FIFO in aus

evosteo

hi all, im an electrician by trade,

just wondering if anybody can share their experiences of FIFO work, as in 3 weeks on, 1 week off sort of thing.

i heard the money is good, as in better than city wages
but you dont have much of a life?

do you get paid for your week off????:P

just like to hear from people that have experienced it or are actually doing it.

cheers

steve

d.pop

evosteo wrote: »

hi all, im an electrician by trade,

just wondering if anybody can share their experiences of FIFO work, as in 3 weeks on, 1 week off sort of thing.

i heard the money is good, as in better than city wages
but you dont have much of a life?

do you get paid for your week off????:P

just like to hear from people that have experienced it or are actually doing it.

cheers

steve

Steve, i'm doing FIFO at the moment, 23 days on 5 days off. As far as wages go as a rule of thumb you will be offered the normal hourly rate you would be on in the city plus an "uplift" allowance of approx 40-50%, what that means is if you are on say $40p.h. in the city you can expect to be offered $55-60p.h. FIFO. On top of this you normally work a minimum 10.5hrs a day, 7 days a week so you get a lot of hours in, you can't work more than 13 days in a row so typically you have one sunday off in the middle of your shift (RDO-rostered day off). You only get paid the hours you work, often no holiday pay, sick pay etc, so you def don't get paid for your week off unless your boss holds back a day a week or something and pays it to you on your week off, works out the same at end of day.
Your camp will probably be about 150km from the nearest town if not further and prob about 1000km from Perth. On most camps your up at 4:45am to have breakfast in dining room and pack your crib (lunch), leave camp at 5:30, work till 5pm, back to camp, shower-gym-pub-dinner whatever then bed, get up next day and do it for another 20+ days.
A lot of camps have pubs open for 2hrs or so in evening if thats your thing, but you need to be aware that on most sites everybody gets breathalised every morning, you blow numbers you are on a plane home that day, no second chances. Most guys have maybe 2/3 midstrength beers before seven pm, have dinner then hit the bed. lot of guys use the gym instead of the pub to let off steam, most gyms have personal trainers full time etc.
Everything except beer, chocolate etc is free on the camp, eat as much as you want, play pool/basketball/swim/weights etc.
I would liken it to a minimum security prison, you have all the luxuries but you sleep alone at night in a little single room and you're 1000's kms from anywhere.
Good experience if you can hack the remoteness, lot of guys do it for 2-5yrs to clear mortgage and become qantas gold club frequent fliers! Word of warning with regard to family life though, can be tough on everybody, kid and partners, about 60% of guys i work with are on at least second marraige.
If you are working FIFO you will most likely be on a mine site such as Rio Tinto, FMG or BHP Biliton, you will need all your trade certifications, WA licences and assessments before you'll be even allowed board your first 5:30am flight out of Perth to the mines.
Worth a go if you have the opportunity, unliken prison you can leave if it gets too much....

evosteo

awsome man thanks for that info, good to know. are you out in aus long? did ya go straight into the mining work or did you work in the city first then head outback?

also what do you do accomadation wise on your time off???

also what does your working day involve, is it maintenance or general construction???

hope you dont mind me asking all these questions, i appriciate the insite

cheers

steve

d.pop

evosteo wrote: »

awsome man thanks for that info, good to know. are you out in aus long? did ya go straight into the mining work or did you work in the city first then head outback?

also what do you do accomadation wise on your time off???

also what does your working day involve, is it maintenance or general construction???

