steved44

I have been in NZ working in IT for 9 months now and know I can apply for PR in September. However, having looked on the INZ website and doing the points calculator it appears that I can put in an EOI now. The only thing that is not clear is, although my occupation is on the LTSSL, I don't have any qualifications, i.e. a Degree but 28 years experience in this position. Therefore to claim the bonus points to allow me to put in an EOI now, will my experience be enough or do I need a Degree as well?

Anyone heard of anyone doing an EOI without a Degree in IT? Also does anyone know the difference betweeen IT and ICT, apparently there is one!

Any help would be appreciated.

BEVS

I'm gonna slightly change this title and move it to the main forum for a short while. Reason being is that I seem to remember some folks that did the EOI without the IT degree, but I can't remember who.
This way, if whoever looks in , this thread will be better placed to catch the eye.

simonmarkellis

Do you hold any kind of Higher Education qualification?

What points are you/can you claim aready without the degree points?

Who do you work for in IT?

Simon

Lizaberry

I know my OH's occupation is on the LTSSL but because he doesn't have a qualification and despite being in the trade for nearly 30 years, he cannot claim any bonus points either. I have established that the qualification cannot be substituted for experience to claim these points, which seems a bit daft. If you have the skill and sufficient work experience, personally I think you should be able to claim the points but that's not the way that INZ see it (why, I don't know - if you can prove yourself in your trade/occupation, what does the qualification matter??!!).

Good luck with this. You will get points for working currently in NZ won't you and so long as you have at least 100 now you're gonna get selected for sure, so I'd get on and submit you application. It is a bit of a bummer about the qualification thing - I have been to hell and back about it cos unlike you, we are still in the UK and have to wait to secure work to raise our points above 100 before we can do our EOI, all because my OH's apprenticeship whilst for 4years was done wholly in the workplace without external verification. As such it is not regarded as a formal qualification and I was told that work experience is not a substitute for the qualification for immigration purposes.

Hope that helps a little.

YRSBoy

Have you ever thought about the CATS scheme (Credit accumulation transfer scheme)? it maybe worth talking to your local college/uni - possibly the OU who maybe able to help you with prior knowledge. It maybe that your OH's experience and a small amount of studying may well count towards a paper qualification of some sort. I know that the OU will sometimes take work experience into consideration - might be worth a look!

Good Luck!

steved44

Nope. In 1974 I couldn't wait to get out into the big wide world and start earning. As for points, I believed up til a few hours ago that I have 85. Now however I suspect that I might qualify as being in an area of future growth. It all depends on the bloody qualifications thing. Come September 1st I'll have 100 but if I can apply now, why wait.

steved44

I agree with you entirely. If I had got myself a degree by the usual route it would by now be 35 years old and if, by chance, it happened to be in IT then whoopdy doo I'd now know all there is to know about punched cards and paper tape and how to manage systems with like 32k of memory. What use would that be in the age of object orientation, relational databases, high speed communications, HTML, XML etc etc etc.

Sorry, rant over. The situation is what it is and I have to get on with it. Good luck with yours too and I hope you make it soon. It's worth it once you get here.

simonmarkellis

All your doing is lodging your EOI by the time you get your ITA and actually submit it you'l have that 1 yrs experience, so i say claim for it now... I did!!! Had no problems when it came to proving it as i'd been working for the peiod i claimed...

Spacecake799

Hi Steve,

My husband works in IT. We came here as visitors as he has no recognised IT qualifications.
He secured a job and we got a years work permit. We applied for residence after 2 months.
He could'nt even claim any bonus points for being on the skills shortage list as he worked in IT within law firms in the UK. To get the extra points he needed to work in an IT firm.
I hope this helps.

Good luck
Carole

steved44

You make a good point. I think perhaps I will. When you put yours in, did you claim any experience under the Future Growth Area bit? I realise I can't claim for the LTSSL experience without a degree, but the Future Growth Area category is not specific about a degree. How long after submitting your EOI did you wait before getting your ITA? Also, from receiving the ITA how long do you have to submit it? Is there a time limit at all?

AlphaTangoMike

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum (I know, I haven't formally introduced myself, so please don't hold it against me).

I've been reading a lot of the threads and I'm very glad that this question has been asked.

I'm in the same position as a few of you (outside of NZ), my job / skills are in both the LTSSL and the ISSL. With no degree, it's next to impossible to apply without a job offer.

I'm hoping to visit NZ in March/April 2010, will hopefully attend a few interviews and see if I can get a job offer to secure the additional points.

It makes it so difficult to apply, surely if the skills are clearly in demand, with 15 years of work experience, how relevant is a degree? (Not to mention that my 1 year diploma, MCSE's, etc are not recognised either).

Cheers,
Andy