ACS assessments

[smokie]

Just to add: From what I've seen an MCSE or MCSD will be taken as equivalent to a Diploma, so you can skip RPL with either of those...

[wislon]

The ACS is not that tough a body, I don't believe, as far as skills assessments go. I didn't spend that much time on mine and actually thought it a little light, but they gave me a positive assessment with an extra 15 points for MODL recognition for C/C++/C#. A lot of people are put off by the RPL route, thinking it too much effort and/or that the chance of success is slim. From what I have read, if you tackle it with dedication, it is every bit as certain as the regular route.

Tobold is pretty much on the money there.

I had a similar experience to Biker's, where they wanted more info. I do not have a degree, so had to go this route. I had time and experience, had the the letters and everything, that part was OK. But they wanted way more info than could be provided on their forms. So I sent them 30-odd pages worth to demonstrate my skill-set, at which point they had no problem granting me the RPL certification.

[Leigh MC]

Hi Mark

Thanks so much for all that info! Will get my boyfriend to check out the site (as he's the IT person). He has no formal diploma/degree but almost 20 years experience, so he should be fine. He's also done one of those Microsoft Certified Professional Whatever, Whatever (i have no idea what) courses..., as well as others along the way - I think he'll do okay.

Thanks again,

Leigh

[Tobold]

Hi Leigh,

It's a pleasure, but wislon looks like the guy to talk to, as he has been through it, and is generally very much "switched-on".

Get your boyfriend to go for it! I was so pessimistic about the ACS assessment, as I am about so many steps in this process, but they surprised me by being very reasonable. I know of others who feel the same way. I read just a few minutes ago that the ACS regard the MCSD (Microsoft Certified Solution Developer) as equivalent to an Australian diploma, which backs up smokie's assertion above. If this is indeed so, and your boyfriend has one of these certifications, it seems you may not need to go the RPL route. That was what people were saying on the site where I was reading.

Again though, I think wislon is the guy to ask. There's no substitute for experience!

Edited March 31, 2008 by Tobold

[Leigh MC]

Hi all

Thanks Mark, (again!) and Wision... for invaluable info.

Amazing how you can go from feeling all nervous and worrying about stuff one minute, to breathing a sigh of relief the next...

All from reading through this site - Excellent!

Leigh

[wislon]

Hi Leigh,

Just to add to that (thanks Mark), when I was looking at the certification/RPL thing, one of the first things one of the agents I contacted said was "get yourself some sort of MCSE or MCSD or similar kind of qualification", will save you a lot of work.

The obvious irony aside, and given that I had not the time or financial resources at that point to take a step back and do the courses for an MCS-whatever, I had to stick with the RPL route.

If your bf has an MCS-whatever, and a bit of experience, it should be no problem at all, probably just a rubber stamp from them. And he shouldn't have to type up wodges of paperwork either...

After all the hard work, typing and stuff I had to do, the "certificate letter" thing they sent was a bit of an anticlimax

Good luck with it, feel free to PM me if you need more specifics

P.S. Hey, I just realised this is my 400th post. Do I win something?

Edited April 1, 2008 by wislon

[Oracle]

Hi,

Do you think the same will apply for the Oracle Certifications? I have 10+ years experience but no degree. Will most probably also do my Microsoft MCPD (The new range of certifications)

Cheers,

Herman

[NogVenters]

Hi All

Our Status have changed this morning on the ACS tracking Site

The status changed from "in Process" to "With Accessor" and there is a sentance on he left that say if you live in AUS you will get you result lette r within 10 days and outside Aus it is 21 days.

Does anyone know exactly how long theres took from this status change?

Thanks

Johan

Edited April 4, 2008 by NogVenters

[sa2auz]

Hi there

We applied for Security Specialist (MODL) on 14 Feb we did the RPL thing references had to be very pariticular specifically the most recent had to focus on security etc which is my hubbys job but not his title. We got a change in status around 10 March and we had the results 2 days later. We were pretty lucky we were expecting 12 weeks.

As far as security specialist goes ACS provide no specific description as to what you need to meet which makes it a bit tricky and perhaps chat to ptlabs.

I know for RPL one should do a ton of research and provide as much info as you can. There are lots of good sites so have a look at and although I know it is soooo frustrating all this hard work and all the regulations the end result is worth it.

Good Luck

S

[Tobold]

Hi All

Our Status have changed this morning on the ACS tracking Site

The status changed from "in Process" to "With Accessor" and there is a sentance on he left that say if you live in AUS you will get you result lette r within 10 days and outside Aus it is 21 days.

Does anyone know exactly how long theres took from this status change?

Thanks

Johan

Hi Johan,

I recall it being a matter of days from this stage to "Case Finalised". Even better, they were updating rather slowly, so the day after it changed to "Case Finalised" my agent already had the hard copy in his hands. Hang in there, it won't be long now!

Mark

Edited April 4, 2008 by Tobold

[KimH]

Hi all

Biker and Wislon - how long after you had sent in your RPL did they query anything? Mine has been with them since 14 March and says "in process" on their site.

Just want an idea if Im in the all clear for queries or whether they may still come.

This waiting is enough to drive you crazy!!

Thanks

Brett

[Biker]

I'm not sure what would have happened if my stuff was good enough.

In my case, they sent me an email to say they have receiced it and it is not satisfactory and I have to resubmit. Gave me a reference number and deducted money of my account. This happened roughly 3 weeks after it was sent off.