hope you dont mind me asking all these questions, i appriciate the insite

cheers

steve

Steve, i went straight to FIFO when i arrived in Perth, was offered city jobs but FIFO suited me for a few different reasons.
Accomodation wise i'm lucky in that i stay with some kind and understanding (they might be reading this!!) friends/family on my week off while saving for a place of my own so i can bring over my own family. I rent a car for week off as well. I believe that there are FIFO rental properties available where you rent a room for the week you're off, i think they may allow you to store some bags in a locker or something while you are away but you have to remove all your stuff from the room as 2-3 other guys might have it while you're away. Not sure where you'd find out about these but a good place to start would probably be "Google Fly in Fly out accomodation". Failing that rent a room in a house share with some people and just pay the rent for the full month even though you're not there. Of course you could book into a hostel or motel for your week off?
Depending on where you work you might be flying on a little 6-10 seater charter flight so your baggage would have to be under 10kg, in that case finding storage for the stuff you don't need might be an issue, hence a rented room would be better than motels, unless you're travelling light.
As far as my work goes i'm a civil engineer for an EPCM (like Project management companies at home) working alongside Rio Tinto's expansion projects department, all our work is new build for the most part putting together new crushers, reclaimers, conveyors, railways etc to get the ore to port.
Generally once built we hand over to client who handle maintainence themselves. Most electrical work on FIFO is with contractors, fly in wire up the new plants, comission and move on to next project. Very hard to get maintainence work unless you work for one of the companies that maintain the actual camps such as ESS-Spotless-Sodexo.
While i might stand corrected i believe electricans are one of the trades that generally don't have trouble finding either FIFO or city work but as noted earlier it is all about having all your paperwork in order, espically if you want access to a mine site. My company spends an average of $18,000 per person on training to get them mobilised to site (that's usually about 2 solid weeks of medicals, courses (first aid/off road driving/fire extinguishers/lock holders/isolation officers to name but a few), inductions etc plus your wages while training. To be brutally frank without residency and all the trade recognition paperwork in order people will find it hard to find a company to take them one espically as mobilisation fees are so high.
good luck with it.

aido79

Hey Steve,

have you looked into getting your electrical licence in Australia yet? I'm a spark in Perth for the last 3 years and have yet to meet anyone that got their licence within 4 months of arriving here. If you come over on a WHV and don't have an electrical licence you don't stand a chance of getting into a FIFO job straight away.

evosteo

thanks again d.pop for the information, i found it, and im sure others will, very informative and a great insite on fifo.

what would you usually do on your week off? jus chill out or go travelling?

i wonder do companys have accomadation in the city for lads doing fifo where they can spend their week off and have security for their belongings when theyre away. i suppose your lucky in a way to have family and friends over there with you aswell.

aido79 wrote: »

Hey Steve,

have you looked into getting your electrical licence in Australia yet? I'm a spark in Perth for the last 3 years and have yet to meet anyone that got their licence within 4 months of arriving here. If you come over on a WHV and don't have an electrical licence you don't stand a chance of getting into a FIFO job straight away.

hi aido, im not in australia (yet) im just looking into it as an option cause im struggling to get work here in ireland, id have to try get something temp here 1st to build up funds to get out there.

im a qualified sparks with jus 2 years post apprentiship experience but i also have a degree in elec services eng which i did part time while i was working them for a year full time when i was let go in 2009.

AFAIK you need your trade reconised by TRA, get your aus elec licence, get your white card, then apply for your job.

is that about right?


jus a few questions about the licence, whats the process going about getting one?

do you need to be working as a TA (trade assistant) while applying for it or is it just a course you do full time? or part time? in a local collage?

how much does it usually cost to complete? and is there a waiting time to do one.

cheers steve

Slidey

Hi.

I have an interview this Friday with a company for FIFO in WA.


Lived in Oz for a year on WHV and came home at the end of 07. Just at the wrong time!

I'm a trade qualified HGV mechanic. I have been told the job is 2 weeks on, one week off. Does that sound a little strange?

They are offering to sponsor the right candidate

evosteo

it doesnt sound unusual from what i found out about it, fifo work involves working for example 10-12 hours a day 7 days a week and you get a week off to recover

ellaq

Slidey wrote: »

Hi.

I have an interview this Friday with a company for FIFO in WA.


Lived in Oz for a year on WHV and came home at the end of 07. Just at the wrong time!

I'm a trade qualified HGV mechanic. I have been told the job is 2 weeks on, one week off. Does that sound a little strange?

They are offering to sponsor the right candidate

My OH is a fitter, which is what they call mechanics. He is a drill rig fitter. He does 2 on 1 off. Basically you do 1 week of days, followed by 1 week of nights and then 1 week off. I think the 10 hour days are usually for people in the construction side of things here. You will most likely be doing 12 hour days. Working a week of nights and days helps the swing go faster. Plus you have a little break to look forward to when the changeover to nights happens. Once you get used to the hours you can fit a lot into your time off.

All companies are different and different companies on the same site will pay for different rosters, leave, sick pay, etc. My OH gets paid for 13 hours days because they are paying for the travelling time to the site from the accommodation. He gets sick leave, holiday leave plus leave loading and gets paid 8 hours extra for public holidays.

If you are starting as a HD fitter you might be in luck because there are options for shorter shifts like 8/6. Drill fitters tend to only work 2/1.

Good luck with the interview.

Slidey

Thanks.

Is there any access to net on the sites?

d.pop

Slidey wrote: »

Hi.

I have an interview this Friday with a company for FIFO in WA.


