iMINCO was recently contacted by a client (Mark) we hadn`t heard from for quite a while, asking if we would help him update his resume.

The reason for this request was that he was applying for a mine shutdown job and wanted to include some of his more recent accomplishments and needed a hand to do it.

We were happy to do that and, going over his new information, it was apparent that he had been really successful in getting the mining work that he wanted over the intervening three and a half years.

So, having gained his permission, we thought sharing his journey (and a little of his advice), might help everyone looking for a job in mining.

Starting out as a farm worker and part-time truck driver in 1985, he found work in a meat export plant in 1990 and had worked his way up to operations manager by 2004, taking management courses in communications, core health and supervision as well as first aid and health and safety certification.

He changed to managing a restaurant in 2007-8, but decided what he really wanted was a career in the mining sector.

In 2008 he decided to get some training and apply for a job with a large infrastructure and construction company.

So with induction training (called the Standard 11), working in confined spaces and working at heights in hand, he applied and got the start.

He was with them for two years as a labourer and trades assistant. During that time he tried his hand at general labouring, worked as an assistant boilermaker, fitter and in the electrical workshop, and was driving trucks carrying mining equipment including pumps, steel and motors around mine sites.

Mining jobs can be found

In 2010, after�updating his Standard 11 certification, he got work with a drilling company in Moranbah, Queensland.

After doing their on-site induction he took on positions as an assistant driller, water truck operator and also did maintenance and housekeeping, obtaining certificates of competency as a driller`s assistant and in bulk water truck operation, did his Certificate III in Surface Extraction Operations and his haul truck operator certificate (RIIMPO311A – Conduct Haul Truck Operations).

He decided that what he enjoyed the most (and what paid the best), was being a heavy machinery operator (haul trucks, excavators, loaders, etc).

He came to iMINCO at that stage, to see if we could improve his resume and supply him with further heavy machinery training to enable him to get mining machinery operator jobs anywhere in Australia.

He trained successfully for his front end loader certificate at the mine site training grounds at New Chum, near Ipswich and we supplied him a resume that he is still finding jobs with today, as well as a number of leads to mining contractors and list of mines looking for operators.

Since then he has found fly-in, fly-out employment as a plant operator for a large mine contractor on two mines in NW Queensland, and on a huge project in WA`s Pilbara and has not been out of a job.

I asked Mark what were the main actions that people looking for work in the mines should take.

These were his exact words:

“Yeah . . . tell them not to give up and to get as much training as they can before they get there (e.g. First Aid and Safety Inductions) . . . and also training in their field�of work: Dump Truck, Loader or Working at Heights, Confined Spaces, etc”�.

If you are prepared to research, upskill and make the sacrifices necessary, you can overcome the stumbling blocks and land a great mining job in Australia. One of the proven ways to learn about the Australian mining industry is to read iMINCO Project News.