Hi,

I have been asked by ACS to provide detailed job description for one
of my old employer reference. This company has closed its operation in
the region and it is difficult to chase someone at the HQ's for one
letter. Is their any alternative or advise to provide this letter?


Thanks

Leo

[email protected] (PJ) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

    > Hi,
    >
    > I have been asked by ACS to provide detailed job description for one
    > of my old employer reference. This company has closed its operation in
    > the region and it is difficult to chase someone at the HQ's for one
    > letter. Is their any alternative or advise to provide this letter?

General consensus is to provide salary slips and/or tax forms.

Mike

Mike and PJ,

My information is that unlike DIMIA, the ACS does not accept payslips, employment contracts etc as evidence of work experience. They requrie written references, either from a colleague or from your supervisor/HR officer.

In any case, I would say that the current request is likely to be due to the employer references supplied not being sufficiently detailed with regards to your tasks & duties.

Note that if the employer has ceased trading, the best option is to get a letter from a colleague, which explains that the company has ceased trading, and explains why they are qualified to write the reference (ie they worked there at the same time as you and were in the same group or supervised you). This would not normally be on company letterhead.

Hope this helps,

Mark Webster wrote in
news:[email protected]:


    > My information is that unlike DIMIA, the ACS does not accept
    > payslips, employment contracts etc as evidence of work experience.
    > They requrie written references, either from a colleague or from your
    > supervisor/HR officer.
    >
    > In any case, I would say that the current request is likely to be due to
    > the employer references supplied not being sufficiently detailed with
    > regards to your tasks & duties.
    >
    > Note that if the employer has ceased trading, the best option is to get
    > a letter from a colleague, which explains that the company has ceased
    > trading, and explains why they are qualified to write the reference (ie
    > they worked there at the same time as you and were in the same group or
    > supervised you). This would not normally be on company letterhead.

Mark,

I hope one of our resident agents can confirm this, because in a twisted
way you've given me excellent news!

That is, for my wife's evaluation and recognition of professional
experience (as I've posted a week or so ago). Her line of work brings
regular and continuous work, but not continuous salary slips (as much of
the work is done under different contracts and arrangements (has to do with
US tax laws).

Therefore, getting letters of reference is *much* easier than getting
continuous salary slips or tax declarations.

Cheers
Mike

Mike,

Whether the ACS accepts salary slips and/or tax statements as proof of IT experience or not, you'd still need to get some form of proof of salary for DIMIA later on.

If you get a former co-worker or manager to write a letter of reference for you (for the ACS), it will usually be on plain white paper. In this situation, you should be aware that the ACS would normally expect you to supply a statutory declaration stating the working relationship between you and the author of your letters. Also, the author must indicate what working relationship you two had in his/her letter of reference as well.

And don't forget these documents should be photocopied and certified as true copies twice, one for ACS, and another for DIMIA.

I'm not speaking from imagination here - it's from successful personal experience


Peter

Mike,

Given that your wife's income seems to be coming from a number of different sources, it sounds as if she may be working as a self-employed contractor. You might wish to provide taxation documents which demonstrate her income level for the last 3-4 years. The key is to establish that she has been working "full time" (ie at least for 20 hours per week).

Where a person has been self-employed, DIMIA can also ask for a statutory declaration, business cards, statement from an accountant, invoices and receipts from customers & suppliers and evidence of advertising (eg listing in Yellow Pages). ie far more of a headache than where you have a nice detailed employer reference covering the last 10 years!

In terms of Peter's post, I agree that DIMIA is unlikely to accept just the reference from a colleague, and will need some form of evidence of employment status. DIMIA is a bit more flexible than the ACS - they are more likely to accept employment contracts, payslips, and resignation/retrenchment notices as evidence of employment status if references on letterhead are not available.

Hope this helps,

ptlabs wrote in
news:[email protected]:

    > Whether the ACS accepts salary slips and/or tax statements as proof of
    > IT experience or not, you'd still need to get some form of proof
    > of salary for DIMIA later on.

Hey Peter,

I had sort of implicitly aassumed that salry would indeed be noted in the
letter of reference.

    > If you get a former co-worker or manager to write a letter of
    > reference for you (for the ACS), it will usually be on plain white
    > paper. In this situation, you should be aware that the ACS would
    > normally expect you to supply a statutory declaration stating the
    > working relationship between you and the author of your letters. Also,
    > the author must indicate what working relationship you two had in
    > his/her letter of reference as well.

Good info. That too will help my wife with some of her clients.

