Skills assessment / visa process
 

Hi all ,

Looking for more help if possible ....

I've read several posts on the forum and trawled through Google etc but I'm still looking for a bit of clarity regarding the Skills Assessment .

Even though I qualified as a sparks in '03 (in Ireland), all my work experience since then has been on automatic gates . So reading through some of the stuff involved in the exam , sends a shiver because I haven't done anything like it since my apprenticeship ...

So , I've spoken to the migration agent and decided to do the skills assessment first , before investing any further in the application .

Basically , I'm just looking to find out what steps should be taken now -

- Future Skills International or Vetassess ?

- Has anyone done their assessment in Ireland and if so , what exactly was involved ? Like is it 1 day , theory / practical , what came up , cost of the assessment , how long for results etc

(I say Ireland , but maybe the UK assessment is the same ..?)

Also , while the exam might have been a doddle for a sparks working day to day at what they were being tested on , how would you think someone from my background would find it ? Bit of a vague question but you get the idea ...!

Following that , if the exam went well the next thing I have to do is an IELTS test which should , I presume , be straightforward and then I think it's all over the MARA agent to sort out the rest of the process ?

If all goes to plan and we land in Australia , is the Skills Assessment worth anything to me or am I back to square one in terms of wages ? I may not need to bring my licence any further as I would be looking to continue working in gate automation over there too (different companies seem to have different requirements) but if I did , what exactly is involved in terms of a time frame and further exams ?

I'd need to be getting decent money asap but if I got in with a gate company , my experience and other skills might go a long way to helping with that .

I realise that all the answers are probably hiding on here somewhere but I seem to find contradictory stuff all over the place and just end up more baffled the more I look into it so a big , big thanks in advance to anyone who can point me in the right direction ...

Cheers

Re: Skills assessment / visa process
 

Hey Gar :)

Vetassess have been doing skills assessments the longest and are the most recognised over here with other training orgs that will take you through gap training for your license. Future Skills are the newest but seem quite popular, and I did mine with Vic Uni when they had only just started and got messed around a bit but hopefully they've got their act together since then.

All of them will require you to complete a Tradeset report, and put together quals, references, resume, etc for assessment.

There is plenty of info on the practical assessments here, so you would have time to prepare and ask any questions, but you would have to get part one first.

If you are successful, have you checked that you would be able to reach the points requirement for a visa?