I Moved to Australia for FIFO Work to Fund Travels

• Cal Mcilwaine is flown to Pilbara, Australia, to work 12-hour days for three weeks straight.
• So far, he’s made about $80,000 before taxes, has no on-site living expenses, and is traveling during his week off.
• After a year of work, Mcilwaine plans to use the money he earned to go on a 10-month trip.

This essay as told is based on a conversation with Cal Mcilwaine, a 29-year-old FIFO worker in Australia. This essay has been edited for length and clarity. Insider verified his identity, employment and salary.

I’m the lone wolf in my group of friends.

Back in Ireland, all my friends were getting married, buying houses and having children. I wanted to go on an adventure and travel the world.

I started researching different career opportunities that would allow me to earn a lot of money that I could spend on traveling. I had always wanted to visit Australia and had heard about mining jobs years ago.

I thought if I did this for a few months I would have a piggy bank to travel with. So, in June 2023, I left Ireland and moved to Perth, Australia to become a FIFO worker, which means “fly in, fly out”.

Landing a FIFO job in a new country wasn’t easy

FIFO is an industry that largely only exists in the mining fields of Australia, Canada and Alaska. Australian mining companies extract iron ore along with other minerals and send it to crushers and refineries. Then it goes to Port Hedland, which is Australia’s main port, and cargo ships send it to China.

Australia is one of the most mineral-rich countries in the world, so there are a ton of mining projects and FIFO jobs available here.

But that doesn’t mean it was easy to land one.

I found YouTube videos on FIFO work, but there were no how-to guides on what to do if you want to enter the industry from a foreign country.

I had to come up with my own game plan, which included applying for a work visa. I had no experience in mining and had never driven a truck or bulldozer. I also didn’t have a license in Australia. It wasn’t going to be easy to move to another country and land one of these jobs, but I was determined.

After arriving in Australia, I spent about three days exploring the sights before embarking on the job search. In Australia, you have to get tickets, which are like qualifications. I spent two and a half weeks at a training center to get certified in CPR and working on a raised platform, as well as a hard and heavy license to drive large trucks.

Once I did that, I paid a company called W1n W1n to write my resume, absolutely hammered job pages, and applied to as many FIFO jobs as I could for about 10 days . Less than a month after arriving in Australia, I got a FIFO job.

Now, I help others get started in the industry with videos on social media and a guide I made for foreign workers interested in FIFO.

I work 12 hour days for three weeks straight

I’m flying from Perth to work in the Pilbara, a region of northwest Australia rich in iron ore.

I wake up around 4 a.m. to get ready for work which starts at 5:30 a.m. and spend the next 12 hours in the mining area.

Conditions are physically taxing and the average daytime temperature is 95 degrees Fahrenheit. In summer, the temperature reaches around 113 degrees.

As a soldier, I maintain a fleet of 45 or 50 machines, including dump trucks, excavators, bulldozers, scrapers and other mining equipment. Throughout the day, I fuel them, grease them, top off their fluids, and blow out their air filters.

Then I put everything back in my truck and head to the next machine. I usually finish work at 5:30 p.m. and the drive back to the site takes about 40 minutes, so I usually get home by 6:10 p.m.

Normally, when I return, I try to eat and organize lunch for the next day. My goal is to go to bed by 9:30 p.m. so I can get as much sleep as possible the next day.

During my week off I am flown back to Perth. The flight lasts approximately two hours. Some people go to Bali for the weekend. I love taking road trips in Australia.

I also have the opportunity to take breaks during the year. I took seven weeks off around Christmas and went to Esperance, which is on the southwest coast of Australia.

I made about $80,000 this year before taxes and my on-site expenses are paid for.

As a FIFO worker, companies pay for employee flights to and from the mining area. They also pay for housing and offer amenities like a food court and gym on the housing site.

My room is like a dorm and it’s nothing special but it has everything I need and I use it to sleep.

There is a great workout culture among FIFO workers and the gym is well equipped to meet these needs. The gym includes a weight room, cardio room, outdoor gym, CrossFit room with classes offered, and a women’s only gym. I usually take about 25,000 steps a day at work, but I still try to workout about two or three times a week.

As someone completely new to the industry, I earn AU$5,329 a week before tax, or about US$3,477 – but I also don’t work every week of the month. So far, I’ve earned about $80,000 pre-tax from working over the past nine months, including a seven-week break I took to travel to Australia.

During my week off I go back to Perth and either go away for a week or pay a friend to stay with them for the week. My expenses during my week off are usually around $1,300.

I get the adventure I was looking for

I originally planned to do this work for three or four months at most.

But now I’ve been here nine months and I plan to stick it out for the rest of the year. Once I discovered the machines, became part of the team, and started making good money, I didn’t see any point in leaving.

I enjoy learning new skills and my bank account continues to grow. Once the year is over, I’m going on a 10-month trip to Vietnam, Thailand, New Zealand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

I won’t have to worry about work and I can have the adventure I’ve been wanting.

Once I’m done, I plan to get right back to work at FIFO for my second year and start all over again.