Central Queensland Site Services

Fittters Jobs Australia - CAT Jobs Australia - Komatsu Jobs Australia - Blah Blah Blah

2011-08-04T22:21:00.003+10:00

There seem to be a lot of people and companies now looking for fitters, I guess it seems easy to add another stream to the recruitment, however it really is a difficult and time consuming process if you are going to get it right and not create problems for the employer or the fitter that you are relocating.

There are many different areas in which a heavy equipment fitter might work or have exp in and it is not a safe bet to say that someone who has worked for a dealer is going to be suitable just because they have worked for a dealer.

I see tech communicators applying for jobs where the employer is looking for CRG fitters, I have seen recruiters offering up candidates for FIFO fitters for Australian mine sites that had never worked in a similar environment to say a BMA or Rio MARC project - there is a world of pain there and I know that employers / dealers are sick of it.

Is it possible to recruit from overseas for Australian CAT dealers, yes, most certainly, but you need to know specifically what you are looking for, what type of role, what machines, site, mine, workshop, remote, small crew, large crew, type of accommodation, what about transport does the candidate need to drive a field service van etc.

Once you know all that and the culture they currently have in the company / workplace then you can start working out where to look.

Where do you look for and get potential field service fitters that are suitable after learning NPI to go out to mine sites?

Where do you look for Engine Spec fitters for large 3500 series engines?

Where do you look for general bay fitters or for smaller construction and pipe line equipment?

How do you get a fitter from South America registered as a NSW or WA mechanic so they are lic to work on machines legally, or do you skip this part because you don't know how or indeed didn't even know you are required to, even if the machine they work on is off highway.......

I can tell you because I have spent the time travelling to many countries, interviewing fitters and their families, assessing their skills, their culture, their safety approach, their method of work and what machines they work on etc., this takes years to get to know the people, the industry and what dealers / employers they could match too.

This year alone I have been recruiting and interviewing in many places including KSA, Peru, Colombia, Chile, USA, England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, UAE, The Philippines, Malaysia, New Zealand, PNG and New Caledonia.

I have deployed over 200 heavy equipment fitters to CAT dealers and I have never had a returned worker, never had a worker that wanted to return and I have ongoing contracts with every company that I have been asked to recruit for.

This forum is a great place for CAT knowledge to be shared and if anyone would like to discuss professional relocation to Australia, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Solomon Islands or New Cal or would like to discuss us providing professional recruitment and pre-qualifying services to a company or dealer please contact us through our web site www.cqsservices.com

We as recruiters of overseas workers change people's lives, the effect can be positive if done methodically, with a quality system and with care or it can be soul and family destroying if done badly or ill informed.

A serious message for a serious business.

Caterpillar Jobs in Australia

2011-07-28T09:11:00.003+10:00

Jobs in Australia

It seems like everyday there is another news article about Australian mines and the mining boom in Australia, how people working in the mining industry and everyones making a huge amount of money in Australia.....

The reality is that there is a massive boom and yes there are tradesmen getting paid over 250,000 dollars for working 6 months and having 6 months R and R, but it is in the mining industry where this is happening, outside of the mining industry generally things are not so good in Australia, so please do not think that Australia is the holy grail of places to migrate to and if you move there everything will be fantastic.

There are many places and many people doing it tough in Australia in the areas outside of the influence of the mining boom - ask a builder in Sydney or on the Gold Coast to come and give you a quote for work and they will be there in a flash trying to get your work, which is a vast difference to the heady Australia wide boom days before the GFC when you couldnt get a builder for love nor money......

BUT IF YOU ARE IN MINING IN AUSTRALIA THEN IT IS A DIFFERENT WORLD

Lets say you are a heavy plant fitter working for Finning UK, Walters Plant Hire or Castlebridge Plant in Wales, Scotland or England, your base salary is what? 23,500 Pounds? You may be in an area where you have the option to do overtime and if so possibly you earned what, 45,000 pounds for working 6 and 7 days a week, hardly ever seeing your partner and family, when was the last time you attended your kid's sports day or walked them to school?

