chev010 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Hi, my hubby has a technical interview soon with Vet Assess (as a carpenter). We went down this route as there are no more practical dates till June 2012 and we didn't want to wait that long. Has anyone been through the interview yet? Can you give us any ideas or pointers as to what they might ask? My hubby wants to be totally prepared as its taken us a year to get to this point (!!) and he doesn't want to mess up now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glasgow joiner Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 hi there,haven t heard of a technical interview for a carpenter,i thought you had to do a pratical Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chev010 Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 hi there,haven t heard of a technical interview for a carpenter,i thought you had to do a pratical You can do either. Our agent told us the practicals were all booked up till June and did we want a Skype interview instead as it would be done in March / April, so we said YES PLEASE! Vet Assess sent me an email saying they would arrange the interview and get back to me with a date - and its $100 cheaper than the practical, so a much better option. Just wondering now what topics will be covered in the interview so my hubby passes with flying colours! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeannk Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Hi chev010, My husband is also a Carpenter and has decided to have the technical interview for same reason all practicals booked up. He still hasnt had an email to arrange interview and we paid at the start of Feb!! I have to say I'm getting very frustrated with them as we started the process in Oct 11.. When did you start? Have you paid for it yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chev010 Posted March 6, 2012 Author Share Posted March 6, 2012 Hi chev010, My husband is also a Carpenter and has decided to have the technical interview for same reason all practicals booked up. He still hasnt had an email to arrange interview and we paid at the start of Feb!! I have to say I'm getting very frustrated with them as we started the process in Oct 11.. When did you start? Have you paid for it yet? Hi Leeannk, we started with Vet Assess on 17.01.12, so they have been pretty quick with us so far. It took them 5.5 weeks to approve the paper assessment and then we asked for an interview instead of practical, they said it would take 2/3 weeks to sort out a date as they have to liaise with the assessor and get back to us. We only paid the second amount last week and our agent seems to think we will get a date in a couple of weeks for March or April. The Skype interview will be at the agents offices. Where is yours going to be held? Its strange that one carpenter assessment takes almost 4 months and one takes 6 weeks?? But then we started out last April with Victoria University and it took them 9 months to tell us we needed more evidence and I eventually told them they were useless and demanded my money back - so, so far I'm really pleased with Vet Assess. Are you using an egent too? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeannk Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 No chev010 we are doing it ourselves or should I say I'm doing most of the work.. Emails etc and to be honest it was ok, the only frustrating thing is not getting an answer to find out a date as we want to apply asap. I applied for Vic SS in Dec and they have replied to say forward on the skills ass as soon as we receive it. I'm not even sure where it is going to be held. Is your oh self employed ? mine is so I'm now in the process of getting all the info needed for the visa. I hope you get a date soon then if they have said March/April. I going to email tonight again and see if I have any luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie33 Posted March 6, 2012 Share Posted March 6, 2012 Hi, Hope all goes well for you. I'm new to this site, as we are just starting our research, my hubby is also a carpenter, however has no formal qualifications but over 20years exp. So have being looking at how he can get skills assessed, also wondered what kind of info you will need to provide them with and how detailed it needs to be? Not sure on rates of pay for carpenters in oz either. Would love some advice!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chev010 Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 No chev010 we are doing it ourselves or should I say I'm doing most of the work.. Emails etc and to be honest it was ok, the only frustrating thing is not getting an answer to find out a date as we want to apply asap. I applied for Vic SS in Dec and they have replied to say forward on the skills ass as soon as we receive it. I'm not even sure where it is going to be held. Is your oh self employed ? mine is so I'm now in the process of getting all the info needed for the visa. I hope you get a date soon then if they have said March/April. I going to email tonight again and see if I have any luck. My oh was self employed for a good few years and before that worked for the family business, so the evidence we had to put together was very in depth. I suppose its a bit harder proving your are skilled in your trade when you don't have any independant company to back that up. Thankfully that paperwork bit is over now as it was THE most frustrating thing we ever had to do! It may help a bit having the agent I guess as it provides somewhere to have the skype interview and they seem to have a good