North West Queensland Indigenous Resources Industry InitiativeNorth West Queensland Indigenous Resources Industry Initiative

Employment Passport Project: Using VUMI ePortfolios for Indigenous jobseekers

Dr Michael Limerick, Partnership Facilitator,North West Queensland Indigenous Resources Industry

Initiative

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Background to the Initiative

• 2007 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Queensland Resources Council, Queensland Government and Australian Government to increase Indigenous participation in mining

• Since 2008, MoU focus has been on implementing a partnership in North West Queensland (NWQ) minerals province

• From 2011, renegotiated MoU will expand the partnership activity to Bowen Basin region

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Statement of minimum requirements for entry to work in mining

• What do mines mean when they say ‘work ready’?

• Obtained HR manager agreement about requirements such as: behavioural attributes

literacy and numeracy

driver licensing, tickets etc

• But current resumes are poor quality and do not demonstrate work readiness for mining

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Employment Passport concept

• VUMI ePortfolio was identified as ideal format for presenting this information

• Online resume tailored to mining companies’ requirements

• HR managers suggested an ‘Employment Passport’ to demonstrate Indigenous jobseekers’ skills, experience and work readiness

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VUMI Employment Passport

• Example Employment Passport pages using VUMI ePortfolio:

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• For jobseekers:– record qualifications and experience – storage online is useful for

Indigenous jobseekers who are often itinerant– roadmap for getting a job in the mining industry – used to map out

employment pathways• For training organisations and Job Services Australia agencies:

– record jobseekers’ progress in meeting work-readiness requirements– better manage jobseekers’ resume information in one place

• For companies: – pool of jobseekers to choose from– comprehensive, quality-assured info about jobseeker’s suitability– integrate with recruitment systems

Benefits of VUMI Employment Passport

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VUMI Connect database

• VUMI Employment Passport was piloted with mining company HR managers in late 2010

• Well-received, but companies requested a searchable database

• VUMI Connect database developed to assist companies to find suitable jobseekers and view their VUMI Employment Passport

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VUMI Connect database

VUMI Connect

database

Jobseeker Profile

-Name etc

-TO status

-Availability, FIFO

-Licences, tickets

-Education

-Experience

Jobseeker Profile

-Name etc

-TO status

-Availability, FIFO

-Licences, tickets

-Education

-Experience

Jobseeker Profile

-Name etc

-TO status

-Availability, FIFO

-Licences, tickets

-Education

-Experience

Profiles submitted by JSA,Myuma etc for jobseeker who is work-ready

Resource company HR Manager given database access to search profiles on database

Profile in search result links to VUMI Employment Passports compiled previously

Search result

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VUMI Connect database• Implementation process

– training organisations and Job Services Australia providers can prepare VUMI Employment Passports with jobseekers and register them on VUMI Connect

– potential to expand concept to high school leavers– company HR managers being signed up to search database

• Database has been adapted by Queensland Government for ‘Project 2800’ Indigenous employment drive

• Strong interest in Bowen Basin for similar database

North West Queensland Indigenous Resources Industry InitiativeNorth West Queensland Indigenous Resources Industry Initiative

Any questions?