Cheers
Mike

Mark Webster wrote in
news:[email protected]:


    > Given that your wife's income seems to be coming from a number of
    > different sources, it sounds as if she may be working as a self-employed
    > contractor. You might wish to provide taxation documents which
    > demonstrate her income level for the last 3-4 years. The key is to
    > establish that she has been working "full time" (ie at least for 20
    > hours per week).

We sat down this evening and started going over what we'd assemble for
that. Most of this is really just a pain in the nether region, but it can
all be obtained without divine intervention.

Mike

Hi Mark,

I appreciate your comments and advise. I am unable to get a reference
letter from my colleagues because they either left the company OR I
don’t have their contacts. I managed to get a letter from HR,
which goes like this;

“I can confirm that Mr.xxxxx was employed by xxxxx from dates.
He was employed as network support analyst. It is not company practice
to provide references, which comment on the performance of employees.
However there is no evidence to suggest that Mr..xxxx is anything
other than an honest and trustworthy employee.”

I am still trying to chase some of my old colleagues, as suggested by
you. In addition, I have plans to provide following documents to ACS.
a) Sworn affidavit about my job responsibilities.
b) Payslips, whatever I have with me.
c) Bank Statements, which proves that I was an employee of the
company.

Share your thoughts.

Regards

PJ


Mark Webster wrote in message news:...
    > Mike,
    >
    >
    >
    > Given that your wife's income seems to be coming from a number of
    > different sources, it sounds as if she may be working as a self-employed
    > contractor. You might wish to provide taxation documents which
    > demonstrate her income level for the last 3-4 years. The key is to
    > establish that she has been working "full time" (ie at least for 20
    > hours per week).
    >
    >
    >
    > Where a person has been self-employed, DIMIA can also ask for a
    > statutory declaration, business cards, statement from an accountant,
    > invoices and receipts from customers & suppliers and evidence of
    > advertising (eg listing in Yellow Pages). ie far more of a headache
    > than where you have a nice detailed employer reference covering the
    > last 10 years!
    >
    >
    >
    > In terms of Peter's post, I agree that DIMIA is unlikely to accept just
    > the reference from a colleague, and will need some form of evidence of
    > employment status. DIMIA is a bit more flexible than the ACS - they are
    > more likely to accept employment contracts, payslips, and
    > resignation/retrenchment notices as evidence of employment status if
    > references on letterhead are not available.
    >
    >
    >
    > Hope this helps,

[email protected] (PJ) wrote in message news:...
    > Hi Mark,
    >
    > I appreciate your comments and advise. I am unable to get a reference
    > letter from my colleagues because they either left the company OR I
    > don’t have their contacts. I managed to get a letter from HR,
    > which goes like this;
    >
    > “I can confirm that Mr.xxxxx was employed by xxxxx from dates.
    > He was employed as network support analyst. It is not company practice
    > to provide references, which comment on the performance of employees.
    > However there is no evidence to suggest that Mr..xxxx is anything
    > other than an honest and trustworthy employee.”
    >
    > I am still trying to chase some of my old colleagues, as suggested by
    > you. In addition, I have plans to provide following documents to ACS.
    > a) Sworn affidavit about my job responsibilities.
    > b) Payslips, whatever I have with me.
    > c) Bank Statements, which proves that I was an employee of the
    > company.
    >
    > Share your thoughts.
    >
    > Regards
    >
    > PJ
    >
PJ, I think the provision of payslips and bank statements is probably
unecessary as you already have a letter from your former employer
stating employment dates and job title. The letter that you did get
from HR is interesting in that it concentrates more on your character
that you experience. It is a statement of the relevant experience that
you require. Did HR misinterpret your requirements perhaps? If so,
could you ask them to give more detail on your roles and
responsibilities? You could offer to draft this section of the letter
which they could then review.

Mike's earlier post has suggested that payslips are now mandatory for
DIMIA, which is a change in policy from my own application last year.
Also, I did not have to make a statutory declaration about my
relationship with the former colleague that signed the letter of
experience. Again, this is a shift in policy. The only extra detail
that I supplied to DIMIA was the application form itself. All the
other work related documentation was exactly as given to the ACS. Your
best route however, if you can manage it, is to locate a former
colleague willing to sign your letter of experience. Again, if you
find such a person, offer to draft the letter to make things easier.
If you can manage to do this, you should be home on dry as far as this
issue goes.

Thunder Ace

[email protected] (Thunder Ace) wrote in
news:[email protected]:

    > Mike's earlier post has suggested that payslips are now mandatory for
    > DIMIA, which is a change in policy from my own application last year.

Oops! If my post gave that impression my sincerest apologies!

I suggested that you provide them to show employment. Actually, it may have
been Peter who advised that sending your *most recent* one along with your
application (NOT your ACS assessment) is now required.

Mike