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Graduates & Interns

Join Rio Tinto today and shape the world of tomorrow

Do you want to reinvent tomorrow and make a positive, lasting impact?

Our graduates help shape who we are. We create an environment where you can go further. One that rewards curious and creative minds.

Your ideas can help us pioneer safer, smarter and more sustainable ways to produce the materials the world needs.

Join us and pioneer not just your career, but a better future for tomorrow.

Applications now open for Canada Graduate and Internship Programs

What is your passion? Is it to think up sustainable solutions? Push AI forward? Or supporting local communities? Whatever your passion is, we believe that the best ideas come from bringing together different perspectives. That’s why our graduate program brings together people from different backgrounds to work toward a common goal: to make our future better. Do you want to drive change? It’s time to come together and create tomorrow with a graduate role at Rio Tinto.

We’re looking for exceptional graduates and interns to join our upcoming programs from a range of disciplines for different teams across our business.

Graduate development program

We’re looking for motivated students who want to reinvent tomorrow and make lasting change. We want you to help us shape the future of our company and industry.

Our two-year graduate program gives you the tools and skills to innovate and invent – to challenge the way we do things and help us find a better way.

Overview of our program

  • Year 1

    You’ll focus on:

    • Our strategy, value and behaviours
    • Building networks and relationships with team mates, leaders and technical experts
    • Resilience and emotional awareness, caring for yourself and others, connecting effectively with a diverse range of people
    • Our value chain and expertise of our commercial, technical and functional groups

    One-on-one coaching

    Practical support

    You’ll have the opportunity to work one-on-one with an experienced external coach who will give you practical support and tools to help you achieve your personal and career goals.

    Gamified leadership simulation

    A safe place to learn

    Through game-based learning, you can practice the skills leaders use every day. As part of the simulation, you’ll have the opportunity to lead a virtual team and set objectives, provide feedback and motivate the team.

    "Grad Talks"

    Insights from our leaders

    Starting a new role in a large and complex organisation like ours can be overwhelming. Through our grad talks, you’ll get to hear from leaders first-hand about their own experience at Rio Tinto, and see our strategy, values and projects in action.

    Mine to market showcase

    From the ground to the end product

    Subject matter experts from across the business deliver interactive sessions on key disciplines like closure, automation, orebody knowledge, processing, tailings, water and more.

  • Year 2

    You’ll focus on:

    • Collaborating with others, sharing ideas, innovating and developing new ways of working
    • Building curiosity, having an open learning mindset, adapting to change and being open to new and diverse ideas
    • Creating solutions to real-life challenges based on the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals
    • Developing creative problem-solving skills
    • Being courageous, thinking and acting strategically, learning how to anticipate change and seize opportunity

    "Grad Talks"

    Spark your imagination

    Hear from futurists and external thought leaders on topics like globalisation, technology and innovation and creativity. These offer a chance to gain new perspectives from external thought leaders who will challenge your thinking, inspire you to look at things in a different way, and share leading practices from a variety of industries.

    Future skills masterclasses

    A learning experience like no other

    Work with external experts to learn new tools, methodologies and strategies to help you innovate and collaborate to create the best ideas and solutions. Then you can put what you’ve learned into action as part of the innovation project.

    Innovation project

    Deliver real-life impacts

    Whatever your passion – tackling climate change, automation, or creating value from waste – this is your opportunity to be creative and propose solutions to change the way we work – now and in the future. Work with other graduates using what your learned in our masterclasses to bring your ideas to life.

    Graduate festival

    Pitch your idea

    You and your team will pitch your final innovation project to a panel of internal senior leaders and experts. It’s your opportunity to demonstrate what you can bring to our business with your fresh and innovative thinking. Your idea could even be adopted by the business!

  • And access to a whole lot more

    There are a range of resources available to you throughout the two-year program:

    Learning resources

    Access to world-class digital learning resources via LinkedIn Learning and our Graduate Insights.

    Networking

    Collaborate with fellow grads via the Graduate Yammer group, Graduate Champions network or through our Coffee Roulette program, where you can grab a (virtual) coffee with people from all around our business.

    Mentoring and job-shadowing opportunities

    There are opportunities to connect with subject matter experts to help you grow your network and learn new skills and knowledge.

    Technical resources

    In addition to learning on-the-job, you can also access online courses, webinars and tap into our internal technical expert networks to deepen your technical knowledge.

How to apply

Applications for the graduate and student programmes follow the university calendar in each region.

For graduate roles you need to:

  • have the right to work in the country where the position is based (citizens, permanent residents, student or postgraduate work visa holders)
  • have graduated with a relevant university degree and have less than two years of relevant work experience

For intern/co-op opportunities you need to be:

  • enrolled in a relevant university programme
  • returning to university after the internship
  • in the country where the position is based
Claudia, Graduate Mechatronics Engineer

Claudia

Hear from our past grads

My original plan was a career in medicine. I didn’t actually know much about mining but I came across a drill & blast video and was very intrigued.

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I knew too that a mining engineering degree would create a lot of opportunities for me, including leadership roles – so I went for it!

There was a period where I didn’t think I was cut out for it. I wasn’t sure if this was an industry that would welcome me. I still remember the first time I walked into a mining lecture at university and I was the only woman in the whole theatre. I felt a little out of place. But at that moment, I knew I had to focus on what I wanted rather than think about barriers.

I’m so grateful for the tremendous support my mentors provided me during my graduate programme and I’m so thrilled to be able to do the same for others. I’ve already started mentoring other young women, giving them insights into the industry and making sure they know about the endless career opportunities available to them.

Breanna, Drill and Blast Engineer, Kennecott copper operations, US

Breanna

Drill and Blast Engineer, Kennecott copper operations, US

I’m passionate about emerging technology and how we can apply these new ideas to solve old problems.

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I was keen to learn about using drones in traditional survey work. So, as part of the graduate programme, I was able to get my professional drone licence and spend time with the survey team learning about how they use drones to keep people away from potentially hazardous environments while still collecting high-quality data. I hope to work more in mining automation in the future.

The Rio Tinto Graduate Programme gave me the flexibility to try different roles and work with many teams. Since I joined as an intern in 2015, I’ve worked in operations, asset management, drill and blast, and short-range planning. This meant I was able to learn from different teams across the mine site.

Not all my different experiences were exactly what I was expecting, but I found value and learned from them all!