Case Study 09: Scotland to Australia - 14 Years On and Still Employed

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.

With just on 14 years of service and still employed by the same Australian Caterpillar Dealer, the Australian Caterpillar Dealer has over 29,000 billable field service hours on Australian mine sites from the candidate.

The candidate has become mentor to many, is now an Australian Citizen, and is a leading light in the Cat dealer’s social responsibility projects and local community.

The candidate worked his way up through the Australian Caterpillar Dealership and is currently the Area Field Service Manager.

Regardless how you measure success.

The International Recruitment of Caterpillar Dealer Trained Mechanics has been an outstanding success for this Australian Caterpillar Dealer.

Measure of ROI - Substantial

One of the world’s largest Caterpillar Dealers.

Australia

Due To Skills Shortages The Australian Caterpillar Dealer Was Unable to Train, Upskill or Recruit Sufficient Numbers of Field Service Mechanics and Technicians in Australia To Meet Demand.

Recruit highly skilled and experienced Caterpillar Dealer trained heavy equipment mechanics and technicians globally that are suitable to work in field service in Australia. Apply for and obtain Australian working visas for the mechanics and technicians and deploy them into the Caterpillar Dealer’s Australian Operations.

Time taken from order placement to client interview - 3 weeks

Scotland

Head of HR

Time taken from presentation of offer of employment to acceptance of offer - 24 Hours

1st stage of the Australian Working Visa Process - Time taken from nomination lodgement to nomination approval - 24 Hours

2nd stage of the Australian Working Visa Process - Time taken from visa lodgement to visa approval - 20 days

Time taken from visa approval until arrival in Australia and commencing work at the Caterpillar Dealership - 24 days

The worker was single when they were hired and deployed to Australia.

The candidate was sourced from industry connections and directly targeted sourcing - no job advertising of the positions were placed in the countries targeted.

Nomination preparation and lodgement, primary applicant visa preparation and lodgement.

Arrange flights, in country meet and greet, sourcing, rental and furnishing of accommodation, cultural awareness and local familiarisation briefings. Follow up support was offered but was never required.

Candidate had previous experience working in field service roles for OEM dealers in the United Kingdom including the UK Caterpillar Dealer Finning UK Limited, and for Liebherr Great Britain Limited.

Candidate also had experience working in Expat field service roles Multi National Mining companies in Africa, including working for Barrick Gold in Tanzania.

Candidate had good experience of working on tractors, motor graders, excavators, 963, 988s, 785, 5130, 990G and other large surface mining equipment.

From day one the candidate excelled at the Australian Caterpillar dealership. His attendance record was excellent, his attention to detail and thirst for knowledge was quickly recognised.

The candidate knew how to get the job done safely and correctly. Any hesitance in top level management regarding employing overseas Caterpillar Dealer trained mechanics just faded away.

An update to this is that one of the managers that was most against the idea of recruiting from overseas, because they believed the skill sets wouldn’t be there. Was the candidates first boss in Australia at the Caterpillar Dealership, and that manager became one of the candidates closest friends and actively supported the candidate throughout, and eventually the candidate become the Area Field Service Manager managing teams of over 160 people, and they are still the best of friends.

The candidate is still employed by the same Australian Caterpillar dealership.

But he is no longer employed as a field service mechanic.

The candidate worked his way up through the Australian Caterpillar Dealership and is currently the Area Field Service Manager.

He overseas a team of over 160 people covering Caterpillar Large Surface Mining Equipment, Construction, Quarrying, Waste, Agricultural and Marine Divisions.

With now just on 14 years service with one of the world’s largest Caterpillar dealers and counting, it’s fair to say this candidate is in it for the long term and both the Cat Dealer and the Candidate found just what they were looking for.

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.

With just on 14 years of service and still employed by the same Australian Caterpillar Dealer, the Australian Caterpillar Dealer has over 29,000 billable field service hours on Australian mine sites from the candidate.

The candidate has become mentor to many, is now an Australian Citizen, and is a leading light in the Cat dealer’s social responsibility projects and local community.

Regardless how you measure success.

The International Recruitment of Caterpillar Dealer Trained Mechanics has been an outstanding success for this Australian Caterpillar Dealer.

Measure of ROI - Substantial

We asked the candidate for his permission to tell his story and if he wanted to say anything. And he said he was very happy for us to share his story about his journey.

He had this to say:

Australian Caterpillar dealers working on large surface mining equipment have a very different view on a work / life balance compared to UK companies.

For example it’s not uncommon in the UK for a mechanic to be working long days for 5, 6 and sometimes 7 days a week, week in week out.

But Australian Caterpillar dealers can work all different types of shift/roster patterns, for example working 4 days on, then having 4 days off.

This can initially present problems for mechanics that have never experienced so much free time away from work.

You might laugh when reading this, as if it could be a problem having so much free time - but you need to find out what it is you like to do, riding motor bikes to the red line? golf? fishing? spending time with your family? Or a buss man’s holiday and spend time doing up a hot rod in the garage at home - regardless what you do in your free time, you will have a lot more of it when working at an Australian Caterpillar dealer working in field service.

Would the candidate recommend making the move to Australia to work for a Caterpillar dealer? He said that he’d highly recommend it to others!