Case study 4 – Heavy Equipment Mechanic in Zambia to Caterpillar Mechanical Tradesperson in Western Australia
Recruited in October 2011 and deployed May 2012 to the Western Australia Caterpillar dealer to work on a MARC site at BHP’s Mount Whaleback Mine in Western Australia.
This is Kenneth’s journey.
Hours worked at the Western Australian Caterpillar Dealer since hiring
Commenced employment with Western Australian Caterpillar Dealer
With Western Australian Caterpillar dealer
ROI for Western Australian Caterpillar Dealer
Where did Kenneth’s journey begin?
We first met Kenneth in 2011.
Referred to us by insider mining contacts, the initial feedback suggested that Kenneth was someone we might be interested in recruiting for an Australian Caterpillar dealer.
All we knew at this stage was he was a heavy equipment mechanic that worked in the mines in the Copperbelt which sits on the border between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic of Congo.
After making contact with Kenneth and finding out if Kenneth was interested in relocating himself and eventually his family to Australia, Kenneth provided a detailed working and educational history to us and formally applied for a position.
Our international recruitment specialist Dennis met up with Kenneth in person a number of different times in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia and had various discussions about what Kenneth was looking for in his next role and about Kenneth’s experience and knowledge of surface mining equipment and dealer maintenance and repair processes.
Previous working history
Kenneth had been working for the previous 6 years for a mining company in the Copperbelt on the border of Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Whilst well known for it’s copper mines, it’s also an area rich with high quality Emeralds and emerald mines.
Dennis and Kenneth discussed what machines Kenneth had worked on, did he just change the filters and oil or was he more experienced and involved in component change outs. Kenneth explained in detail he was experienced in using Caterpillar and Komatsu tools and software including ET, VIMS and STW and explained about his experience with fault finding, engine and component replacement, and repair of various surface mining and earth moving equipment including – Komatsu 830E AC trucks, Cat 793C and 789B trucks, 994 loaders, and D10 R an T dozers.
Kenneth and Dennis had detailed discussions about yellow gear and how different companies approached maintenance and contamination control. With Kenneth explaining how the surface mining and earth moving equipment maintenance teams conducted their work and the processes they followed.
In Africa, maintenance of heavy earth moving equipment on mine sites is usually conducted with much larger team numbers than Australian mine sites – where in Australia one mechanical tradesperson might work on one area of a machine, in Africa there might be 4 or 5 people carrying out the very same work.
Therefore it’s vital, when recruiting mechanical tradespeople that you dig deeper than simply using key word search software on an applicants cv – because although 4 or 5 people might state they carried out the work, and each persons cv might look the same, the reality is that there could be 4 people passing spanners every time, to only one person that really knows what they are doing.
Kenneth proved that he was the heavy equipment mechanic that the others passed the spanners to – he knew his stuff and Dennis was determined to help Kenneth land a job with an Australian Caterpillar dealer and relocate himself and his family to Australia.
Making the move to Australia
Our international recruitment specialist Dennis had completed the educational, background and integrity checks on Kenneth, we forwarded his details to the Western Australian Caterpillar dealer and provided our feedback which was that that they should interview Kenneth as we felt he was suitable to work on mine sites for the Cat dealer.
The Western Australian Caterpillar dealer agreed with the recommendation to interview (one of many for that project) and they sent an interview team to Lusaka the capital of Zambia where Dennis met them upon their arrival to the country and facilitated the interviews.
The interview team consisted of a supervisor from the Caterpillar dealer who was in charge of the MARC at BHP Mt Whaleback Mine in WA and the HR support staff from the Western Australian Caterpillar dealership.
The interview with Kenneth went as predicted, with the MARC supervisor being very impressed and offering Kenneth a job before the interview was even completed.
Kenneth was formally presented with a letter of offer and relocation package for himself and his family from the Western Australian Caterpillar dealer one week later.
Starting work at the Caterpillar dealer in Australia
From day one it was pretty full on for Kenneth at the Western Australian Caterpillar dealership.
He underwent a comprehensive induction and training period to prepare his transition into working on the MARC at BHP’s Mt Whaleback mine in WA.
Sessions and courses he attended included: – Human resources induction, safety induction, Medical, Mine Health Surveillance, Audio, Drug and Alcohol Screen, skills assessment, white card, forklift operators license, working at heights, fire extinguisher, first aid and a dogging course.
His attendance record was excellent, his attitude was do it once, do it right, do it safely.
Quality never goes out of fashion.
The Western Australian Caterpillar Dealer was very satisfied to the extent they asked our international recruitment team if they could get them more like Kenneth?
Where is Kenneth now?
Kenneth is still working for the same Western Australian Caterpillar dealership.
But he is no longer employed at BHP’s Mt Whaleback mine. BHP have moved their maintenance in-house and the Caterpillar dealer moved Kenneth to their branch in the Newman area.
Kenneth still has a long future working for the Caterpillar dealer and has been earmarked to move to BHP’s Eastern Ridge shortly.
With now over 11 years service with Western Australia’s Caterpillar dealer and counting, Kenneth dedicated great service to the Caterpillar dealership and wishes to remain working with the Cat dealer until he retires.
Kenneth relocated his wife and three children to Australia and all of them are now Australian citizens.
Kenneth it was our pleasure to have met you and assisted you and your family to relocate to Australia – you have worked very hard for your success, we wish you and your family a very long and happy life in Australia.
Did overseas recruitment of mechanical tradespeople work for Western Australia’s Caterpillar dealer?
Some like to view success in monetary terms.
Some view success in terms of a person fitting in.
Some view success in terms of how long something lasts.
More than 11 years of service on a MARC Mine Site and still employed with a long term vision of commitment to the Caterpillar Dealer.
To date over 20,000 billable hours on a WA BHP Mine Site.
Relocated their family to Australia and became Australian Citizens and heavily involved with the local community and helping others to relocate.
Regardless how you measure success.
The overseas recruitment of mechanical tradespeople has been an outstanding success for the Western Australian Caterpillar dealer.
Measure of ROI – Substantial