Lived in Oz for a year on WHV and came home at the end of 07. Just at the wrong time!

I'm a trade qualified HGV mechanic. I have been told the job is 2 weeks on, one week off. Does that sound a little strange?

They are offering to sponsor the right candidate

Slidey, a 2 and 1 roster is 100% legit and would be considered a good roster.

ellaq

Slidey wrote: »

Thanks.

Is there any access to net on the sites?

Every site is different. Your employer will be able to provide this information.

Not all the work is up North. My OH is down south of WA (he does drive in drive out DIDO), and lots of work out in the Goldfields. There are often residential jobs offered out in Kalgoorlie/Boulder.

aido79

evosteo wrote: »

thanks again d.pop for the information, i found it, and im sure others will, very informative and a great insite on fifo.

what would you usually do on your week off? jus chill out or go travelling?

i wonder do companys have accomadation in the city for lads doing fifo where they can spend their week off and have security for their belongings when theyre away. i suppose your lucky in a way to have family and friends over there with you aswell.



hi aido, im not in australia (yet) im just looking into it as an option cause im struggling to get work here in ireland, id have to try get something temp here 1st to build up funds to get out there.

im a qualified sparks with jus 2 years post apprentiship experience but i also have a degree in elec services eng which i did part time while i was working them for a year full time when i was let go in 2009.

AFAIK you need your trade reconised by TRA, get your aus elec licence, get your white card, then apply for your job.

is that about right?


jus a few questions about the licence, whats the process going about getting one?

do you need to be working as a TA (trade assistant) while applying for it or is it just a course you do full time? or part time? in a local collage?

how much does it usually cost to complete? and is there a waiting time to do one.

cheers steve

You're right Steve. You first need to get your trade recognised which costs around $300. This can be done from Ireland but you will need to use an Australian address as they won't post it outside Australia. You will need to allow 30 working days to get this. When you get this you will need to then do the course for the licence. The best way to do it is to do a 2 week full time course for around $900. Bear in mind you will need to take 2 weeks off work to do this. There can be a bit of a wait to do the course. A guy I work with was told he would be waiting 2 months to get a place on a course. Depending on what state you want to work in you don't need to work as a TA to get your licence. In Queensland though I think you need to complete a log book for 6 months before you get it.

population

dpop

That is some top quality information there. I knew of lads in Melbourne who were keen to move full time to WA to get a slice of this. Being a sparky myself and married to an Aussie it is something I have thought about in the past, but ultimately I do not think I would be able to hack it. Surely the remoteness must get to some lads? Also 23 days on at 10.5 hours of hard mining construction work must be a killer? I have no fear of hard work personally but surely it would just grind a man down? Also as you are earning so much in the calender year, are you taxed to pieces?

Any more info you could post on this I think would be greatly appreciated by anyone interested.

Cheers

evosteo

population wrote: »

dpop

That is some top quality information there. I knew of lads in Melbourne who were keen to move full time to WA to get a slice of this. Being a sparky myself and married to an Aussie it is something I have thought about in the past, but ultimately I do not think I would be able to hack it. Surely the remoteness must get to some lads? Also 23 days on at 10.5 hours of hard mining construction work must be a killer? I have no fear of hard work personally but surely it would just grind a man down? Also as you are earning so much in the calender year, are you taxed to pieces?

Any more info you could post on this I think would be greatly appreciated by anyone interested.

Cheers

100% agree, its always best to hear about these things from the horses mouth so to speak,

again appriciate the time taken to explain all the info above:)

ellaq

The tax is a killer. When you get paid for the weeks you work you are taxed as if that is your usual weekly income. It doesn't take into account the week off which you are not paid for. It all works out at the end of the financial year though. Negative gearing investments really helps, investment properties seem to be the most popular.

d.pop

population wrote: »

dpop

That is some top quality information there. I knew of lads in Melbourne who were keen to move full time to WA to get a slice of this. Being a sparky myself and married to an Aussie it is something I have thought about in the past, but ultimately I do not think I would be able to hack it. Surely the remoteness must get to some lads? Also 23 days on at 10.5 hours of hard mining construction work must be a killer? I have no fear of hard work personally but surely it would just grind a man down? Also as you are earning so much in the calender year, are you taxed to pieces?

Any more info you could post on this I think would be greatly appreciated by anyone interested.

