justme1502 Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 Hi everyone, just wondered what the general opinion was for using Vic Uni to complete skills assessment. I am aware that vetassess is the main assessor but the times look to be quite long. My husband is a carpenter so non licensed trade(? i think), so i have seen somewhere that vic uni may be the better option, is this correct. Also does any one know the time scales? Thanks in advance, any advice much appreciated. :biggrin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieMay24 Posted January 26, 2014 Share Posted January 26, 2014 I believe you have to use the Assessing Authority shown for the occupation applied under, you can't simply use someone else. Edit: Sorry, said assessing authority should be TRA. I didn't need a skills assessment, so probably shouldn't comment on threads asking about this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellyk666 Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 My hubby is also a carpenter/joiner and I have been going over the same question - should we use Vetassess or Vic Uni (both of which are authorised by TRA to carry out the required skill assessment for this occupation). The main difference I can see is that with Vetassess you may have the option of doing a practical demonstration or a technical interview over skype. With Vic Uni you don't have the option of a practical demonstration. My hubby feels more comfortable doing a practical but Vetassess only seem to have a test date available in the UK once every month and seem to take it in turns to include 'carpenter' or 'joiner'. Vetassess responded to my email confirming that the Training and Employment part takes around 4 weeks which is a lot less than I expected, but then it may be a couple of months waiting for the practical test date to become available. Hmmmm. I have emailed both organiations with various questions and they have responded to my queries quickly and in full (not sure why this surprised me so much!). If you have any questions it might be worth sending them an email?? Let me know if you find anything of interest out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatpack Posted January 28, 2014 Share Posted January 28, 2014 Shelly is bang on the money with the above. I did the technical interview and it was so easy it's unbelievable. If you work as a carpenter here then you will have no problems, it only took 25 minutes. My timeline shows the time scales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shellyk666 Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Flatpack, can't believe you had the entire skill assessment completed so quickly! I had wondered how long it would take them to organise the technical interview but your timeline suggests it can be done without delay. We're considering applying as 'joiner' as my hubby's job over the last few years has been on the bench but then claiming 8 years job experience on the visa as carpenter which would be considered a closely related occupation. The main thing he's worried about is the excavation and scaffold knowledge required for carpenter, or the cnc machine knowledge required as a joiner as he has limited experience in those areas even though he's been doing it for nearly 20 years. Vetassess did confirm in an email that you need to be able to tick off at least 80% of the things listed as required which made us feel a bit better. Do you have any thoughts on this? Also, did the person doing your technical interview have sight of your 1st part of the paperwork? thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flatpack Posted January 29, 2014 Share Posted January 29, 2014 Hi Shelly, That timeline doesn't take into account the 3 months it took me to gather and collate all the information I needed! As for carpenter/ joiner, I'm qualified in the UK as both. I have worked mainly as a carpenter since my apprenticeship but I'm quite comfortable in the workshop, I was advised to apply for carpenter and not carpenter/ joiner as I didn't have enough experience in joinery. Once you have your visa you can work as either from what I can gather much like the UK. I knew absolutely nothing about scaffolding and excavations and told the assessor this, scaffolding here is done by others and I don't know the Aussie rules yet but I'd obviously have to learn them PDQ. When the assessor introduced himself he told me that he had seen all my evidence and that i was more qualified and experienced than him but we still had to do the interview. He had worked in the UK, which helped as we talked a common language. He explained that the interview would last between 20 minutes and 2 hours and that he had a check list of boxes he had to tick. We would be discussing how I would complete certain tasks and the more detail I went in to, then the more likely it was I mention something on his check list. Once the list was all ticked off that was the end of the assessment. I was very pleased that after 25 minutes he told me we had discussed everything he needed to and that I would get a email in the coming days informing me that I had passed. It was VERY easy but I have been doing it for 25 years so I should be able to explain how I do it, if anyone has worked as a joiner/ carpenter for more than 5 years they should pass. Hope this helps Edit: I'm in Yorkshire and had to drive to Glasgow on a Monday morning for 9am for the Skype interview, either that or Oxford St in London. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justme1502 Posted January 30, 2014 Author Share Posted January 30, 2014 Thanks guys really useful info Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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