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By Jessica Thakur, February 4, 2024
If you are planning to migrate to Australia under the skilled migration program, you will need to undergo a skills assessment by a relevant assessing authority. This is a crucial step in your visa application process, as it determines whether you have the skills and qualifications that match the Australian standards for your nominated occupation.
But how can you prepare for a successful skills assessment and avoid common pitfalls? Here are our top nine tips for applicants, based on the advice from VETASSESS, one of the leading skills assessment providers in Australia.
1. Choose the right occupation for your skills assessment.
This can be the most difficult step in the process, as you need to find an occupation that matches your qualifications and work experience. Your skills will be assessed against the Australian standards for the occupation you nominate, which measure these key points:
- your qualifications (level)
- your work experience, including:
- the time you have spent working in your role (career progression)
- how your qualifications and employment experience interact, or collectively meet criteria for the occupation.
You can use the Occupation Lists - https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/working-in-australia/skill-occupation-list on the Department of Home Affairs website to check if your occupation is eligible for skilled migration and which assessing authority you need to contact.
2. Know your job category and how you fit into it.
This isn’t as obvious as it might seem. Be aware that your qualifications and how you perform the job may differ from how Australian industries operate even though it’s the standard in your home country. Skills assessment providers use the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO), which lists the benchmark qualifications, employment and the expected skill level required for each occupation.
Don’t underestimate the requirements of your occupation category – for example, for professional occupations, it’s not enough to only have practical experience or to have worked in a senior role in an occupation if you don’t hold the required qualification level specified in the criteria.
3. Don’t despair if you don’t meet the exact criteria for an occupation.
You may have other options. For example, VETASSESS assesses more than 360 occupations. Although you may hold the position of a scientist in your current job, you might not meet the qualification level criteria that Australia requires. However, you may be able to apply as a skilled migrant in another category, such as at the technician level.
You can use the [VETASSESS Occupation List](https://www.vetassess.com.au/occupational-lists) to explore the different occupations and their requirements.
4. Make sure your major field of study is highly relevant to your occupation.
In many categories of occupation, your major field of study must not only relate to your occupation but be assessed as “highly relevant”.
As an example, the role of dental hygienist requires highly relevant qualifications in the area of dental hygiene, dental hygiene therapy or oral health therapy. Studies and employment in dentistry or dental surgery cannot be assessed positively for this occupation because they are not considered highly relevant to current Australian industry standard practice.
5. Be certain about your primary employment role.
This must relate primarily to your nominated occupation for skills assessment purposes. You might perform several roles in your organisation, but you need to have worked in the role of your nominated occupation and performed tasks at the required skill level of that occupation as it is outlined in ANZSCO.
You can use the [ANZSCO Search](https://www.abs.gov.au/anzsco) on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website to check the tasks and skill level of your occupation.
6. Ensure your employment experience is highly relevant to your nominated occupation. Applicants can make the mistake of assuming that because they have worked in a particular job in their industry, they could easily perform another role in that industry.
You possibly could do the job, but for skills assessment purposes, you need to demonstrate that you have actually performed the job and at the skill level required.
You can provide evidence of your employment experience by submitting documents such as employment references, payslips, tax records, contracts, and performance appraisals.
7. Ensure you can prove your level of seniority. Skills assessment providers will look for evidence of your position within the organisations where you have worked. Can you demonstrate your scope of responsibility and level of authority in the work you have performed? Where do you sit within the organisational structure? Is this shown on an organisational chart you can provide? For assessment of managerial occupations and some additional ones, VETASSESS requires an organisational chart. The types of proof they require may also include evidence of projects you have been involved in.
8. Understand the combination of qualification and employment that you will need before you apply.
This is where applicants can easily go wrong by applying when they only meet some of the criteria.
For example, in some of the occupations that VETASSESS assesses that require a Bachelor degree, you can apply with a:
- Qualification(s) assessed at AQF Bachelor degree (or higher degree) with a highly relevant field of study and at least one year of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level completed in the last five years; or
- Qualification(s) assessed at AQF Bachelor degree (or higher degree) with an additional qualification that is at least AQF Diploma level in a highly relevant field of study and at least two years of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level completed in the last five years; or
- Qualification(s) assessed at AQF Bachelor degree (or higher degree) without a highly relevant field of study and at least three years of post-qualification highly relevant employment at an appropriate skill level completed in the last five years.
You can check the specific requirements for your occupation on the [VETASSESS website](https://www.vetassess.com.au/skills-assessment-for-migration).
9. Prepare your documents carefully and follow the guidelines. The quality and accuracy of your documents can make or break your skills assessment outcome. You need to provide certified copies of your original documents, such as academic transcripts, graduation certificates, employment references, and identity documents. You also need to ensure that your documents are translated into English by a qualified translator if they are in another language.
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