morganj

Hi Guys and gals,

I know it's typical to produce a two-page CV when applying for an interview, but is this that all they expect at the skill assessment board (in my case the ACS)?

If so, what would the assessment board want to see most? Should I be concentrating on one thing or should I just give them a standard CV.

Also, the ACS (and I suspect others will do the same) say they require proof that I am working/have been working. Now how can I prove that I am working without arising suspicion in my current work place? It seems like a catch-22 to me?

Thanks in advance,
Jay

wongstonn

Hi Jay

Are you refering to the documentation requred for the ACS skills assessment prior to the application for skilled migration?

If so, then I faced the same conumdrum 20 months ago when I started my application. I didn't know exactly what the ACS expected, and I didn't want my employer to know about the application as I thought it would damage any short term career improvements. In the end, I just had to tell my employer as it must write a detailed job description on headed notepaper - mine was about 1.5 typed pages.

As for the CV - well if applying for a job one does keep them short, but as one is paying the ACS to read the thing then just go for it - put everything in that you can think of pertinent to the I.T sector. Mine was 5 pages.

morganj

Thanks wongstonn that is really useful advice. I guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and ask my employer. It's soooo close to our pending redundancy - thanks to our work being shipped to Bangalore therefore I might as well do it now!!!

Did they take much time to process your details? They say on the form that it takes 8-10 weeks to process.

Cheers,
Jay

wongstonn

By recollection they took about 6 weeks. If they have any problems with your documentation then they'll email you.

morganj

Thanks again...take it easy. I hope you're around for any other questions that I have in the future....



I just feel a little overwhelmed with the migration process at the moment.

All the best,
Jay

icklepickle

> It's soooo close to our pending redundancy - thanks to our
> work being shipped to Bangalore therefore I might as well do it now!!!

I lost my job to Hungarians (you apparently get 3 for the price of 1) and my husband might well loose his to a cocktail of Americans and Indians. It seems to be the way that computing work is going.

It all works out in the end, I am running my own software house now and am much happier than when I was working for one, from the sounds of it you might get new start out of it.

Good luck with the CV.

Cheers

morganj

>I lost my job to Hungarians (you apparently get 3 for the price of 1)

Oh right...so theres much more for me to worry about! I understand that China are trying to position themselves to steal the work from Indian; having only just got it from us themselves!(Although I admit BT and my company LogicaCMG have had offices over there for at least four years)

But I'm glad it's worked out for you. I'll cross my fingers for myself for now.

icklepickle

On the other hand the problems of outsourcing work to diverse geographical locations should create lots of jobs for contractors and with the new IR35 cloaks you can hide behind it's almost worth it again (well ok not really!) So you should be able to gets lots of temporary work while waiting for the visas to arrive.

I've heard that chinese outsourcing is becoming popular in the UK as well.

Regards

( gosh I didn't realise just how cynical I had become - shame on me :-) )

morganj

As I've always maintained: we're not the cynical ones, they (the employers) are the cynics and we are just making observations on their actions.

Yes, I know quite a few contractors who've gone permie (God forbid) over the last few years. They might want to reconsider now, huh?

karawara88

Get some letterheaded paper and write your own. That way your employer does not get to know, you get all the information you require and a great reference.

Is it not the job of IT staff to be creative?

As for the ACS (arsehole computer society) they are a waste of space, pretty much the same as the BCS.

Give as much info as possible, I had 15 years experience and they only recognised 9 years of it. (Bas***ds)

Mr. Ee

The 'How To Lodge An Application' document from the ACS website says:
*Resume* Details of qualifications held, brief details of relevant experience, and the periods of these positions. Attach a detailed written explanation of your professional information technology experience including positions held, projects undertaken and your contributions to them.

I therefore intend to supply my 2 page CV and also a 5 page, detailed description as requested.

As for employer references, I had the same issue. Remember though that you approach HR for the reference and that all dealings with HR are confidential. If you don't want them to talk to your manager then they shouldn't.
My current company were happy to provide me with a reference; I pretty much wrote it for them and they printed it out on official paper etc. but with a 'disclaimer' of "...given without liability of the part of the under-signed."

I used to work for Logica (before merger with CMG) and got a reference from them too. Doesn't quite provide the level of detail I requested from them, but I reckon it'll do as I only really got it for extra proof. Can always ask again if necessary!

Hoping to send my ACS application off in the next week or so...


Mr. Ee

Atticus

Probably a dumb question but what if you have been self-employed for the last 9-10 years - how do you go about organising references - I take it something from the bank manager and a customer? or is that a dumb answer!!

Thanks

rizalan

morganj

Thanks for the info Mr. Ee. Hope your application goes off well and you get to where you want to go.

I'll check the ACS website again and heed your advice.

I hope to get my application off soon. I've talked with HR today and it looks like I may well have to squeeze my dream reference out of them because they prefer their non-committal and standard format reference.

But I like the disclaimer bit - I might win them over yet!!!!

Jay