VETASSESS Review

[F1veClaw]

In the spirit of what a forum should be, I will share my VETASSESS drama

 

I am applying from a non-standard background for the occupation of Management Consultant (224711). The reason my background is non-standard is:

1) My education is in Psychology with a specialisation in Health Promotion at Masters level (Read: how to change peoples behaviors). Most people who are in MC generally have a BCom or MBA

2) My work experience is very specialised - I consulting within the health and public sector domains. Most MC is done within the private sector

 

Due to this, we had to pick the right agent as we knew this would be complicated. We finally settled on Tony from Skylark Migration, simply because he was the only one who we felt listened to us at the time. We tried a few of the agents on a rather popular Facebook group, and were not happy with any of their approaches.

 

Before we began, our agent organised a VETASSESS call (their rates are HIGH!) to discuss the situation and see if it could be perused. Based off the call the following outcomes were clarified:

1) Create a document showing how your degree is related to MC and the work you do

2) Show how your work is related to MC

 

In response we created a document reviewing my modules at varsity and linking them to MC tasks, as well as citing academic references as to how Psychology is used in MC. The agent was happy, we got our letters signed by the employers and off we went to submit.

 

About 8 weeks into the wait 2 of my previous 3 employers were contacted via email to ask additional info. They basically just coppied and pasted the reference letter into the email, since both of them are very time poor due to their level of seniority. A week later we received a negative outcome which shocked us and the agent. My wife was floored, and it took her around a week to not cry at nigh. The comments were that Psychology is not highly relevant to MC, and my work experience was not with external clients (which is funny since everything both companies I worked for did was ONLY for external clients, I do nothing internal except sign time sheets and chat around the water cooler).

 

We waited a few weeks after the negative outcome to settle into our systems, and then asked the agent to give his opinion on the way forward. He suggested we go for the review. To date, we have done the following based off of more information:

1) Matrix linking work experience / projects to ANZSCO taks

2) Matrix linking degree to ANZSCO costs

3) Document outlining Work experience + degree to MC

4) Reworked all reference letters to include the word EXTERNAL client into the mix so there is no confusion

5) Provide info on all companies including methodology documents as well as brochures

6) Provide samples of work (which was not easy as the organisations that hire you own everything you create - only documents I can submit are those on public record which is 2 in the last 5 years)

7) Supply proof of interviews I have had with major MC companies in Aus

 

So with all this extra info supplied, we hope we will have a better outcome this time around. It seems that the waiting time for a review is around 3-4 months so the wait will not be fun!

Edited December 5, 2018 by F1veClaw

[F1veClaw]

Just a small update. After just over 11 weeks of waiting I had contact from VETASSESS. The following questions were asked:

• Can I describe my work
  • Can I walk through a methodology
  • Can I walk through a project I have worked on
• Who is my current supervisor at job X
• Is my work experience at the other companies similar to company X

Now we wait to see if there is any change.

[F1veClaw]

We got an outcome today. It was a positive skills assessment. They did not class my degree as relevant, but did class my experience. In turn I loose around 3 years experience in order to make the degree relevant. I guess they really do want a Bcom or MBA.

 

Brings me to 65 points now, with additional 5 points requiring 1 more year of experience so a 12 month wait.

Edited March 28, 2019 by F1veClaw

[Ozzieandcharles]

I am not 100% sure what your current job description is, but I think there might be a chance that your position might be a better fit for a different occupation. I was also told by agents to apply for an occupation similar to yours,  but after extensive research, I decided to do it by myself and applied as a Welfare Centre Manager, which is assessed by ACWA. 

 

I also studied Psychology and work in the NPO space, with a focus on health. None of the agents that I contacted after I had a successful skills assessment (needed additional advice on my application) had ever heard of my occupation, and they were definitely not aware that it was on the skills list. My post grad degree in Psych was also classed as relevant by ACWA, so I got the maximum about of points for work experience after my studies. 

 

Have a look at the Welfare Centre Manager criteria and I will be happy to give you some advice if you think it is a better fit. I was invited to apply for a 190 visa for NSW under this code. 

