The Hiring Desk Blog

Getting into FIFO, mining and construction, explained properly

The hiring side of the desk, and none of the forum noise. Written by The Hiring Desk, Senior HR Professional.

FIFO

Apprenticeships for school leavers: how to get one straight out of school

What to do in Year 11 and 12 so you are already in the yes pile when the intakes open.

Read it → FIFO

Construction apprenticeships: how builders pick apprentices

Carpentry, plumbing and electrical, and why getting picked by a builder works differently to a mining intake.

Read it → FIFO · Professional

FIFO and site jobs for office and professional people

Site admin, engineering and accounts. Same sites, same hiring desk, a different screen.

Read it → FIFO · Professional

Site admin and document control FIFO jobs: how to get in

The quiet way into FIFO without a trade, and what the person hiring is actually looking for.

Read it → FIFO · Professional

Engineers moving to site: what the FIFO screen looks for

Graduates and office-based engineers going out to site. What I look for in the first thirty seconds.

Read it → FIFO · Professional

FIFO and site accountant jobs: the roles most accountants never hear about

Site accountants, project accountants and cost controllers. What the jobs are and what the hiring side looks for.

Read it → FIFO · Apprenticeships

How to get a mining or construction apprenticeship

School leavers, career changers and mature-age. How apprenticeships work and how to get picked.

Read it → FIFO · Apprenticeships

Apprentice applications: what employers actually look for

From the person who reads them. Why the best school marks are not what gets you picked.

Read it → FIFO · Apprenticeships

Pre-apprenticeships and group training: are they worth it?

Two of the most useful doors into a trade, and the questions to ask before you sign up.

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FIFO interview questions, and the answers the person hiring actually wants to hear

What each FIFO interview question is really checking, the answers that sink people, and the shape of a good one.

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FIFO resume template and example: the layout that gets read

A free FIFO resume template, and a worked example of the top third the screener actually reads.

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FIFO jobs in Perth with no experience: where the doors actually are

The roles that take green applicants out of Perth, the tickets to get first, and the order to go after them.

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Mining jobs in Queensland with no experience: what is different from WA

The Bowen Basin and beyond, DIDO and FIFO, the Standard 11 induction and the coal board medical.

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FIFO ticket packages: are they worth it, and what should be in one?

What packages bundle, what you probably don’t need yet, and how to tell a good one from an expensive one.

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Does FIFO drug test for weed? Yes. Here is how, and how long it shows up

When they test, how urine and saliva tests work, how long cannabis shows, and medicinal cannabis.

Read it → FIFO · From overseas

FIFO from overseas: why your application gets binned in five seconds, and the order that works

For tradies in the UK, Ireland, South Africa and NZ. What the screen does with an overseas CV, from the hiring side. Not migration advice.

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Before you pay for a FIFO course, package or resume service, read this

What you are really buying, the red flags, five questions to ask, and the order to spend in. Including me.

Read it → FIFO · Free chapter

Read chapter 2 of the guide free: how the FIFO screen really works

The thirty-second screen, the socials check, the phone call and the medical. In full, no email needed.

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White Card first, then what? The FIFO tickets to buy, in order, on a A$2,000 budget

The order to buy tickets in on a A$2,000 budget, what to skip, and how to check a provider is real.

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What a FIFO recruiter sees in your CV in thirty seconds (and what they never get to)

The first pass is a scan for four things. Where the eye goes, and what on page two never gets read.

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Eight FIFO resume mistakes that get you binned, in the order the recruiter hits them

Eight things that get FIFO CVs binned, in the order the screener hits them. Most are a ten-minute fix.

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Labour hire or apply direct? How green FIFO applicants actually get their first swing

Labour hire, contractors, operators, traineeships: which door opens for a green applicant, and in what order.

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How to apply for FIFO jobs properly (it is not uploading your CV to Seek and waiting)

Where to apply, when to follow up, and why being able to fly Sunday beats a prettier CV.

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The FIFO pre-employment medical and drug test: what they check, what fails, and what to sort before you apply

What the pre-employment medical checks, where people actually get caught, and the screen that is exactly as serious as you think.

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FIFO utility and camp services jobs: the door into site work that nobody tells you about

Camp and village roles are the fastest way onto a site with no tickets. What they are and where they lead.

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Fifty FIFO applications and no callbacks? Here are the ten real reasons, from the hiring side

Fifty applications and silence? The ten real reasons, ranked from the hiring desk, and how to tell which is yours.

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Women getting into FIFO: the entry programs, the real door, and what the hiring side actually wants

The industry is actively trying to hire you. The programs, how to find them, and how the screen differs.

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Should you move to Kalgoorlie, Karratha or Port Hedland to get into mining? The regional route, honestly

Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Hedland: why locals get hired first, what it costs, and who the regional route suits.

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Do FIFO recruiters check your Facebook? Yes. Here is what they look for

Recruiters look before they ring. What they're screening for, and the five-minute fix before you apply.

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FIFO tickets with no experience: what to buy first, what to skip, and what it costs

The two-to-three grand starter set, in order, and the tickets not to buy until a job asks for them.

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How to get a FIFO job with no experience: the six real doors in

Trade assisting, camp services, labour hire, traineeships, the regions, and networking. Which door is yours.

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Mature-age apprenticeships and traineeships: the FIFO back door nobody uses

No upper age limit, paid from day one, and intakes every year. Why this is the door I push hardest.

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Why new FIFO starters don't get asked back: the first-swing mistakes

Drama, sick days, drugs, the cleaner, the camp bar, the airport, other people's laundry. What actually ends people.

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FIFO rosters explained: 2/1, 4/1, 8/6 and what each one really does to your life

Two-and-one, four-and-one, eight-and-six, offshore. What each one does to the person at home, from people who've lived it.

Read it → From overseas

Moving to Australia? The moving guides live on The Hiring Desk

Costs, banking, the Australian CV, cities and country guides.

Go there →

Would you pass the FIFO screen?

Twelve questions, the same ones asked about you on the hiring side. Two minutes, a score out of 100, your flags, and what to fix first. Free.

Take the free readiness check

Ready for the whole way in? How to Get Into FIFO (and get asked back), A$49. Moving to Australia instead? The relocation guides.