Cheers

I think the remoteness affects different people in different ways, if you need to be around people all the time then it's not for you, if you're happy to do your work and then get some quiet time in your room with a book or tv then it's not too bad. Would recommend an honest appraisal of yourself before making the decision.
The work gets a bit tiresome towards the end of your shift, i find that about 3 days before your due to leave is when you get most tired/down, on the second last day you start to buck up at the thought of getting out and on the day of your flight you positively leap around the place. The biggest issue is when there is a problem with the flights such as ash cloud today over perth, guys in my office due to fly out today are positively viscious!
Few guys up here seem to have been here for more than 4-5 years although i have heard of some fellas doing it for 10-20yrs, these guys generally have asian wifes/girlfriends who still live overseas and the guys viist them every R+R as opposed to going back to perth.
As far as the tax goes, irrespective of levies, tax bands , other "schemes" etc once you get above a certain income, say $100k then you are basically paying 50% tax (not exactly correct but if you half your salary that is roughly what you'll be taking home).

Slidey

The tax seems like a bit of a killer.

Is there any other deductions as well as tax or are you including that in your roughly halved take home?

ellaq

I think d.pop means roughly 50% on earnings over the $100k mark. OH last pay was taxed around 30% overall.

d.pop

ellaq wrote: »

I think d.pop means roughly 50% on earnings over the $100k mark. OH last pay was taxed around 30% overall.

Hi guys, yeah, kind of; i was being a bit "rough" with my tax calculations, obviously there are tax bands that increase with your salary etc.
In my particular case my average hourly nett pay when superannuation and tax is removed is approx 55% of my gross hourly rate, obviously that varies week by week and depending on additional bonuses or deductions etc. In my case as a rough rule of thumb if i'm trying to figure out approx how much cash i'll have at end of week i half my hourly rate, mind you i probably get paid way too much if i'm paying so much tax!

ellaq

You would only be paying 45% on every dollar earnt over the $180k. Superannuation is paid by the company. I see what you are doing but we don't even consider the superannuation as part of the income.

Slidey

I thought that the taxation was a bit harsh alright.

Interview on Friday, we'll see how that goes...

ellaq

Good luck Slidey for Friday. 2/1 is not a bad lifestyle. Even time would be better but the pay is less.

d.pop

Slidey wrote: »

I thou5ght that the taxation was a bit harsh alright.

Interview on Friday, we'll see how that goes...

Jeez lads ye're killing me on the taxation...i'll try to clarify a bit on my own situation without giving away the whole farm!
I'm an independant professional contractor so my hourly rate is all i get, no holiday pay, no sick pay, no overtime, nothing. Superannuation is taken out of my hourly rate. As a result my hourly rate is quite high which is prob distorting the taxation/deductions. My last 4 wages (all i had access to today) after super and tax were deducted worked out as 56%, 54%, 57% and 55% of my hourly rate x hours worked.
Apologies if i have confused the issue but just so you guys know, independant contracting is the way the majority of recruitment is going, so i guess all i'm saying is if somebody is offering you something up around $90 to $100 per hour (or more) then be prepared to see "almost" half taken off you before it ever reaches your wallet.

Good luck with the interview.

Slidey

Ah I see.

Didn't mean to put you under the gun. Don't think it will be an ABN job that I am going for. Judging by the salary been offered it is not anyway.

ellaq

All makes sense now d.pop.

When it comes to fifo there is a difference between construction and mining. And in this industries there is a difference between the pay structures of professionals and tradies.

Construction has always had a reputation for shorter shifts and longer rosters. I think scaffolders for eg, work 4 weeks on 1 week off. Mining has become a bit more family friendly in recent times. 3/1 swings are not that common anymore. But every company is different and on any given site different third party contractors will have their employees on different shift cycles. 2/1 and 8/6 seem the most popular. I believe that even time rosters are more popular in the Eastern States though.

In mining, professionals are usually salaried unless they are working as a consultant and then they hired as a contractor. Tradies are usually casually employed through an agency,permanent employee or a fixed term contract being paid for hours worked in a fortnight.

I have no idea how the support services work such as sodexo which employ cleaners and chefs.

d.pop

Slidey wrote: »

Ah I see.

Didn't mean to put you under the gun. Don't think it will be an ABN job that I am going for. Judging by the salary been offered it is not anyway.

