Paul2412 Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Hopefully some people on here could help clarify what I'm trying to get out of the ACS (Australian Computer Society) with regards to a skills assessment. Mines a bit of an unusual situation... I'm a software developer (primarily websites) using the Microsoft technology. I left school with nothing, but have around 8 years of commercial experience and used to have my own contracting business in the UK. I also have an MCTS certification which, according to the ACS is recognised as equivalent to diploma level. The issue is that my MCTS was gained in 2007, and the ACS have stated that only certificates gained in 2009 or later for MCTS will be recognised. I then thought I would renew my MCTS by taking the latest exam, however I noticed on their checklist that the only experience recognised on a skills assessment is experience gained after the recognised certification. If you have a degree at uni and then started your career then this is fine, however for my situation its pretty useless. I've tried contacting the ACS on a number of occasions about this, and they are worse than terrible. For anything that they can't see look at the checklist they resort to the same line of "only the examiner will be able to answer questions specific to your particular scenario" which basically means spend the $400 with us and then we'll tell you if what you've prepared is any good or not. Is there anyone else in a similar position? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Grey Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Hi Paul, ACS will only consider your employment as 'skilled' (and therefore counting towards the awarding of points) once you meet the required qualification and relevant work experience level. The summary of this criteria can be found here: https://www.acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/7324/Summary-of-Criteria-Oct-2013.pdf So for example, if you took the assessment based on your experience alone you would have to successfully complete the RPL process and you would not be issued any points for work experience as you would not have become 'skilled' until after 8 years relevant experience was completed. If you were to obtain a post 2009 MCTS then you would have been considered skilled at the point when you held the qualification and had at least 5 years relevant experience in the last 10 years or 6 years relevant experience at any time. Again you'd receive no points for work experience as the qualification would be recent. Hope this helps, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul2412 Posted December 30, 2013 Author Share Posted December 30, 2013 Hi Paul, ACS will only consider your employment as 'skilled' (and therefore counting towards the awarding of points) once you meet the required qualification and relevant work experience level. The summary of this criteria can be found here: https://www.acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/7324/Summary-of-Criteria-Oct-2013.pdf So for example, if you took the assessment based on your experience alone you would have to successfully complete the RPL process and you would not be issued any points for work experience as you would not have become 'skilled' until after 8 years relevant experience was completed. If you were to obtain a post 2009 MCTS then you would have been considered skilled at the point when you held the qualification and had at least 5 years relevant experience in the last 10 years or 6 years relevant experience at any time. Again you'd receive no points for work experience as the qualification would be recent. Hope this helps, Hi Adam, Thanks for the help. By the sounds of what you say above, even if I obtain an updated MCTS I would still have to complete the RPL process to gain a positive skills assessment? I'm not too concerned with the points, as this would be for a ENS Direct Entry stream as opposed to the Temporary Residence Transition stream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Grey Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 If you do have an acceptable vendor certification that they consider comparable to a diploma level qualification with a relevant major, then you would go through the 'skills' process rather than RPL. Double check with ACS that the MCTS is acceptable though because I can't see it on the list of recognised vendor qualifications. They change these all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul2412 Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 If you do have an acceptable vendor certification that they consider comparable to a diploma level qualification with a relevant major, then you would go through the 'skills' process rather than RPL. Double check with ACS that the MCTS is acceptable though because I can't see it on the list of recognised vendor qualifications. They change these all the time. They have again changed the recognised qualifications again. It's changed from an MCTS being recognised (1 exam) to now having to complete 5 exams for an MCSE. That's a pretty incredible leap in requirements! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolvesaussie Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 That will be Microsofts fault probably not Australias.. I did an MCTS .NET exam back in maybe June last year and I was uner pressure to pass it before a certain time as Microsoft was getting rid of the qualification and making you do about 5 different exams before you could get any certification Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul2412 Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 That will be Microsofts fault probably not Australias.. I did an MCTS .NET exam back in maybe June last year and I was uner pressure to pass it before a certain time as Microsoft was getting rid of the qualification and making you do about 5 different exams before you could get any certification I think you are probably correct there, although for some reason the ACS don't recognise the MCSA (SQL Server) which would be the new equivalent of the old MCTS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wolvesaussie Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Apparently they are supposed to be a really basic certification, I remember reading up on them, they are not as hard as MCTS were Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quinkla Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 At least a chocolate fireguard would be delicious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itegoa Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Hopefully some people on here could help clarify what I'm trying to get out of the ACS (Australian Computer Society) with regards to a skills assessment. Mines a bit of an unusual situation... I'm a software developer (primarily websites) using the Microsoft technology. I left school with nothing, but have around 8 years of commercial experience and used to have my own contracting business in the UK. I also have an MCTS certification which, according to the ACS is recognised as equivalent to diploma level. The issue is that my MCTS was gained in 2007, and the ACS have stated that only certificates gained in 2009 or later for MCTS will be recognised. I then thought I would renew my MCTS by taking the latest exam, however I noticed on their checklist that the only experience recognised on a skills assessment is experience gained after the recognised certification. If you have a degree at uni and then started your career then this is fine, however for my situation its pretty useless. I've tried contacting the ACS on a number of occasions about this, and they are worse than terrible. For anything that they can't see look at the checklist they resort to the same line of "only the examiner will be able to answer questions specific to your particular scenario" which basically means spend the $400 with us and then we'll tell you if what you've prepared is any good or not. Is there anyone else in a similar position? I'm in a similar position, although I haven't submitted my application yet. I'm a software developer, too. I got a BTEC National Diploma in Computer Studies in 1995. I've been in skilled employment between 1999 until 2010 (11 years). Currently have my own contracting business (2010 until 2014, 4 years). I'm not sure whether my BTEC ND is good enough for a skills (non-RPL) application. If I had to do RPL, would that mean that I cannot get points for the first 8 years of my skilled employment? I think the wording in ACS' skills assessment guidelines can be taken many ways, it is not 100% clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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