relationship with Vet Assess so maybe things done a bit quicker, but of course you end up paying for it with the agent fees so its swings and roundabouts. We're also going for Vic SS, maybe we'll see you out there this summer!! Fingers crosssed! My 2 grown up kids are in Melbourne now and they say there are loads of jobs for carpenters displayed everywhere so at least thats good news. :biggrin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chev010 Posted March 7, 2012 Author Share Posted March 7, 2012 Hi, Hope all goes well for you. I'm new to this site, as we are just starting our research, my hubby is also a carpenter, however has no formal qualifications but over 20years exp. So have being looking at how he can get skills assessed, also wondered what kind of info you will need to provide them with and how detailed it needs to be? Not sure on rates of pay for carpenters in oz either. Would love some advice!!! Hi Julie, knowing what I know now, I would most definitley have got my oh to take his NVQ 2 in carpentry way back in April last year as it would certainly have made the skills assessment much easier. Because he didn't have a formal qualification (although 20 years exp) the information we had to put together was crazy. He had to write down all the processes and procedure for hanging doors, doing a roof, stud walls, and loads of other things, he needed photos, video evidence, references, he had to prove work exp going back 10 years with references, tax records, payslips. Of course we didn't have all this info, but as the agent said it was better to overload on the evidence rather than have to little and be rejected due to lack of evidence. To be honest without the agents help and experience I don't think I would have known where to start. I mean who keeps all this info for the last 10 years! So you have to start contacting people and going through old files and folders hoping to find something that would prove your were a carpenter in 1998! This bit is the most frustrating and it would have been much easier in hindsight to just do the NVQ over here instead. It only take a couple of months to do it and it proves you are a carpenter. My family in Melbourne say carpenter jobs are advertised there at anywhere between $25 - $40 an hour depending on the job and your experience. Not sure about the rest of Oz. But all the states seem to be looking for carpenters so I would say there is plenty of work around. Good luck on your new journey! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeannk Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 My oh has been self employed for 9 yrs now and alot of the old companys he worked for have now closed due 2 climate so we had to get ref from fellow trades people who he has carried out work for. He is qualified I had to order replacement certs cus as you say who keeps these things!! Vet replied this morning saying he should have a date soon.. Won't hold my breath I think at times maybe we should of used an agent to save all the hassle. We also have some family there and they say the same, we are hoping to be there for the summer to so lets hope the visa process is a bit quicker!! Let me know how you get on.. Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie c Posted March 7, 2012 Share Posted March 7, 2012 I'm a carpenter and joiner and have submitted all my docs (nvq3) to vetassess. Personaly i wouldn't be interested in the technical interview no matter how long i have to wait for a practical test. My thinking is i've worked in the trade 16 years and the amount off so called tradesmen that can bs there way through things is unreal. If i sit the practical test its more convincing. To me if a firm has 2 people interviewing for a job and one has sat a practical test and one has done an online interview the practical test guy would get the trial run. I'm not suggesting in anyway however that anyone on this thread is a bs merchant :wink: Thats just my personal opinion of the system Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chev010 Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 I'm a carpenter and joiner and have submitted all my docs (nvq3) to vetassess. Personaly i wouldn't be interested in the technical interview no matter how long i have to wait for a practical test. My thinking is i've worked in the trade 16 years and the amount off so called tradesmen that can bs there way through things is unreal. If i sit the practical test its more convincing. To me if a firm has 2 people interviewing for a job and one has sat a practical test and one has done an online interview the practical test guy would get the trial run. I'm not suggesting in anyway however that anyone on this thread is a bs merchant :wink: Thats just my personal opinion of the system You get the exact same qualification at the end of this process regardless of what route you choose (the AQF 111 in carpentry). I can't imgine less skilled carpenters getting the qualification just because they talked nonsense in an interview instead of doing a practical - that would make a mockery out of the whole system and make the AQF 111 worthless for everyone. I would imagine the employer won't care what route was chosen to get the qualification either, he will just want to know you have it. Anyway a few days on any job will tell an employer all he needs to know regardless of how many certificates anyone has and thats what its all about in the end - getting work once you get out there ... and keeping the work. We run our own carpentry business in UK and the amount of tradesmen coming in looking for work with all the