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Don't pay $200 to get your FIFO resume rewritten

  • Writer: Itch
    Itch
  • 1 day ago
  • 3 min read

You may have seen businesses promising to land you a site job for the low, low price of $200. They'll say they have the software to hit all the right keywords and fast-track your resume through the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and guarantee you that interview. We're here to tell you: put your wallet away. 


Paid resume services have their place. Government roles, C-suite positions, healthcare, education… sure, these often have specific criteria, selection criteria responses, and formatting requirements where professional help might pay off. But entry-level FIFO? That's a completely different game, and the rules don't work the way these services want you to think they do. 


Let's talk about what ATS actually does 

There's a lot of noise online about ATS secretly binning good candidates before a human ever lays eyes on them. It's a compelling story, and it sells a lot of resume rewrites. But research consistently tells a different story. 


A 2025 study by Enhancv surveying 25 recruiters across industries found that only 8% of ATS setups enable automatic content-based rejection. The other 92% rely on human review. The ATS organises applications; it doesn't decide who gets hired. 


At its core, an ATS is a glorified database. It stores resumes, tracks where candidates are in the process and lets recruiters search and filter applications.  


The real "scanning" that agencies like Itch Recruitment do isn't combing your resume for keywords, it's your qualifying questions. Answer no to any of these, and unfortunately, you won't progress through us to our clients, and no amount of keyword stuffing will change that. 


Our clients’ qualifying questions for an entry-level Driller’s Offsider role 

  • HR-B licence (or willing to obtain) 

  • You are an Australian citizen, a Permanent Resident, or a NZ citizen 

  • You currently live in WA 

  • You have a clean National Police Clearance or are willing to obtain one  

  • You have some labour experience


That's it. That's the gate. Not whether your resume has "safety-conscious" or "team player" in bold. 

 

The volume is real, but a robot isn't rejecting you 

Here's the part of the ATS story that's true: a Driller’s Offsider entry role attracts hundreds of applications within hours.  


Yes, systems help manage that volume, but at Itch, every application gets screened. Every candidate answers structured questions. Real people make real decisions. The tools help us stay organised, but they don't decide who gets the call. 


So, where do applications actually fall over? 

Not on keywords. What stops progress is a lack of clarity, specifically: 

The three things that get you filtered out 

  • No licence listed: if you have a driver's licence, a forklift ticket, or a White Card, tell us 

  • Work rights not confirmed: citizenship or visa status is one of the first things we check.  

  • No demonstration of physical or hands-on experience, even if it's informal. Helped your dad build a deck? Worked on a farm? Moved furniture? Tell us. The type of work matters, not the job title. 


Good news: we have a free resume template designed specifically for FIFO applicants. No fluff, no fuss, just the structure that works for our roles. Grab it below. 


And if you're right for the role, we will find you. Right now, we genuinely can't get enough people through the door for our roles. We're not sitting around looking for reasons to reject people; we're actively looking for people to say yes to! 


So be clear. Be honest. Show us what you've done and save the $200 for a new pair of boots. 


* Source: Enhancv, September-October 2025, study of 25 recruiters across industries. 

 

Grab our free FIFO resume template 

Built for entry-level roles. No fancy fonts. No keywords. Just what works. 

 
 
 

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