Amp34

I'm thinking of getting a working holiday visa and heading over to Australia and spending a couple of months doing the travelling thing, whilst trying to to get a job as a geologist in the oil/gas or mining industry.

My question is how is the oil and gas and mining industry at the moment in Australia, especially for graduate jobs? My plan would be to fly to Perth and spend a week wondering round and handing my CV in to as many of those companies as possible before heading off with a friend to wonder around some of Western/Southern Australia for a bit depending on success.

Are there any other areas that have a lot of oil/gas companies that I can try and get employment? What's the likelyhood of being able to get a job in that industry, working with them for 6 months and then possibly being sponsored to stay longer?

Thanks.

verystormy

I will PM you

verystormy

Oops. Cant PM as you are new.

I am a geo working out of Perth. The oil and gas industry here for geologists is VERY difficult to break into. They are in the position they were in the UK several years ago where they will usually ask for at least a masters specific to the industry and ideally prefer Phd. They do occaisionaly take grads, but the competition is fierce - a Australian friend who recently won every award at Uni, gained a 1st and had work experience and did his final year project with a oil company experience hasnt been able to get even a interview.

The minerals industry is a lot easier and i would imagine you would pick up work fairly quickly. My advice would be to contact companies before you head here as if you are only planning on a fairly short trip, you could find yourself hanging around Perth waiting for interviews. Dont forget that the interviewers may be in the field and then going on break, so waits of several weeks are not unusual. Add in that you will be bottom of their long list of things to do. If you want more help please email me [email protected]

Amp34

Thanks for the reply.

That's not good to hear about the oil and gas industry, sounds like the industry over here at the moment. I've been applying for everything since June and have hardly heard a peep, which is part of the reason I was looking to go over to Australia.

The mining sounds a bit more promising, exploration and mapping is something that is of real interest and why I've been thinking about moving over for about a year as it's one of the few places that seem to still have on the ground exploration.

I was planning on emailing as many companies as possible, mentioning that I was going to be in the country shortly, then following up with a face to face with someone in their company if possible. Unfortunately applying for the jobs i've seen looks a bit tricky as they all specify you need to be a resident/allowed to work in Oz. What sort of time would I be looking at for responses and possible interviews? I have a good 2:1 honours degree in Geology and a couple of awards and was intending to stay for a couple of months (maybe more depending on what it feels like when i'm over there). My plan would be to stay in the surrounding area for at least a month probably, just doing casual work (fruit picking depending on when I arrive?) and then head off from there. Would that sort of time scale be long enough of would say three months be a better bet?

Weebie

My dad is a Geologist in Perth (more the business side now) He simply does not have enough local work to take on more geologists ( also many of his friedns are out of work and have been for soem time). He also gets emails from Indian students daily who are prepared to work for free just to get a foot in. It's a very tricky sector to consitantly work in.

Being a foreigner you won't be beable to secure a grad position and thus secruing sponsorship will be hard.

verystormy

I disagree with Weebie in so far as the minerals industry is concerned. The boom is on its way back. It is very difficult to guess how long it would take you to secure something, but a lot of companies will take on someone on working holiday visas for short term work. The chance of you mapping out here would be slim. There isnt actually much mapping done as there is no outcrop. So when it is, its normaly by a senior / structural consultant.
You can probably pick up work core logging and things or at least start off as a fieldie.
Generally speaking companies would expect you to commit to doing the full six months of your visa with them as field swings are normnally 8/6, 2/1 or 9/5. Which after spending 3 swings getting inducted and up to speed you might have used almost a couple of months.
Also, you CAN secure a grad position as i did. Sponsership is harder, but by the time your 6 months is up i suspect that the demand for geo's will be such that it will be a lot easier. I work for a major and we are already noticing a shortage in the market for staff.
With regard to Indian students, i cant comment other than to say that the industry is wary of geologists from many parts of the world as the skill sets taught are not the same.
I would agree that it is a tricky sector to work in long term as metal prices go up and down and when down lay offs happen particularly in exploration. However, must manage to get through it. Seek.com is a good starting point, as are things like mining news and infomine as these will carry stories on companies ramping up exploration. Also, try some of the consultancies such as Digirock and CSA Global, who sometimes take grads for contract work.

