# Is phd an experience if its paid... need help to nominate an occupation



## johny007 (Jan 11, 2014)

Hello friends,

I am planning to apply for skill assessment under vettases but not able to nominate an occupation.My qualification is
Bsc Biophysics(Hons)
Msc Biophysics (HONS)
Phd biotechnology

During my phd I've been awarded Australian Endeavour fellowship for six month and worked there as a visiting research fellow in Victoria university. I also worked as a teaching assistant for more then four years during my Phd in India and also got paid for that. Will they consider my experience??

I spoke to Y-axis people and they are telling me that my profile suits best for university lecturer but I am not sure about that.

Please help me to nominate the right occupation as per my qualification. I am confused between Life scientist(general),Biotechnologist and University lecturer/tutor. Kindly help me with state sponsorship as well. Which state to nominate for?

Your help and advice will be highly appreciated!

Looking forward to your quick reply.

Thanks and Regards


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## BlackBelt (Jan 18, 2011)

Short answer: Yes! But you will need to prove it, with reference letters, for example.


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## rohanimb (Nov 16, 2013)

Hi johny007,

If you are looking for state sponsorship, first go to each state website for list occupations they are giving sponsorship, then choose your relevant occupation from those lists. Because all states may not sponsor same occupation and each state has its own rules to provide sponsorship. Thats why you have to first check those list of occupations.


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## johny007 (Jan 11, 2014)

BlackBelt said:


> Short answer: Yes! But you will need to prove it, with reference letters, for example.


Thank you friend.. but need some more description,,,


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## johny007 (Jan 11, 2014)

rohanimb said:


> Hi johny007,
> 
> If you are looking for state sponsorship, first go to each state website for list occupations they are giving sponsorship, then choose your relevant occupation from those lists. Because all states may not sponsor same occupation and each state has its own rules to provide sponsorship. Thats why you have to first check those list of occupations.


Thank you rohan for your guidance.. But I am confused over choosing the right occupation.. can you help me in this as per my qualification..?


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## johny007 (Jan 11, 2014)

Is there any one who has gone through the same problem or facing the same problem as me?


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## Survivor (Dec 14, 2013)

I was in similar situation, I was planning to submit my documents as University Lecturer .. This occupation is on the CSOL list only and the only state that was sponsoring this occupation (University Lecturer not tutor) was NSW,,, but NSW closed nomination for this year and will open again on July 2014 but there is no indication how their list will look like so no one knows if University Lecturer will be on the list again or not....

If you are willing to wait and see what will happen next July then wait and u can apply for Vetassess while waiting (Vetassess process takes 3-4 months) .. but u may not find the occupation on the list and u may find it !!!!

If u have another occupation that is on SOL and u can prove it by Employment reference that states your duties, working hours ( for vetassess you need at least 20 hours per week), salary , period of employment ,, and proof of salary like payslip, bank statement , salary certificate ..... then go for this occupation.

Anyway you have to make sure that the job duties for this occupation matches the job duties as indicated in the ANZSCO.


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## JoannaAch (Oct 11, 2011)

johny007 said:


> Hello friends, I am planning to apply for skill assessment under vettases but not able to nominate an occupation.My qualification is Bsc Biophysics(Hons) Msc Biophysics (HONS) Phd biotechnology During my phd I've been awarded Australian Endeavour fellowship for six month and worked there as a visiting research fellow in Victoria university. I also worked as a teaching assistant for more then four years during my Phd in India and also got paid for that. Will they consider my experience?? I spoke to Y-axis people and they are telling me that my profile suits best for university lecturer but I am not sure about that. Please help me to nominate the right occupation as per my qualification. I am confused between Life scientist(general),Biotechnologist and University lecturer/tutor. Kindly help me with state sponsorship as well. Which state to nominate for? Your help and advice will be highly appreciated! Looking forward to your quick reply. Thanks and Regards


Check Life Scientist (nec) on Victoria State Nomination list (I think you would need 5 years + experience to get it) and on Qld list (I ma not sure about the requirements). You can get assessment for your work during PhD if you have been paid salary and worked full time (20h/week).
You can also aim for University Lecturer and NSW sponsorship, but as mentioned before it is closed until July...


