# About ACS Skill Assesment pertaining the Software Tester or ICT QA Engineer



## dvishwakarma (Sep 26, 2012)

Hi All, 

I am planning to apply for PR visa in Australia. I have the following qualifications and experience

Educational Qualifications - Bachelor of Arts(Political Science Major)
Professional Experience - 5years 2 Months of experience as Software Quality Analyst(Equivalent to Software Tester or Quality Engineer) in Software Company(VeriskAnalytics). Its a CMMI Level 3 Certified company

I guess i will have to go for RPL. What chances are there for the positive response regarding my skill assessment from ACS? Please let me know your views on this if anyone has had the similar cases. 
Thanks
Deepak Vishwakarma


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## espresso (Nov 2, 2012)

Hi dvishwakarma, 

since your degree does not match your employment you will indeed have to go the RPL route. 

Personally, I found the ACS Skills Assessment Guidelines for Applicants most helpful when I prepared my application. Unfortunately, the guidelines also state that:



> Applicants require a *minimum of 6 years *of full time professional ICT skilled employment in a field closely related to the nominated occupation ANZSCO Code.


As I see it you will need to work at your current company 10 more months until you fulfill that criteria. However, you can already begin the preparations and start to fill out the ACS Project Report Form. You have to demonstrate that you have *acquired a level of knowledge equivalent to a formal tertiary ICT qualification*, which is quite a lot of work. This requires looking at the ICT Key Areas of Knowledge (as defined by ACS) and explaining in detail how you learned, applied and evaluated these techniques and principles in your daily work. But take heart - I'm sure that after more than five years in your job you can answer these questions. 

Another quick thought: Maybe you already have or would be willing to obtain some *vendor certifications* (from Microsoft, Cisco, Novell etc. - full list in the guidelines)? These count like a Diploma with a major in ICT would theoretically put you in skill group B. However, I am not sure if they would count your work experience prior to the vendor certification as skilled, thus you might not get around the full RPL application in this scenario either... maybe somebody else can help with that?

If you tell us which ANZSCO code (Software Tester?) you plan to apply for, maybe other forum members can give more detailed tips. 

All the best , 
Monika


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## dvishwakarma (Sep 26, 2012)

Hi Monika, Thank you for views. And reading your views, definitely lets me believe that i will have to wait for around 10 months or so to go for Skill Assessment. For vendor certifications i have several in house on the job training certifications like ORACLE(Oracle Certified Associate),Agile Certified Scrum Master(CSM) and many more. And i feel this would also add to the skills values. 

Also since my current job is similar to Software Tester Occupation in CSOL i would have my skills assessed on that post itself. Please suggest since roles and responsibilities for both ICT Quality Assurance Engineer(263211) and Software Tester(261314) are same. Moving on, can you provide the details on which states are open to above occupations. 

Looking to hear from you.

Regards,
Deepak Vishwakarma


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## Mission_Australia (Apr 25, 2013)

HI friends,

First of All this is an Amazing blog and hats off to all the members. Hoping to get a lot of guidance from you bright minds.

Age –31 —points 30
IELTS — all sections above 7… points 10
Education— B.E Electronics and MBA Finance(both from MUMBAI university)…points 15
Skilled work — 3 plus in Information technology(Business Analyst)..points 5
Total 60 points

Query:
1) Education is BE electronics(note only electronics and not electronics and communication) and MBA finance and currently working in IT Banking and finance sector. Will I need a RPL or will a normal assessment from ACS do. Since I dont have 6yrs experience in IT I dont qualify for RPL. Also do i need to send the MBA marksheets to ACS or any other organisation

2) My first company I was hired as a BA(on paper) but my job roles were closely associated with QA or Software test engineer(2 years). My current company I am a full time BA(1.5 yrs). Will the testing role be considered a closely related job and can be used in the points system.If yes can I apply under skill code 261111 to ACS. After chasing my previous company i manged to get a refernce letter which has broad software testing roles which any tester would have. My current company cannot provide me a letter(have it on email from HR which I intend to send) but my immediate manager can provide a sworn declaration stating that I am a full time BA with my roles. Additionaly I have also completed a internal company diploma in Business Analysis which is endorsed by IIBA(international institute of business analysis). Will that help to make my application strong

3) My spouse has done her BCOM and MBA Finance, Is 28 yrs old and is working as Research associate. Has IELTS of 6 plus in all bands. Although her skills are in the demand list its not the same category as mine. Can i claim for spouse points?

Please let me know if i am eligible…Applying for ICT Businees Analyst(261111)


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