Shelf. Here`s a good link to be getting on with: oil and gas fields in Western Australia.

There is a lot of iron ore mining going on in Western Australia, in the Pilbara region. You can find mining companies like Fortescue Metals Group, Rio Tinto, BHP and the new Roy Hill mine, which is still in the construction phase.

Chevron are also building a huge LNG gas plant on Barrow Island in WA, called the Gorgon Project. It`s been a bit of a disaster for the company with huge cost overruns etc, however, I`d recommend you check it out. Here`s a like to the

Gorgon Project in Western Australia.

In the far north of Australia, in the Northern Territory, there is a huge LNG project underway called the Ichthys project. For someone of your education and qualifications, I would definitely look into this one. Here`s a link to the Ichthys website where you`ll find a ton of information.

You`ll also find traditional mining jobs on the East coast of Australia. There is a lot of coal mining in New South Wales and Queensland too. Mining in these areas has been hit by the global downturn of late, however, don`t let that put you off.

Get over to Australia, start knocking on doors, get your face into as many interviews as you can, meet people and experience what Australia has to offer.

Good luck with everything and I hope I`ve managed to help you in some way..

P.S. Before I forget. If you want to get a working Visa that`s doable, if you want to work here for a while then you`ll have to apply for a 457 visa. This also has the conditions that you are offered employment from a company who is prepared to sponsor you to live here whilst you work. Look into it more by Googling ‘457 visa application Australia’

r.e. getting an engineers job in Australia when living overseas.