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## johny007 (Jan 11, 2014)

JoannaAch said:


> Check Life Scientist (nec) on Victoria State Nomination list (I think you would need 5 years + experience to get it) and on Qld list (I ma not sure about the requirements). You can get assessment for your work during PhD if you have been paid salary and worked full time (20h/week).
> You can also aim for University Lecturer and NSW sponsorship, but as mentioned before it is closed until July...


Hi Joanna

Thanks for your reply.
well, the problem in my case is that I was getting paid for teaching assistant but in my uni bank AC its reflecting as scholarship and stipend.But i can get the experience letter and salary certificate on university letter head from HOD stating that I've been working as TA(with task description) for full time and got paid for it.Will that be sufficient for vettasses or do i have to show my bank statement too?
Please suggest how I should present my work experience and nominating University lecturer would be fine as per my experience and qualification.


Looking forward to hear from you soon.

Thanks


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## JoannaAch (Oct 11, 2011)

johny007 said:


> Hi Joanna Thanks for your reply. well, the problem in my case is that I was getting paid for teaching assistant but in my uni bank AC its reflecting as scholarship and stipend.But i can get the experience letter and salary certificate on university letter head from HOD stating that I've been working as TA(with task description) for full time and got paid for it.Will that be sufficient for vettasses or do i have to show my bank statement too? Please suggest how I should present my work experience and nominating University lecturer would be fine as per my experience and qualification. Looking forward to hear from you soon. Thanks


Sorry, that's way to complicated for me to comment on I don't get what is a uni bank AC - I was either getting a normal salary slip each month listing all the taxes etc I paid or when on stipend I was just receiving money into my account.
Have you considered asking a migration agent for initial advice?


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## JoannaAch (Oct 11, 2011)

Scattley said:


> I can see two misunderstandings. 1) a PhD is considered an apprenticeship even if paid and even if you do tutoring as tutoring is part of your apprenticeship Only post PHD post doctoral positions count towards your experience CS 2) no university in Australia hires lecturers without at least one 3 year post doc position. I have sat on many interview panels and they are were 2-3 post docks of experience to get an interview..then they have to give two guest lectures which they are graded on. We would never look at a new PhD graduate....a Lecturer in Australia is the LAST job a researcher gets not a FIRST job like in many Asian countries. It's the pinnacle.


Hi, I agree with you on the 2nd point. I never understood how Uni Lecturer accoring to vetassess just needs a Bachelor qualification. What University would let a graduate with just a BSc lecture students? Some PhD students hold TA positions, but they usually already have some experience or at least a Master degree...

As for the first point - I guess it depends what is the field of the PhD - for life scientists, the responsibilities and roles don't change that much after PhD graduation... For example, I have been working full time as a "young researcher" for 3 years at an institute during my PhD, not participating in any lectures or taking exams. That is no different from a normal postdoctoral researcher position.


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## AncientGlory (Aug 23, 2012)

I completed my PhD in Australia and was getting paid in forms of scholarships for the whole three and half years I spent studying. One of the conditions for the scholarship was that I have to come and "work" in the university for at least 6 hours a day. I guess that must mean something?

Although I did not look into using my experience as a PhD candidate as work experience, I heard that one guy from my uni, somehow convinced ACS his PhD research work is work experience and got a positive assessment. 

So this is something certainly worth looking into in my opinion.


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## AncientGlory (Aug 23, 2012)

Scattley said:


> 2) no university in Australia hires lecturers without at least one 3 year post doc position. I have sat on many interview panels and they are were 2-3 post docks of experience to get an interview..then they have to give two guest lectures which they are graded on. We would never look at a new PhD graduate....a Lecturer in Australia is the LAST job a researcher gets not a FIRST job like in many Asian countries. It's the pinnacle.


