Applications are now open for full-time Indigenous business administration traineeships with Woodside, run by the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Energy Apprenticeships Group program.
Under the EAG, five successful candidates will be based in Perth to undertake a range of administrative duties including data entry, switchboard operation, filing and meeting support.
While trainees are not guaranteed a position with Woodside upon completing the 12-month traineeship, EAG has driven pre-employment training and successful placements for more than 50 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander apprentices and trainees.
But for many indigenous youth seeking to further their professional development, the traineeships give them the opportunity to return to the place connected with their all-important family roots.
Such was the case for current EAG trainee Naomi Beath, who is training on the Woodside-operated North West Shelf project in Karratha to become a qualified process plant operator.
She said EAG allowed her to further her career and return to the Pilbara.
"I had been working in the city for nearly nine years and wanted a change, so when I started talking about wanting to move back home to the Pilbara, my brother told me to go on the EAG website," Beath said.
"He had heard of good experiences with EAG so I started looking and only a couple of weeks later I found a perfect foot-in-the-door.
"I started as a support operations trainee at the Karratha gas plant - my EAG representative came in every week to check in with me and see how I was going and if I had any concerns she would take care of them straight away.
"It's that type of thing that actually really helps a trainee - it feels like you've got that support and you're not forgotten."
Applicants must have a secondary education to a minimum year 10 level, and those who have successfully completed the specified competencies of the traineeship will receive a recognised qualification in either a Certificate II or III in Business Administration.
CCI CEO Deidre Willmott said that while industry is bracing for an impending retirement frenzy in 10 years' time, it also takes 10 years for industry trainees to develop the skills equal to veterans, "so it's critical the industry acts to meet its future workforce demands".
"The CCI of WA is committed to helping oil and gas organisations build a qualified workforce of skilled and reliable employees through the Energy Apprenticeships Group's ongoing mentoring, coaching tools, resources and support," she said.
Australia is the third-largest LNG producer in the world, with nine LNG trains currently in operation and another twelve under construction and expected to go into production over the next few years.
Applications close at 4pm on November 6.
