Successful Apprenticeship And Traineeship Recruitment Campaign

Key Points 

• Woodside was looking for candidates living in the Karratha community, those with a connection to the community or who were willing to relocate 
• Programmed ran a hyper-local marketing campaign targeting candidates in the Karratha region with a focus on female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people 
• 100% of positions were filled with local residential candidates [or candidates who relocated and had a connection to the local community]. 

Challenge 

Programmed Training Services was required to source and fill 60 trainee roles for Woodside’s Karratha based apprenticeship and traineeship programs in 2020. 

For 2020 Woodside specifically requested candidates who already reside in the local Karratha community, or candidates who could demonstrate a connection to the local community and were willing to relocate.  This opened our potential talent pool to people who lived here previously or have a family connection to the area. 

Solution 

Active engagement in educating and informing local communities and schools about the different programs we run and the opportunities available are key to our success in attracting excellent candidates. Our Western Australia team reviews and improves the recruitment process every year to ensure the best possible outcome. 

For the 2020 intake we ran hyper-local marketing campaign targeting candidates in the Karratha region with a focus on female Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people. This campaign plan included a mix of channels/activities including: 

• Customised landing page for candidates 
• Targeted Facebook campaign, which ran for four weeks 
• Community information sessions with guest speakers and interactive displays 
• Presentations and workshops with local high school students, aboriginal corporations and employment organisations 
• Fact sheets for all available positions 
• Full-page print advert in their local Pilbara News 
• Local radio advertising 
• Postcards handed out at an info session day, and local posters were put on display 
• Proactively sourcing and approaching suitable candidates to apply through our existing talent pool and through LinkedIn recruiter. 

Alongside our traditional recruitment practices, such as interviews and group assessment centre activity days, we also utilised a new recruitment platform called BigRedSky which provided significant efficiencies for the Programmed Training Services team including improved reporting, customised screening questionnaires, and shortlisting of candidates against our client’s requirements.  This allowed our team to focus and engage with our target candidates.  

Outcomes 

When applications closed, we had received over 2,000 applications for the 60 trainee and apprentice roles. Key outcomes include: 

• 100% of positions filled with local residential candidates [or candidates who relocated and had a connection to the local community]. 
• 48% of positions filled by Female candidates 
• 48% of positions filled by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.