[F1veClaw]

20 hours ago, Ozzieandcharles said:

I am not 100% sure what your current job description is, but I think there might be a chance that your position might be a better fit for a different occupation. I was also told by agents to apply for an occupation similar to yours,  but after extensive research, I decided to do it by myself and applied as a Welfare Centre Manager, which is assessed by ACWA. 

 

I also studied Psychology and work in the NPO space, with a focus on health. None of the agents that I contacted after I had a successful skills assessment (needed additional advice on my application) had ever heard of my occupation, and they were definitely not aware that it was on the skills list. My post grad degree in Psych was also classed as relevant by ACWA, so I got the maximum about of points for work experience after my studies. 

 

Have a look at the Welfare Centre Manager criteria and I will be happy to give you some advice if you think it is a better fit. I was invited to apply for a 190 visa for NSW under this code. 

Thanks for the reply! I would be really interested to hear your story, as I have never heard of anyone who had a positive assessment for Welfare Centre Manager. If you have time, and want to keep anonymous, would you mind dropping me a DM about it?

 

My issue is that I do not directly manage an NPO / or anything related. My day to day would be providing data led decision making for around 388 Department of Health Facilities on how to improve their new HIV initiations, and how to maintain retention rates. I presume you worked directly within an NPO? I worked in large one, think national child based orgs, but moved onto consulting within 3 months. The issue is that there is no code for Primary Healthcare Consultant

[KayB]

Hi. What visa type are you aiming for, where and how urgently do you need to move to Australia? If you want 189 it might be worth the wait. I was in a similar situation with first degree as health promotion and MPH but have mostly done project management work. If you get a positive skills assessment for HP you could qualify for 190/489 nomination with a few states. Just an option to consider if you are in a hurry to get out. Best wishes.

[F1veClaw]

16 hours ago, KayB said:

Hi. What visa type are you aiming for, where and how urgently do you need to move to Australia? If you want 189 it might be worth the wait. I was in a similar situation with first degree as health promotion and MPH but have mostly done project management work. If you get a positive skills assessment for HP you could qualify for 190/489 nomination with a few states. Just an option to consider if you are in a hurry to get out. Best wishes.

Hi @KayB

 

Thanks for the reply. While my MA was in Psych (Health Promotion and Communication) I have never practiced it. Straight from varsity I worked in the advisory / consulting space and did nothing related to standard health promotion.

 

We are in no massive hurry. Currently have a 65 pointer in for 190 NSW (65+5). We will wait it out a bit. My wife also finished her degree in 18 months and is in the IT and Project Management space, so if it comes down to it we can go add that to the overall. In the meantime - we shall wait.

 

Out of interest, what occupation did you apply for?

[KayB]

Hi. I applied for health promotion. Good then that you are not in a hurry. NSW is a very good option. Best wishes.

[kandz]

Hi there,

 

Hoping to get some advise on submitting docs for vetassessing my husband is applying for PR via his current job - panelbeating, need help with how to put together and the order of all the documents, he has a score of 30 for the videos and pictures that is needed, any panelbeaters that can advise the format or layout they used, he has 10 years experience, but that don't matter, as he still has to score in the 8 band to get the 65 points for PR, any advice on the above about the PTE he is writing next Friday and the best way to submit all the correct docs for vetassess will be greatly appreciated.

[F1veClaw]

Just a little updated. A colleague of mine got her skills assessment back today. She has the exact same degree, and the exact same work experience. Her degree was classed as relevant, as was all of her experience. Not a single reference contacted.

[F1veClaw]

So in order to get a relevant degree I applied to study an MBA in Australia. We got the study visa granted today!

 

Visa 500:

Myself as main applicant and my wife as dependent.

Lodged - 2019-11-06

Medicals- 2019-11-19

Grant - 2019-11-21

We used Tony from www.skylarkmigration.com.au as this was a little complicated seeing as I already had a Masters degree, and we already had great interactions with him and his team while trying other routes.

Edited November 21, 2019 by F1veClaw