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BHP Billiton executives have hosted a boardroom luncheon in their city offices with ten students from The University of Western Australia's Business School , providing them with a valuable insight into the resources industry.

BHP Billiton Iron Ore's President, Ian Ashby, and Vice President of Human Resources, Andrew Carey, spoke to students about BHP Billiton's operations and the growing demand for iron ore from countries such as China and India.

This growing demand will create opportunities for graduates from a variety of disciplines, explained Mr Carey.

‘Often people think of the resourcing challenges being truck drivers or electricians, or engineers, and that is certainly part of the challenge, but to run a company like BHP Billiton Iron Ore requires skills and knowledge across many disciplines,' he said.

‘Each of these disciplines throws up unique challenges - whether it's working to create a positive impact on local communities, engaging with key stakeholders, providing advice on investment opportunities, or designing a new mine - to grow our business, we need to maintain a mix of highly skilled people who are motivated to grow with us.'

One student who hopes to take advantage of the growth in Western Australia's resources industry is the UWA Business School's Linda Faraone, who is completing honours in Management under the supervision of Brett Smith.

Linda is one of three BHP Billiton Honours Scholarship recipients for 2011. In her dissertation, she is exploring the relationship between the level of use of project management tools and techniques and project success.

Receiving the BHP Billiton Honours Scholarship, explained Linda, helped her to make connections with BHP Billiton employees, and through these connections, to collect improved data. ‘My connection with BHP Billiton helped me collect my data. I was able to add some credibility to my request for people's time and had the support of senior BHP Billiton staff which really boosted my response rate,' said Linda.

Linda's honours dissertation builds on an interest in project management which Linda developed in her final year of her Bachelor of Commerce. ‘I realised what an important role this discipline plays in developing and sustaining competitiveness in the modern business environment (especially in a WA context),' said Linda.

‘In addition, delivering successful projects is a core competence for BHP Billiton. By understanding this relationship between the level of use of project management tools and techniques and project success they are now better equipped to influence this relationship to their advantage.

‘The boardroom lunch gave me a better understanding of an industry that plays such an important role in Australia and WA in particularly. The lunch helped me appreciate the level of skill and sophistication that is required to run such a successful organisation.'

Attendees from BHP Billiton included Ian Ashby, President, BHP Billiton Iron Ore, Andrew Carey, Vice President, BHP Billiton Iron Ore, Mark Donovan, Head of External Affairs, BHP Billiton, Meath Hammond, External Affairs Manager, Australia and Asia, BHP Billiton Petroleum and Mal Dunwoody, Manager Organisational Effectiveness, BHP Billiton Stainless Steel Materials.

Mr Carey encouraged students at the lunch to consider taking advantage of Western Australia's booming resources economy. ‘We are living in a time of unprecedented growth, which creates opportunity - opportunity for a diverse range of people with diverse skill sets.  It is truly an exciting time to be working in the resources industry,' he said.

For Linda and many others, the UWA Business School's partnership with BHP Billiton is providing scholarships, prizes, research partnerships, a professorial chair, and enriching opportunities such as October's boardroom luncheon - all of which help students to pursue their study and career aspirations to the highest level.

The BHP Billiton Boardroom Luncheon was held on 6 October 2011.

Since 2009, ten BHP Billiton scholarships have been awarded to UWA Business School students. For information on applying for a scholarship in 2012, see www.business.uwa.edu.au/students/prizes

Media references

Heather Merritt
Director, External Relations
UWA Business School
T: +618 6488 8171
M: 0419 950 027
E: [email protected]

Verity Chia
Communications Officer
UWA Business School
T: +618 6488 1346
E: [email protected]