No worries, I should have been clearer up front.
Just by way of a heads up, the independant contractor arrangement is a very strange beast. You don't have an ABN (unless you want one), instead you work like normal on a TFN with your tax done on a PAYG basis. It's all a bit sneaky i think as you are not entitled to notice, holidays, sick pay etc, basically you get well paid but can be dispensed with at the drop of a hat. My own biggest gripe with it is you are not told, you do your interviews with a company as normal, do your medicals etc, get offered a v.nice wage and accept the role then you're told "oh by the way we "outsource" our payroll admin, is this a problem?" Still doesn't sound too bad until the next day some agency in another state altogether rings you up and emails you a load of employment contracts to sign, thats when you find out you don't work for the company you interviewed for at all but instead are working through an agency! B***ards! Plus they take a cut for "managing" you!
Was offered 4 jobs in one week and i took the highest paying one or so i thought, by the time i started deducting all the various bits and pieces i was almost back down to the other 3 lower offers...
Rant over.
Basically if somebody is offering you a shedload of money ask what the conditions of employment are i.e direct/contract etc

s20101938

dpop,

anymore tips/advice on fifo? what's the heat/sun/flies/dust like?
can you go into more details about what your job entails?

d.pop

s20101938 wrote: »

dpop,

anymore tips/advice on fifo? what's the heat/sun/flies/dust like?
can you go into more details about what your job entails?

Can't really think of too much more to be honest, would be easier to answer questions than try to think of relevant stuff if you know what i mean.
The work is the same as home, whatever your trade/occupation at home it's pretty much the same here except everything is a gazillion times bigger, particularily in mining and the rules....the rules are relentless and are enforced ruthlessly, you speed you're gone, you fail a breatho you're gone, you use a mobile at work you're gone etc etc...
As far as the conditions the best description i've seen is on google "Diary of a pommie in WA", can't put it up here as it has some bad language but even though it's meant as a laugh it is spot on. Have a read.
Middle of winter here now and it's still 26 degrees and the flies...jeebus..the flies are relentless, starting to die off a bit with last few weeks but when your hardhat comes with fly nets like a bee keepers hat then you got to wonder what you're doing here!
Still rather be getting bitten by flies than any one of the dozens of snake or spider species waiting outside your door for you every morning!

population

Again cheers to everybody here for any and all information.

How long have you all been out there? How long are you thinking of staying?

s20101938

dpop,

Who does your job on your week off, and do you have to do someone else's job on their's? Is this a good or bad thing? How do you hack the long days? Productivity goes way down with too much overtime. Is the pace the same on weekends? Are you indoors much? Is their much time spent in meetings? Is it all much the same as back home? Is it boring work?

d.pop

s20101938 wrote: »

dpop,

Who does your job on your week off, and do you have to do someone else's job on their's? Is this a good or bad thing? How do you hack the long days? Productivity goes way down with too much overtime. Is the pace the same on weekends? Are you indoors much? Is their much time spent in meetings? Is it all much the same as back home? Is it boring work?

Depending on your role you would either have a "back to back", i.e a guy who does the same job as you, eg, if you were on a 2/1 swing you would be on opposite shifts so that there is always one of you around and then you also have an overlap of a week, some longer swings such as 4/4 you only meet your opposite number for a few hours or a day to handover. In my own case some of the other guys pick up the slack while i'm away and i do the same for them. If only you can do a particular task then it just has to wait, same as if you're on holidays at home in ireland.
I think the job sharing is a good thing as you get to work across some areas that you might not normally have done.
The days are not much longer than home, while you may be doing a typical 10.5 to 12hr day, there is no travel as such as you are living on the job, if you do have to travel it is part of your work day. At home you live in the midlands, commute 1.5hrs each way to city and do a 9 hour day inbetween then the FIFO hrs are actually better in so far as at least you get paid for every hour.
The hours don't get you it is the consecutive days and maybe also the early starts, by the end of the swing most guys are pretty much ready to sleep for a few days straight or at least stay in bed past 4.30am!!
The pace never lets up, the days of the week don't change the only way you tell days apart is that Friday night is usually fish and chip night while sunday is roast night, if sunday is an RDO then saturday night the place can be a bit livelier than normal as guys have an extra drink or 3, other than that no change.
this can be a bit bizarre as if you are up to your neck in it at 3pm on sunday afternoon and you can't reach anybody back in Perth by email or phone it takes a second for to stop and realise that it is actually a sunday and most people are relaxing at home...
As far as meetings or indoors goes, again totally depends on your role, eg a formwork chippy is going to be outside every day all day with no meetings except a daily pre-start in the site office.
Supervisors (Foremen) spend about 50% of time out on site, remainder doing paperwork, construction managers etc spend 95% of time in office/meetings, Admin girls spend 100% of day in office.
Actually saw for the first time 2 days ago the full force of an irate camp manger in action. Fella had too much to drink and got in arguement with another guy over spilled drink, nothing serious but there was some squaring up. Not enough to lose your job but what they do is take away your accomodation privilages, i.e. take your room off you and tell you there is a seat on next available flight booked for you and car outside to take you to airport if you wish! Technically you still have a job but with nowhere to sleep or eat and 1000km from anywhere you have only one choice. Sacked without being sacked. Tough but would not like to imagine what the camps would be like if fellas could get steamed up and rowdy everynight, would be like wild west.