Compare that to pay and conditions fitters that I have worked with to get employment for dealers in Australia get:-

Starting salary 50,000 pounds
Shift worked is day shift
Rotation is 4 days at work, 4 days at home, then 5 days at work and 5 days at home, then 4 days at work and 4 days at home - It's called the lifestyle roster
Overtime can be worked if you want to, all overtime is paid at minimum rate of double time.
Free flights to Australia for the fitter and partner and children.
Minimum of one months free accomodation provided in a self contained apartment for you and your family upon arrival in Australia.
Minimum of one months free car hire supplied upon arrival in Australia to enable you to get to and from work and also you are free to use it for private use.
Free assistance to help you locate the area that you would like to settle in, source housing that suits your needs and help with getting a lease or buying your own house.
Free onging product support and dealer training, learning about some of the biggest mining machines in the world.
As your product knowledge increase's so does your salary, it is not uncommon that after 8 weeks or so fitters are earning over 80,000 Pounds, still on the equal time lifestyle roster working in field service.
How would your young children feel if you were able to say "Dad's doing the school run today or "yes, Dad will be there to watch the sports day this year"?

Who in the UK is earning 80,000 Pounds a year, with more than half the year on R an R?

Why not work for a company that actually care's about your welfare and your family life, not that ust treats you like a number?

This is the Mining Industry in Australia and if you want to be part of it as a heavy equipment fitter, Komatsu Engineer or CAT Engineer contact us and have a chat, you have nothing to lose by asking......

Caterpillar Engineers UK - My take on the UK

2011-04-22T15:00:00.003+10:00

As I sit and write this the sky is clear of clouds, the Autumn sun has enough warmth to ensure everyone is in shorts and t-shirts and there are familes everywhere enjoying the Easter break, finally I am back from the UK, back on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia with my family for a week's holiday.

Yes, I flew half way around the world, from London, England to the Gold Coast, Australia so I could have six and a half days at home....

Having spent roughly half my life in the UK and half in Australia, you'd think I was well equipped to cope with UK life, right?

Wrong, very wrong, I am no longer suited to living in the UK.

I can no longer put up with paying silly money for petrol - 100 Pounds for one tank of petrol, the last time I was in the UK was Sept 2010 when it cost 79 pounds for one tank of petrol, now in April 2011 one tank of petrol (same car) costs 21 pounds more.

Talking to UK CAT Engineers most put over a tank a week into their cars, have their wages gone up by 21 pounds a week since Sept, like bloody hell have they.....

I can no longer put up with the wages offered to highly skilled people, CAT engineers in the UK are generally on a basic salary of around 23,000 pounds a year - I nearly choked as it started to dawn on me up and down the UK that this is really what they get offered as a basic salary.

I can no longer put up with having to work six and seven days a week just to bring in a living wage sufficient to house, feed and put clothes on the family - forget expensive holidays and flash cars, remembering what the family looked like would be a start working the hours and days required to survive - working those same hours and days in Australia would yeild an annual salary of over 100,000 pounds minimum.

I can no longer put up with what can only be described as poor bait, served up as king prawns and be expected to pay a kings ransom for them, even the fish in Australia would complain at them.......

I can no longer put up with a 20% GST (VAT) on top of the price of everything in the UK.

I can no longer put up with the madness of people driving at 100 miles per hour in the fog 3 feet off of the car in front's bumper.

Am I a whinging Aussie now?

Yes, I guess I am, you see the times have changed, skilled workers in the UK used to be respected. When I served my time in the UK it was a proud thing to be able to say you were a qualified tradesman, not now, no one cares about that now, it's how low will you go on your price? That's what matters now.

In Australia skilled workers demand and get respect, and it makes no difference if you are from Abergavenny in South Wales or Ortigas in The Philippines.

In Australia if you have the skills and qualifications, as a heavy equipment fitter you will get the respect and salary that you have earned with the starting salary in Australia being over 50,000 Pounds and a tank of gas costing under 60 pounds.

How does the lifestyle roster of 4 days on, 4 days off, 5 days on, 5 days off, 4 days on, 4 days off sound?

The biggest problem that UK fitters have when they come to work with us in Australia is what to do with their time off, they are so used to working every possible hour in The UK to make ends meet that they have forgotten what it is they actually like to do in their free time.....

Must be honest, it doesn't take them too long in Australia to find things to do, but it's still a shock for UK fitters working in Australia to not only have time but also money on their hands.

As one Scotsman that recently arrived in Australia to work for a CAT dealer said "I have worked in many places around the world and never have I been treated as well as this, everything and I mean everything was done for me, all the things that were discussed in the UK about the job and package in Australia are either equal to what was said or in most cases even better that what I was told" he asked the manager to pass on to me that I didn't need to go to so much trouble for him, but thanks for everything it was much appreciated.

Jock, if you read this, to us you are no different to any of the people that I have worked with to relocate to another country, you were not given different treatment to any other worker - everyone gets the same care, attention and assistance each and everytime we deploy and we will continue to be successful and will continue to do things in the exact same way each and every time.