This is why I'm moving to the industry. As a fresh PhD graduate, I cannot compete with post docs.


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## Scattley (Jul 30, 2012)

JoannaAch said:


> As for the first point - I guess it depends what is the field of the PhD - for life scientists, the responsibilities and roles don't change that much after PhD graduation... For example, I have been working full time as a "young researcher" for 3 years at an institute during my PhD, not participating in any lectures or taking exams. That is no different from a normal postdoctoral researcher position.



I am coming from the life science field. Post docs, including the first one, are expected to get NHMRC or ARC grants in their first or second year at the uni in their post doc. Only the very good PhD students in their last year tend to apply for these grants. Usually if a post doc can't get one that will at least pay their salary then they loose the position...PhD students are there until the end of the scholarship or they have their PhD..post docs are not.


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## JoannaAch (Oct 11, 2011)

Scattley said:


> I am coming from the life science field. Post docs, including the first one, are expected to get NHMRC or ARC grants in their first or second year at the uni in their post doc. Only the very good PhD students in their last year tend to apply for these grants. Usually if a post doc can't get one that will at least pay their salary then they loose the position...PhD students are there until the end of the scholarship or they have their PhD..post docs are not.


It seems to be different if you are not working at the University, but at a scientific institute. Not all researchers at my institute are expected to get their own grants, however it would be great if they would. Salaries for some young postdocs are covered by the PI's grant. And to start and continue my PhD I also needed to apply for grants (special for PhD students of course). PhD students from German (that's where I did it) usually have 1-2 research publications before they graduate, so no way they could compete for grants like NHMRC or ARC right away...

But back to the topic - you can easily get your PhD experience assessed as skilled for skills assessment by Vetassess, as long as you have prove that you worked full time (more than 20h per fortnight) and was paid a normal, taxable salary (and have a way to prove it). At least it worked for me


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## Survivor (Dec 14, 2013)

I think Scattley means it can't be used as experience to get assessed as University Lecturer although if there was lecturing duties with separate paying during the PhD then it may work....

The question also if it can be assessed as work experience for another occupation, for example if it is PhD in any science field then you may present it as duties for scientist occupation .. or PhD in planning then put the duties done in the research as job duties taken as urban planner and so on ... 
what do u think guys !!!!!


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## JoannaAch (Oct 11, 2011)

Survivor said:


> I think Scattley means it can't be used as experience to get assessed as University Lecturer although if there was lecturing duties with separate paying during the PhD then it may work.... The question also if it can be assessed as work experience for another occupation, for example if it is PhD in any science field then you may present it as duties for scientist occupation .. or PhD in planning then put the duties done in the research as job duties taken as urban planner and so on ... what do u think guys !!!!!


I don't know anything about assessment as Uni Lecturer. I think most of the people that got their phd work assessed as work experience were applying under different occupations, like Life Scientist or some IT or Engineering jobs.


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## johny007 (Jan 11, 2014)

JoannaAch said:


> I don't know anything about assessment as Uni Lecturer. I think most of the people that got their phd work assessed as work experience were applying under different occupations, like Life Scientist or some IT or Engineering jobs.


HI Joanna,

I appreciate your help.

I think i should nominate life scientist rather then University lecturer. It seems, applying as uni lecturer is bit problematic at this satge. but if I nominate Life scientist, will they consider my experience. what experience they require for life scientist as my Phd is in Biotechnology(sub-specialization is food biotechnology).I was working on probiotic beverages.

Actually the salary which i was getting for Teaching Assistantship is reflecting as Scholarship/stipend in my bank A/C.But i can get letter from my institute that i was paid for my TA and it was minimum 4 to 5 hrs per day. will that be sufficient?

There's one more thing which i would like to share with you, actually my teaching experience is till dec 2012 and after that i was busy in thesis preparation.I did not take any class after that.I completed my phd in oct2013. So i have more then one year gap now since its 2014 now. will it affect my case?

Thanks


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