[Traveller]

Hi All

Our Status have changed this morning on the ACS tracking Site

The status changed from "in Process" to "With Accessor" and there is a sentance on he left that say if you live in AUS you will get you result lette r within 10 days and outside Aus it is 21 days.

Does anyone know exactly how long theres took from this status change?

Thanks

Johan

Hi there, I'm in the same boat Johan but appear to be behind you...

Submitted Skills Assessment to ACS & received the acknowledgment email on 3 March '08 and I'm still " In process"......we wait, we wait & we wait some more

From the majority of experiences I've read on this forum, I am really only expecting some sort of result by 10 May 08 according to the whole 10 -12 week anticipated wait - BUT a change in status would be just the ticket to keep me from chewing my fingers off

FYI I have a couple of MCSE's behind me so I just submitted a straight application (no dreaded RPL) and so far all I've gotten from the ACS is thanks and please wait patiently for our response.

I know what you mean about having hope restored through the great people of this forum and FYI you've just given me that little bit of an extra boost to keep my chin up - here's hoping we both get successful results sooner rather than the expected later

[wislon]

Hi all

Biker and Wislon - how long after you had sent in your RPL did they query anything? Mine has been with them since 14 March and says "in process" on their site.

Just want an idea if Im in the all clear for queries or whether they may still come.

This waiting is enough to drive you crazy!!

Thanks

Brett

Hi K&B, sorry, I just saw your question now!

We are going through agents, so they may have sat on it for a bit, but I think they got back to me within about 4-5 weeks to say "we want more info".

All in all it took just over 3 months to do, start to finish, "more info" request included and complied with, till I got the "certificate". It should have taken about 6 weeks. Bear in mind this was in late 2006/early 2007.

[Biker]

If this is of any help...

Documents submitted for assessment will not be returned to the applicant therefore it is in the applicant's own interest to have multiple copies certified.

When sending in extra documents please attach a copy of this email or list your reference number.

If after 35 days (if you live in Australia) or 49 days (if you live overseas) from the date of this letter, the requested documentation is not received the Australian Computer Society will forward your file to an Assessor , whereupon a result will be issued on the documentation held.

[Stepchook]

FYI I have a couple of MCSE's behind me so I just submitted a straight application (no dreaded RPL) and so far all I've gotten from the ACS is thanks and please wait patiently for our response.

Do you have an IT-related degree / three-year diploma in addition to your MCSE's? As far as I'm aware, that is the minimum prerequisite, without which you'd need to do an RPL.

[MichaelG]

I'm a bit stuck and I wonder if the community knowledge base can assist me.

We (my wife and I) are about to apply for a Skilled – Regional Sponsored (Provisional) visa (subclass 475) on my wifes skills. Before we go through this process I would like to just confirm my eligibility or lack-there-of for the PR visa.

I do not have a degree, only a 3 year IT National Diploma (Development).

I do not have 5 years experience; only 2.5 years development experience (and just less than 4 years if you include my MSCE NT4 certificate and experience)

My development skill set is mainly VB.NET and PHP - so little to no C#

Would the ACS even look at me - or would I be wasting my time and money doing the full RPL route?

Edited April 7, 2008 by MichaelG

[Traveller]

Do you have an IT-related degree / three-year diploma in addition to your MCSE's? As far as I'm aware, that is the minimum prerequisite, without which you'd need to do an RPL.

Hi there, no I do not have an IT-related degree as yet, I am however in the process of completing my BCOM, but this will not be taken into account as it will only be completed in Nov this year.

After reading some posts on this forum, I did panic about having to possibly do an RPL but after an assessment from an agent (who so far has a 100% success rate on ACS assessments) advised me that a straight application was all that was necessary based on the MCSE qualifications.

[Stepchook]

Good stuff, Travlr! You should be fine then!

[Traveller]

Good stuff, Travlr! You should be fine then!

I certainly hope so Pygmalion, time will tell - right now the assessment is with them and I'm hoping my status will change from "in process" to "with assessor" - whatever that means as far as my having included all correct/relevant info.

So I'm sticking with the theory - no news is good news and if it's worked for others and I've done what I can then all I can do now is wait

[Madeleine]

Hi,

Is there any hope for people who dont meet the relevent work experience but are qualified? My fiance has a masters degree (Computer Science) + 2.5 years work experience and I have an Honours degree in computer science with 1.5 years work experience. We are desperate to go but it looks like we have to wait until at least 4 years before applying?

Thanks

Madeleine

[Rowen]

Hi guys

I've recently joined the forum and I must say that it is very informative.

I have been looking into migrating to Australia and have contacted a few agents in Durban and done the initial assessment with them, I received some bad news today when one of the agents replied and said that I fell short on the number of years of experience that I needed , I have a 3 year National Diploma in information technology and 5 years and 4 months of working experience, my occupation appears on the both the SOL and MODL, the agent says that because I have a diploma I would need 6 years of working experince, is there any other option for me or can I only wait till I have 6 years under my belt before I apply?

Thanks in advance

[smokie]

Hi Rowen,

From what I've seen you can always apply for a job, and then go over on a 457 working visa. No need to get assessed by the ACS when you have a job offer. Once there, you can apply for PR (after 2 years I think). And it sounds like you can then get it also without being assessed by the ACS (with input from your employer).

HTH

cheers.

[qwerty]

For those who got a positive skills assessment from ACS - how long did it take? Was it for RPL or the standard skills assessment?

[sa2auz]

We applied for security specialist RPL route and we had a positive just under 4 weeks.

Good luck