AIEF-BHP Scholarship Students in Years 10, 11 and 12 from schools in WA learned about different pathways to employment at BHP at the Careers Experience Day in Perth. They were excited to see their AIEF Mentors so enthusiastic and engaged throughout the day as they organised the site visit and various activities.
The day began with an interactive Acknowledgement of Country and pop quiz, where students learned about the Noongar Nation and surrounding language groups, the Noongar 6 seasons, and discovered the traditional names of significant sites in Perth.
Students were then given an overview of the supply chain and were shown samples of the three different iron ore products extracted from mines in WA, before being tasked with drawing what they thought was on a mine site.
Next on the agenda was a presentation on traineeships, apprenticeships and the Graduate Program at BHP. This outlined the recruitment timeline, step by step, and students learned about the competitive nature of the process.
In the afternoon, students participated in a mock Engagement Centre where they learned about behavioural based questions and how to answer questions using the STAR technique. In groups, students were asked to collaborate and discover mutual passions or interests to be included an emblem. At the end of the activity, each group presented their emblem and the BHP staff explained how they use these sessions to assess potential employment skills.
The day finished with a tour of the top floor of the building, Level 45 (currently the second tallest building in Western Australia!), and students were excited to speak with the Indigenous staff members working in the Heritage Team.
The 22 students in attendance really enjoyed the day and were surprised to learn about the breadth of roles available as they heard stories from a range of BHP staff from different teams, locations and departments.