Slidey

Thanks for the info d.pop.

Had my interview on Friday. Thought it went well enough, wouldn't be quite as experienced with the plant as they probably want but have other factors on my side.

Was told I would be on a 7 day, 7 night roster then home for 6, whats the deal with changing from the night to the day?

You know any mechanics there? Is the work hectic or is it a slow slog through the day?

Is the grub good or just passable?

ellaq

Slidey wrote: »

Thanks for the info d.pop.

Had my interview on Friday. Thought it went well enough, wouldn't be quite as experienced with the plant as they probably want but have other factors on my side.

Was told I would be on a 7 day, 7 night roster then home for 6, whats the deal with changing from the night to the day?

You know any mechanics there? Is the work hectic or is it a slow slog through the day?

Is the grub good or just passable?

On changeover day you basically get 24 hour break. You may finish at 5pm on any given day and start nights at 5pm the next day. Most guys go to the wet mess for a few extra and catch up on sleep and laundry. The only downside is that you may have to do your own laundry.

As a mechanic, if you are not doing service work you are on call. You will have days where you are busy and days where you are not. You will not be 100% productive for the entire shift. There is a fair amount of paperwork involved. There will be lots of safety meetings. You are not allowed touch anything onsite until it is safety checked. Like d.pop said you will most likely get paid door to door. The minesite will be away from the camp so you should get paid for hours worked including travelling.

Everysite is different with regards to food. OH is on a good site at the moment. The food is good and if you don't fancy anything that has been laid out you can get a steak (or 2) or fish freshly cooked to your liking. Breakfast and dinner you eat in the dry mess, lunch you take with you. They don't provide soft drinks. They often do special nights, Irish night, Seafood night, Italian night, etc. where they go all out on the food.

Like d.pop said you don't know what day of the week it is, you just work. The wet mess (pub) is just busier on a Saturday and Sunday morning is also popular if you do nights, they call it Church. But it is purely social drinking. Mess up with your behaviour they will remove your accommodation making it impossible to keep working there. Every company is different, OH company doesn't sack people, they are just moved to a different site. You have to be able to get on with all sorts and take a joke, especially when you first start. Don;t be surprise if you encounter disorganisation when you first start.

If you are doing 2/1 there will be 3 different swing shifts. 5 minute hand over is normal.

someday2010

What happens on Public holiday days, does the site keep on working and pay you extra for the day? For holiday leave in general is it like CIF holidays in Ireland or can you pick when you want to go on leave?

d.pop

someday2010 wrote: »

What happens on Public holiday days, does the site keep on working and pay you extra for the day? For holiday leave in general is it like CIF holidays in Ireland or can you pick when you want to go on leave?

There is no difference between the days, if it's your day to work you work, get paid flat rate, christmas day, new years day, no difference, the mines run 24:7:365. My mate started his job last christmas on the 24th December as a chef on a 3/1 roster, first days work was xmas dinner for 500 guys.
Some construction sites not involved directly with the mine shut down for a week at xmas but other than that you book your holidays to suit yourself as long as your boss approves and cover is available. Most guys like to take a few weeks at xmas if they can manage it. Can work out ok if you work your holidays around your R&R, eg if you work 2/1, you could book 2 weeks off after your R&R so you would have 3 weeks off for the price of 2! or skip a whole roster - take your scheduled roster off, then 2 weeks, then your roster off again and blam 4 weeks off for the price of 2 weeks holidays.
Really there is no set routine but most companies like to lock you in to a roster at start of year so they can book your flights, as long as you give them notice pretty much book holidays as you wish and hope that you get in before your mate does espically around xmas etc.

s20101938

dpop,

you're a Civil Engineer, yes? Can you give us a bit more details about your role, because mining is quite specialised? How long did it take you to get settled in, and how long have you been there now? I've seen some clips on YouTube that give some idea of what its like. Is there any advice you'd have for an engineer?