qualifications you could have are usually useless at the job. We always find the older tradesmen who are time served with plenty of experience are the best workers. So I personally am not a fan of bits of paper that say you can do your job, but this is a visa requirement so it has to be done one way or another, and the quickest route for us suits best. Different routes suit different people for different reasons. All the best with your new journey! :biggrin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richie c Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I've got all the paperwork and your right its meaningless unless you've the skills to back it up it just seems strange to me i mean you wouldn't expect to get a pilots license by explaning how you fly a plane . Anyway good luck hope you get sorted soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
82rhoads Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Hi, my hubby has a technical interview soon with Vet Assess (as a carpenter). We went down this route as there are no more practical dates till June 2012 and we didn't want to wait that long. Has anyone been through the interview yet? Can you give us any ideas or pointers as to what they might ask? My hubby wants to be totally prepared as its taken us a year to get to this point (!!) and he doesn't want to mess up now! Hi,this is exactly the same situation i'm in. I received me level 1 joiner through vetassess in just over 2 weeks which was bloomin' fast,however all the practical dates are booked but they've offered me the technical one so gonna grab it. I'm not sure how the interview will proceed and what it will cover exactly,i did read it had to be in a controlled environment! i also heard that vic university were pretty bad! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julie33 Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Hi chev010, Thanks so much for your info it was much appreciated and very helpful. I've been looking at agents but unsure which one or whether to do it alone, if you don't mind me asking could you recommend who you used, as they seem to have moved quickly. Also if my hubby was to do his NVQ now, would he need 12 months experience on completion of NVQ, or does his experience count prior to NVQ? As we are unlikely to get sorted before the changes in July, not sure this move will ever happen, and need to get it right as have 3 young children and want to be as sure as possible this is the right move to make. Any more advice would be welcomed!!!! Hope interview goes well for your OH. Good Luck!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kellypeachey Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Hi all, did you do the Technical interview and what do you think? We have submitted all our info to VU via our agent a couple of weeks ago, so we are waiting to hear. I would be interested to know what you thought of the process as it seems that VU only do technical interviews? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chev010 Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 Hi all, did you do the Technical interview and what do you think? We have submitted all our info to VU via our agent a couple of weeks ago, so we are waiting to hear. I would be interested to know what you thought of the process as it seems that VU only do technical interviews? Hi, I'm afraid we had a terrible time with VU, we found them really unprofessional and totally disorganised. They kept making promises and then changed their minds about what they wanted from us. They told us we were ready for interview stage, took our money and then decided no we needed more evidence. They asked for written evidence, then photos then decided they weren't good enough that we needed video evidence. When we sent that they said we needed video evidence of EVERY single carpentry process on their list which is a ridiculous request as a carpenter can't have someone follow him round for weeks recording everything he does. Its not practical. I ended up loosing confidence in them and demanded my money back and then we filed with Vetasses instead. That went much smoother and my hubby had the practical exam rather than the interview so he didn't need all the photos and video evidence. That was last year so perhaps VU have got their act together now?? Keep on top of them and if you start to feel they are dragging their heels then don't hesitate to switch to Vetassess - I spent 9 months waiting for VU to offer us an interview before deciding to switch! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chev010 Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 You get the exact same qualification at the end of this process regardless of what route you choose (the AQF 111 in carpentry). I can't imgine less skilled carpenters getting the qualification just because they talked nonsense in an interview instead of doing a practical - that would make a mockery out of the whole system and make the AQF 111 worthless for everyone. I would imagine the employer won't care what route was chosen to get the qualification either, he will just want to know you have it. Anyway a few days on any job will tell an employer all he needs to know regardless of how many certificates anyone has and thats what its all about in the end - getting work once you get out there ... and keeping the work. We run our own carpentry business in UK and the amount of tradesmen coming in looking for work with all the qualifications you could have are usually useless at the job. We always find the older tradesmen who are time served with plenty of experience