Next on my list is Melbourne, then Abu Dhabi onto the UK and Ireland for a few weeks and then i'm heading to Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa for a couple of weeks, before returning to the Philippines for a few weeks and then home again.

If you are a CAT or Komatsu fitter and you'd like to know how we can assist you to get your dream job in Australia working for a CAT or Komatsu dealer drop us an email.

By the way, for the record, no one that we have deployed has ever paid a recruitment or placement fee of any kind.

We are very proud of our rules of no fees to workers, no fees are paid either to us or to any third party, if it is law in your country that a fee must be paid to a lic recruitment agent in your country in order for you to be deployed - we will pay that fee on your behalf.

No fees to workers - get the respect and salary you have earned.

Phew, I think my rant's over now, situation normal again, nothing to see here, move along people........

Australian Caterpillar Jobs - Recruiting UK and Irish Caterpillar Engineers and Fitters

2011-03-06T14:08:00.005+10:00

It is time to get out the jumpers, thermals, coat and hat because we are once again departing sunny Australia (29 degrees on the second day of autumn) and are heading to the UK and Ireland to recruit Caterpillar Engineers and Caterpillar Fitters for Jobs in Australia.

I will try and do better with my recruitment blogging this time. I think the last two times I have been to the UK recruiting I was too stunned by the cold and the price of petrol to write anything.

I’ve seen that the VAT in the UK is now 20% as of this year, so I guess my hoping that the price of petrol had dropped was a waste of time, BTW Australia has a similar tax to the VAT except ours is called the GST and it is set at 10% not 20% like the UK now……

Well they tell me the temp in the UK is currently around 6 degrees during the day and an old friend there claimed it was “lovely if you are in the sun and out of the wind”.

Hopefully we are able to write about and compare situations and costs as we progress through the UK, so people can get an idea of what to expect in Australia.

First interviews of Caterpillar Fitters will take place in the north of England in Newcastle Upon Tyne from the 26th of March onwards.

If you are a Caterpillar Trained or Experienced Fitter / Engineer and you would like to discuss working in Australia for a Caterpillar Dealer and the salary package and relocating migration package that is being offered please have a look at the Central Queensland Site Services website www.cqsservices.com it has a lot of information on there and has contact details of how to get in touch with us.

We are going to be travelling all over the UK and Ireland, we only recruit people that work with heavy earth moving equipment and we only recruit for main dealers of equipment such and Caterpillar, Komatsu and Cummins, what have you got to lose from a chat?

Australian Jobs Boom, 70,000 new jobs to be created in Australia after announcing $69 billion coal export deal with China

2010-02-06T17:29:00.003+10:00

Australian Jobs Boom, 70,000 new jobs to be created in Australia after announcing $69 billion coal export deal with China

Australia was already struggling with a skilled worker shortage and now that Australian Entrepreneur Clive Palmer has announced Australia's biggest ever export contract, a deal he described as a ''once in a century'' deal, Australia now finds itself in the situation of powering ahead of the Global Financial Crisis and driving straight into a massive skills shortage.

It was estimated at the announcement that an additional 70,000 jobs would be created from this massive 69 Billion Dollar Deal.

This is excellent news for Central and regional Queensland with more than 30 Million Tonnes of Coal a year being exported to China from new mines being built in the Galilee Basin and with a new 500 Kilometer rail line linking the mine to another new project, a new coal terminal at Abbott Point.

This mammoth Australian project must pass environmental assessments, but given the expertise Mr. Palmer and his companies have in these types of projects it is fairly safe to suggest that approval will be granted and construction will start later this year with the mine’s being fully operational by 2014.

Let’s take a quick refresher of the types of jobs, contracts and projects we are talking about here, earthworks, heavy equipment, rail construction, new rolling stock, accommodation, transport for personnel, food, communications......... etc etc etc.

People are required for these projects, with the number of projects now coming into construction and early development in Australia anyone who says that there is not a skills shortage in Australia needs to get out of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra and they need to venture into regional Australia and witness for themselves how chronic the skilled worker shortage really is.

Australia – Wake up to the skills shortage, if Australian companies do not or are not permitted to recruit from overseas in the numbers required then this “once in a Century” opportunity will be lost as companies seek to have their needs met by sending their contracts offshore, if Australia wants rolling stock made in Australia then it will need the skilled workers to do it.

The skills shortage a few weeks ago was “just a crisis” it is now rapidly turning into make or break time for Australia, with other countries such as Canada welcoming overseas workers, Australia companies need to extend their search for talent far and wide across the globe if they are to meet their commitments.

www.cqsservices.com