Thanks

d.pop

s20101938 wrote: »

dpop,

you're a Civil Engineer, yes? Can you give us a bit more details about your role, because mining is quite specialised? How long did it take you to get settled in, and how long have you been there now? I've seen some clips on YouTube that give some idea of what its like. Is there any advice you'd have for an engineer?

Thanks

Can't be giving away all my secrets.....
Basically i work for an EPCM company (Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management), we work for all the major mining companies, BHP, FMG, RIO etc, depending on the job your on you are essentially entrenched within the mine group for the duration of the project.
We don't work with the miners as such, the department i'm in at the moment is within Rio Expansions, basically Rio's geotechs find the ore out in the field and come up with a mine plan, We then go out and build the primary and secondary crushers for them, conveyors, stackers, reclaimers, trian load out, railway lines etc, once built we hand over the shiny new "mine" to the mine ops guys. They then spend the next 30 years trying to break it! Our typical projects take about 3 years and run at about $2billion each, we currently have approx 25 of these projects at various stages across the area.
As an EPCM we have different departments from mech/elec/civil/struct/comms etc and split between design and construction teams.
I'm basically a site civil engineer and spend most of my days checking contractors QA and acting as a liason between the contractor and the design team. Once designed the construction team essentaily become project managers on site and all the guys are supervisors/managers/engineers or superintendents.
It's pretty cool to be honest, espically as a lot of the work involves tie-ins to existing mines.
As far as advice goes it comes down to luck to be honest, apply for jobs with EPCM companies or else contractors working on resource projects. There is a shortage of suitable people at the moment across all disciplines but Permanent Residency is critcal as the cost of getting a guy on site first day is astronomical.

evosteo

d.pop wrote: »

Can't be giving away all my secrets.....
Basically i work for an EPCM company (Engineering, Procurement, Construction Management), we work for all the major mining companies, BHP, FMG, RIO etc, depending on the job your on you are essentially entrenched within the mine group for the duration of the project.
We don't work with the miners as such, the department i'm in at the moment is within Rio Expansions, basically Rio's geotechs find the ore out in the field and come up with a mine plan, We then go out and build the primary and secondary crushers for them, conveyors, stackers, reclaimers, trian load out, railway lines etc, once built we hand over the shiny new "mine" to the mine ops guys. They then spend the next 30 years trying to break it! Our typical projects take about 3 years and run at about $2billion each, we currently have approx 25 of these projects at various stages across the area.
As an EPCM we have different departments from mech/elec/civil/struct/comms etc and split between design and construction teams.
I'm basically a site civil engineer and spend most of my days checking contractors QA and acting as a liason between the contractor and the design team. Once designed the construction team essentaily become project managers on site and all the guys are supervisors/managers/engineers or superintendents.
It's pretty cool to be honest, espically as a lot of the work involves tie-ins to existing mines.
As far as advice goes it comes down to luck to be honest, apply for jobs with EPCM companies or else contractors working on resource projects. There is a shortage of suitable people at the moment across all disciplines but Permanent Residency is critcal as the cost of getting a guy on site first day is astronomical.

i take it that they have no interest in people entering australia on WH visas??? or would they be open to sponsor the right person?

is there a route to take for people on wh visas that you know of d.pop??

d.pop

evosteo wrote: »

i take it that they have no interest in people entering australia on WH visas??? or would they be open to sponsor the right person?

is there a route to take for people on wh visas that you know of d.pop??

Evosteo, don't know what to say to you mate, i don't know of anybody in the company who was sponsored or came in on a WHV. Right or Wrong, EPCM jobs are up there at the top of the pile as the place where all contracting staff want to end up so there is a lot of competion for places, we are looking for a civil supervisor at the moment and of all the cv's i've seen pass through the office (100's) not one person was anything but an aussie or a permanent resident.
To be perfectly honest i reckon the only reason i got in for first interview at all was because a contact in one of the mine groups passed my cv along at just the right time and because my contact was well respected in the industry.
You might be lucky with sponsorship through a contractor but as far as i've seen on other threads on boards, sponsorship generally is no longer as easy as it was.
Don't know if your over here now or back in Ireland but you're best chance of getting sponsorship i reckon is by being here and taking work with a company and then seeing how you go.
I have heard some exploration drilling companies have hired WHV workers as driller offsiders (helpers/labourers) and were quite happy with the guys they had and were offering sponsorship, guess those guys were genuine hardworkers and an asset to the company.

yogimotorsport

Slidey wrote: »

Thanks for the info d.pop.

