I believe I need to do an RPL, and have just started looking into what's required. On the RPL form, the ACS seem to be asking for a detailed write-up on the CBOK. I've read a few posts which talk about the 2 project reports required, and there seems to be a large emphasis on these in some threads. However, from the RPL form, it seems to me that these project reports are fairly insignificant compared to the CBOK. My IT experience runs to 16 years, and it feels that it will take forever to write in detail about it.

Can anyone tell me how many pages they've written on the CBOK ?

Is it mandatory ?

Should I include all CBOK topics which I have experience of ?

Thanks,
Sad, unappreciated, frustrated scotsman

Hi, I wrote 11 pages on the CBOK (RPL application form) including a bibliography of books read, journals etc. This was in addition to the 2 * 1000 word project reports. I'm don't know if this was too much but I got approved just before Christmas. I think the main thing is to show what you have learnt over your career, how your methods have changed, how you keep up to date with new technologies etc rather than just listing off what you did. I did repeat a fair bit in the CBOK on my project reports also. Hope this helps!

I presume you do not have an IT degree which is why you are taking the RPL approach?

The project reports are of importance, however in my experience they were the easiest part to write! I chose one project from around 3 years ago and one more recent one. Wrote approx 1000 words on each and then attached a couple of screenshots as appendices. Yes they are mandatory and I think with your experience should be fairly straight forward.

I struggled a little more with the CBOK at first, luckily my agent was very helpful (thanks George!). I would say my CBOK doc was a little over-done, if I recall correctly it ended up being around 80 odd pages. I would say that it is more than possible to complete the CBOK in 40 pages (or less). Then again I say "better safe than sorry", I expect my assessor fell asleep part way through and just passed me anyway or jumped in terror when they saw the size of it.

However I have worked in a variety of IT programming roles and projects including sales and am happy writing proposals and other professional documents. I also included some Table of Contents from specifications and proposals I had written, some brief code snippets and some screen shots and plans etc.

I ended up writing about 8 of the CBOK areas:

Conceptual Modeling
Data Structures and Algorithms
Ethical/Social Implications/Professional Practice
Interpersonal Communications
Program Design and Implementation
Project Management
Software Engineering and Methodologies
Systems Analysis and Design

I had added a couple of others however, in the end on the advice of my agent, I removed them as although I thought I had enough knoweldge on those subjects it wasn't coming across in the writing properly.

The key thing with doing the CBOK is to write about WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNT not what you have done, sounds easy, yet I found it very frustrating!!!

Good luck, I found once the CBOK was done the rest of the visa process seemed rather simple!



alex

Just to say that i did pretty much exactly the same as Alex - and i totally agree with the frustrating bit. I found it difficult to know at what level to pitch the reports at in the end i think i wrote one at a very basic level another at a slightly more advanced level and the final one (yes i did three!!) in depth discussing normalisation of databases, White box vs Black box testing, datatypes and differences between them, model view controller etc, etc etc.... As a footnote for each of the reports i added a little 'what i learnt from this development' i.e i learnt to investigate further and ask different questions etc..

Good luck

Can't remember how many pages mine ran to but it was 14,000+ words, plus the two x 1000 word project reports.
I wrote something for evey topic I knew something about (I think I wrote something for 13 or 14 topics, though some were a bit short). As the others have said, the key thing is to show what you learned along the way and how you learned it, not just what you did. I've heard people say they wrote about as few as 8 of the CBOK topics and got a pass so I couldn't say (and I doubt anyone else could) how much ACS require specifically.
I pitched mine at somebody with above average technical knowledge and like one of the others said, I pity the poor guy who had to digest it!

Just to put in in context - my entire submission (inc passport pages, certificates etc, etc..) came in at a little over 1 kilo in weight !!!!

Thanks to those of you who replied.

Yes I don't have an IT degree, hence the dreaded RPL. I was however anticipating a different route up until last week - the BCS one. I had joined the BCS in September, then applied for Chartered status, which was granted on 21/01/05. All too easy I was thinking, as this would have satisfied the qualifications criteria. At least, that is, until I was hit with the bombshell that they no longer accept BCS - apparently because it's too easy to become chartered !!

So with hindsight I could have ignored the BCS, and started the RPL 4 months ago, and (maybe) had it finished by now. But, I'll just get on and slog through it.

SUFS.

Hi,

Just to let you know I am in the same position as you except I have my BCS interview in a couple of weeks and I was informed last week of the rule change. I started writing my RPL this week.

Some good advice in this thread. Thanks

Good Luck SUFS

mattmc

Hope you don't take too long to get through it Matt.

Good luck.

I wrote 32 pages on the CBOK topics and included everything I have experience of even if I don't use it anymore. I didn't attempt five sections. I managed to pull mine together in just over a week and sent it to my agent on Wednesday 2nd Feb with my two project reports - so fingers crossed. I included a bibliography at the back detailing books I had read, magazines I read and web sites I visit.

Thanks for the info. You must be the faster typer in the west, or else you took a week off work !!

Grateful if you'd let me know what your agent thinks.

SUFS.

Not really, I just devoted two weekends to it (well most of). My agent vetted each CBOK piece as I went along so I knew what needed tidying up, adding etc. He was great and kept up with the speed of the emails I kept sending him to check. Now we just have to see what the ACS think - fingers crossed

Good luck with the ACS !!