About Us | FIFO Recruitment

2012 Founded in Perth, WA

Our Story

FIFO Recruitment was founded by David Hartley and Karen Nguyen - a mining engineer and an HR professional who had both spent years working on remote operations across the Pilbara and Goldfields. Frustrated with generalist recruiters who lacked the industry knowledge to make quality placements, they set out to build something different.

From a small office in West Perth, the business grew steadily through word of mouth, building a reputation for honesty, speed, and genuine specialist knowledge. By 2016 we had placed our 500th candidate. By 2020 we had passed 1,000. Today we are one of Western Australia's most trusted names in mining recruitment, working with operators across the Pilbara, Goldfields, Mid West, and Kimberley.

What has not changed is our commitment to treating every candidate and every client as an individual - not a number. We are still a team of specialists who are genuinely interested in the industry, who stay current with market conditions and salary trends, and who take pride in getting the right match every time.

We are headquartered in Perth and proud to be Western Australian-owned and operated.

What Drives Us

Our Values

Everything we do is guided by a set of principles that have shaped our business since day one.

Specialist Knowledge

We recruit only in mining and resources. This focus means our consultants understand the industry deeply - the rosters, the safety culture, the ticket requirements, and the specific demands of different commodities and operations. That knowledge makes a material difference to the quality of every placement we make.

Honesty and Transparency

We are direct with candidates about their prospects and with clients about market realities. We will not oversell a candidate to win a fee, and we will not encourage an applicant to take a role that is not right for them. Long-term relationships built on trust are worth more to us than short-term wins.

Safety First

Our industry puts people in high-risk environments every day. Every candidate we place is thoroughly screened for compliance - licences, tickets, medicals, and references - because a poor hire on a remote mine site is not just an operational problem, it is a safety risk. We take that responsibility seriously.

Genuine Service

From the first conversation to the day a candidate starts on site, we remain engaged, responsive, and supportive. Our clients have direct access to the consultant managing their account, and our candidates always know where they stand in the process. Recruitment should be a straightforward experience, not a frustrating one.

Long-term Thinking

We measure ourselves not by placement volume but by retention and repeat business. The best endorsement of our work is a client who comes back to us every time they hire, and a candidate who recommends us to their colleagues. That is the standard we hold ourselves to.

Community Commitment

We believe in the communities that the resources industry supports - from the towns of the Pilbara to the regional centres of the Goldfields. We prioritise local candidates where possible, support regional employment initiatives, and are proud to contribute to the long-term workforce development of Western Australia's mining regions.

Built by Mining People, for Mining People