There are many career paths open to graduate mining engineers. It can be difficult to decide where your experience, personality and skills fit in best. Becoming a mining consultant can be a highly rewarding career.

Good communication skills, flexibility, business acumen and technical expertise are just some of the requirements of a good mining consultant.

We asked some of the staff at a leading mining consultancy in Brisbane, to tell us in a single word what makes a successful consultant at MEC Mining.

“The best word I can think of is chameleon.” says Cheryl Holton, Resource Lead.

“A consultant needs to be comfortable in different environments. They could be working on site one day, in an office the next. We currently have consultants in Queensland, Nicaragua and Hong Kong. Our staff members need to be comfortable being in all of these settings and be able to perform at their best.”

“I would have to say hat.” says Maria Joyce, MEC Mining’s General Manager.

“A consultant needs to wear many hats. They need a technical hat and a hat that is customer service focused. They need a problem solving hat, one that helps them think outside the box and find solutions no one else has thought of. And of course they need a financial hat, because we keep our clients’ budgets in mind at all times”.

“Attitude” is the word Daniel Chippendale, Director at MEC Mining used.

“Knowledge is paramount for me, as is experience. But neither of these means anything without a professional attitude. A successful consultant needs to be open to sharing ideas, eager to collaborate and quick to communicate. If an applicant has the right attitude, I know they will fit in at MEC. We can gain experience, we can teach skills, but we can’t change a person’s attitude.”

“Being a consultant can be a very exciting career for the right candidate”, says Cheryl, who has interviewed and hired many consultants over the years.

“MEC attracts inspiring, reputable professionals who enjoy the challenging and diverse projects the business is awarded. We offer our employees the chance to travel within Australia and abroad. We encourage an open, collaborative and flexible working environment in which hard work and talent is recognised and rewarded. But with this comes hard work. When consultants are on a project, the hours can be long and the work very intense. “

Simon Cohn, Managing Director at MEC Mining chose the word strategic because in his view, a good consultant will always be thinking “How can I use this opportunity to benefit the business in the future?”

Whatever word you use, there is no doubt that a career in mining is an exciting one, a message MEC Mining is keen to spread.

They offer internships to engineering students and have recently started a leadership program for undergraduate women embarking on a career in the mining industry. The program aims to provide women with the opportunity to experience a day in the life of a mining engineer.

The Brisbane based mining consultancy has also developed in-house training packages which they use to upskill and develop both their own and their clients’ staff. From long term concept study process mentoring to graduate skills boot camps, MEC training provides candidates with key skills and knowledge for site and office roles, addressing the challenge of using multiple tools to achieve effective operational outcomes.

To find out more about MEC Mining’s training, undergraduate and graduate programmes, visit their website at www.mecmining.com