are the best workers. So I personally am not a fan of bits of paper that say you can do your job, but this is a visa requirement so it has to be done one way or another, and the quickest route for us suits best. Different routes suit different people for different reasons. All the best with your new journey! :biggrin: P.S. We are in Oz now and no-one has asked my hubby what qualifications he has or asked to see them! They go on previous work references only - in Melbourne anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chev010 Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 Hi,this is exactly the same situation i'm in. I received me level 1 joiner through vetassess in just over 2 weeks which was bloomin' fast,however all the practical dates are booked but they've offered me the technical one so gonna grab it. I'm not sure how the interview will proceed and what it will cover exactly,i did read it had to be in a controlled environment! i also heard that vic university were pretty bad! VU are (or where for us) the worst company we have ever had to deal with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chev010 Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 Hi chev010, Thanks so much for your info it was much appreciated and very helpful. I've been looking at agents but unsure which one or whether to do it alone, if you don't mind me asking could you recommend who you used, as they seem to have moved quickly. Also if my hubby was to do his NVQ now, would he need 12 months experience on completion of NVQ, or does his experience count prior to NVQ? As we are unlikely to get sorted before the changes in July, not sure this move will ever happen, and need to get it right as have 3 young children and want to be as sure as possible this is the right move to make. Any more advice would be welcomed!!!! Hope interview goes well for your OH. Good Luck!!! Hi Julie, so sorry I didn't see your post to be able to reply. Hope you got sorted in the end? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hemz Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 Is there a lot of work for joiners over there chev010? Also what was the cost of using Vatassess if you don't mind me asking. Thanks Craig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chev010 Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 Is there a lot of work for joiners over there chev010? Also what was the cost of using Vatassess if you don't mind me asking. Thanks Craig Hi Craig I think it was $2100 Australia Dollars, $600 for the first checks and then $1500 for the pratical. There is work about but not loads of it like we thought there would be and not the great money we thought we would get. It's proved a bit hard to get your foot in the door as they seem to favour local tradesmen over foreign ones because they have the local experience - so you have to persevere. But hubby did get work within 2 weeks of arriving and money is ok - not great - though now we're here a couple of months he has made contacts and is finding out about the better jobs - so we are optimistic that it will come good over the next few months. Some people have said its just the time of year and that there will be more work after Christmas? But who knows? There is certainly not an array of jobs to choose from as they always make out at the Ozzie Expo's! We're not going home though!! The quality of life here is fantastic and we're loving every minute of it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chev010 Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 Hi Craig I think it was $2100 Australia Dollars, $600 for the first checks and then $1500 for the pratical. There is work about but not loads of it like we thought there would be and not the great money we thought we would get. It's proved a bit hard to get your foot in the door as they seem to favour local tradesmen over foreign ones because they have the local experience - so you have to persevere. But hubby did get work within 2 weeks of arriving and money is ok - not great - though now we're here a couple of months he has made contacts and is finding out about the better jobs - so we are optimistic that it will come good over the next few months. Some people have said its just the time of year and that there will be more work after Christmas? But who knows? There is certainly not an array of jobs to choose from as they always make out at the Ozzie Expo's! We're not going home though!! The quality of life here is fantastic and we're loving every minute of it! P.S. - dont let me put you off! its the best move we ever made and worth every penny to get here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest D Smith Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 Hi I'm seriously thinking about migrating to Australia, I'm a fully qualified Adi approved driving instructor, does anyone know how I would go about finding out if I would be able to move? Please be gentle I'm new to this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chev010 Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 Hi I'm seriously thinking about migrating to Australia, I'm a fully qualified Adi approved driving instructor, does anyone know how I would go about finding out if I would be able to move? Please be gentle I'm new to this First thing to do is check the SOL and see if your skill is on the list, if it is then you need to find out if you have enough points to qualify for a visa - its all on this website http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/sol/#a Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.