Weebie

The market for geologists grads is very difficult atm regardless of the boom. Securing sponsorship on a WHV was easy within the last couple of years but the situation is different now.

verystormy

Sorry Weebie. But i work in the industry and while the situations isnt as good as it was for grads a couple of years ago, there were more advertised vacancies for grad geo's in Australia last month than the total number of people who will graduate in geology in Australia this year.
I personaly know several companies who are looking for grads. As for sponsership, that has been very tough for grads, but is chaning rapidly. Most companies know that they simply isnt enough Oz grads to fill the vacancies. Add into that the fact that many exploration companies prefer british geology grads to locals because exploration geology isnt taught here but is in the UK and it isnt a bad market.
I work in a small team for a large comapany. In the last couple of months we have employed 2 brit grads and 1 brit on short term working holiday visa.
As for your fathers friends, i cant comment and dont know what they do as geologists, but i dont know any unemployed geo's in the mining industry. Everyone i know has started batting off calls from head hunters again. Not at the stupid rate i was a couple of years ago when i took upto 5 a day, but am getting a couple a month. If they work in oil though then yes i can see why. The Australian oil / gas buisness employs very few geo's as most oil exploration is done by contactors from abroad and the nature of the fields here dictate it is very enginer driven rather than geological

Kat_uk

Hi Amp

Have you tried Atkins Global? They are a UK consultancy that takes on Graduates in various engineering related diciplins. I know they have an Oil and Gas Division and also offices in Australia. However that is as much as I know as I am not in that field.

Good luck
Kat

Weebie

Well if your in the sector then you obviosuly know more than me. I was under the impression that demand from grads for positions was high.

Australia_bound?

But not the demand for people on WHV isn't. You're allowed to take temp/casual work. Not so sure there are many temp/casual grad places up for grabs.

Amp34

Thanks again for the replies.

So the downturn in recruitment and sponsorship is most likely due to the downturn in the economy as a whole, not a change in policy in these companies? The former I can live with, as if I did manage to get a job on the working visa it would be at least 6 months, possibly a year if I managed to get another job before I would have to worry about that, by that time hopefully the economy would be more bouyant.

Out of interest verystormy how did the grads you employed get in contact with you? Did they apply from overseas or by coming to Australia and applying once in country? It could give me a better idea as to approach it.

Also is it possible you could let me know the companies you know are looking for grads? My PM should work now if you don't want to make it public.

Finally, if its not too much hassle I don't suppose you could give a brief overview of the sort of jobs geo grads would be doing in the mining industry? I've done some research but it would be nice to hear from someone who actually works in the industry. I'm guessing the two main ones are exploration and coring as well as mine geology, any other major ones?

And finally (this time), with regards to driving licences. I assume they are essential for this kind of work, does it matter how long you have had one for or does it not matter/is it a hinderence having a UK licence instead of Australian?

Thanks again.

nevergymless

Hey guys, any of you know what the situation for hiring labor for the mines ? Im 23 from Canada and would like to spend a year in Australia and work half of it in a mine or some other hard labor job for $$$$ for my trip.

verystormy

Hi. I cant write too much as i am about to fly out. My email address is in a earlier post. If you email me i will respond when home - i rarely go on BE from home but do check emails.

verystormy

Well ended up with 10 mins spare in the end.

There was during the downturn some policy change by companies as there were locals available and it is a lot cheaper than going though the sponsered route. But with upturn things are changing.

The grads we have have on short term came through word of mouth from other staff and others were direct applicants from advertised posts on our web site.

There is no harm is trying to make contact before you come out, though a lot of employers may not respond till you are here.

I dont know anyone specific looking for grads but i had a quick look on seek.com with graduate geologist in the key words and there was 80+ advertised. I know that CSA Global are advertising for grads at the moment and a good reputable consultancy.

The jobs for geo's in the industry can be divided in two. Production and exploration. Mining can have exploration teams as well based at the mine - that is what i am doing at the moment while on secondment from green fields exploration.

I cant comment too much on what tasks the production guys do, as i have never worked in production. In exploration, as a grad you will supervise drill rigs of different types, log core and chips (depending on drilling), write reports, maintain records and assist in the planning of rigs. You may also do geo physical interps and other work. You mention coring. I assume you mean logging core? Everyone logs core whether in mining / production or remote greenfield exploration. Though some companies will hire grads for short term contracts to do nothing but log core for 6 months.

A UK driving licence is fine.

For Nevergymless - I cant help too much i am afraid as i work in gold mining and we tend to go for guys (and girls) with experience. However, i know many mines are recruiting at the moment at newspapers such as the West Australian which carries adverts have a lot in for the mining industry. However you might struggle with mining as the training required for a new inexperienced person simply isnt worth paying for for someone who is only going to be there a year. A possible route would be as drillers offsider working on rigs in the bush or at mines. They will often take people with no experience but be aware although well paid they work LONG hours and long rosters (usually a minimum of 3 weeks on 1 week off) and it is physical tough work.