Had my interview on Friday. Thought it went well enough, wouldn't be quite as experienced with the plant as they probably want but have other factors on my side.

Was told I would be on a 7 day, 7 night roster then home for 6, whats the deal with changing from the night to the day?

You know any mechanics there? Is the work hectic or is it a slow slog through the day?

Is the grub good or just passable?

I know im probably dragging up a month old thread but thought id offer my insight
I work FIFO in the Goldfields doing a 2:1 roster 7 days and 7 nights as a heavy duty fitter,there are somedays when we are flat out 6 to 6 and other days its just routine servicing with the possibility of being called to a breakdown etc.Night shifts are usually easier no big jobs were basically on call in case were needed to make sure gear is kept going a minimum of 23 hours a day but then again we we very busy every night on my last swing!
Food its generally good something for everyone everything is free except beer,chocolate and soft drinks etc

Ian Mac

Any of these places offering Entry Level jobs??

To be honest I don't have much experience in the field , although if there was an opening position I be happy to go for it.

Any advice appreciated

ellaq

The only entry level positions I know of are as driller assistants and servicemen.

As a drillers assistant you need to be fit and able to take crap from the drillers. Some of these jobs are just shocking, you might be living in a tent with very basic camp facilities. My friend is a exploratory driller and he can work in very basic conditions. There is a high turnover of staff and pay is not too great. Therefore it is easier to try to get into this type of role. If you can get into a bigger drilling company as a driller assistant and you are good you can be trained up to be a driller.

As a servicemen you have to have mechanical experience. Basically this is an unqualified position, sort of like a trade assistant but usually with experience. These jobs are harder to get.

jank

Good read this thread. Puts paid to the notion that your average Irish guy can come out on a WHV and be on plane to a mine next day to earn 400k+.

FIFO seems to be hard work, more on the state of your mind than your body. I suppose for a lot of people it is a means to an end, a few years of doing it and you have a house or two paid for...

yogimotorsport

jank wrote: »

Good read this thread. Puts paid to the notion that your average Irish guy can come out on a WHV and be on plane to a mine next day to earn 400k+.

FIFO seems to be hard work, more on the state of your mind than your body. I suppose for a lot of people it is a means to an end, a few years of doing it and you have a house or two paid for...

Its not as easy as people make out,People arnt stupid there are always going to pick a person with relevant qualifications for the job,It is a state of mind you need to try to get on with your work mates concidering the amount of time your going to be spending with them!
This notion that its easy to make $400k a year is nonsence yes there is jobs that pay that degree of wages but thats for highly qualified engineers etc,realistically you are looking at $100k - $120k if even that

Slidey

The position I went for as heavy diesel fitter had wages starting at 115 rising to a ceiling of 145.

I didn't get it though.

jimbojazz

Has anyone on here any info on what these posts are like for Quantity Surveyors - contractor not pqs - they seem to be crying out for these- are they also site based or based in Perth

Myself and one of the lads are getting calls from agencies to apply for these positions - we are still in Ireland - but from reading some of the posts on here they dont really appeal in terms of lifestyle, the tax situation and the lack of a base for the week that you have off especially for when the kids come over for a holiday

Like everyone else here we have to consider making the move but from what I'm reading I'm beginning to think that it mightn't be worth basically giving up your social life

Anyone here any views or experience of working as a QS for the FIFO system

Thanks

ellaq

Some low wages posted here for fitters. I know there is a skill shortgage but I wouldn't want companies to be taking advantage of people with lower wages being offered. I always thought that a base wage of $130k per year was pretty standard for a 2/1 shift with a ceiling going to $160k before you took on extra responsibility. My OH company hasn't the best reputation for wages and yet their starting wage is $128k for people with no mining experience at all. They don't however sponsor people from overseas yet.

My friend who works a 1/1 roster gets $115k per year. He is a HD fitter with only 1 year mining experience and only 2 years out of his apprenticeship as a plant mechanic.

I would be wary of any company offering a low wage on a sponsored visa as you are stuck with them while you may find people around you getting paid more for the same work.

mandrake04

Slidey wrote: »

The position I went for as heavy diesel fitter had wages starting at 115 rising to a ceiling of 145.

I didn't get it though.

If you dont mind me asking did they give a reason? ie. visa etc

Slidey

No reason given. In fact they didn't even get in touch. Thought it was poor enough.

mandrake04

Slidey wrote: »

No reason given. In fact they didn't even get in touch. Thought it was poor enough.

Bad form alright, was it direct with the company or was it an agency you were dealing with?

Bad luck man.