Monthly Archives: July 2013

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Recognition of Prior Learning Made Easy

Do you have skills and knowledge gained through career experience, prior training or study and even voluntary work, but you don’t have the piece of paper to prove it?  Then Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) could put you on the fast track to obtaining a Nationally Recognised Australian Qualification without having to complete additional classroom study.

RPL Explained

RPL is a simple no stress process of assessing how your skills and experience match Units of Competency within the Australian Training Packages for various industries.  Evidence is submitted in the form of scanned documents that are sent via our secure encrypted file transfer system and the whole process is conducted using online services and phone calls.  Even if your industry experience was gained working overseas, this is still relevant to an Australian RPL application.

Read more about RPL

Benefits of RPL

Get Qualified Australia aim to assist Applicants to develop their current ‘employability skills’.  This is one of the key elements of the RPL process and a focus of Get Qualified Australia is ensuring that individual industry expertise formalised.  RPL speeds up the process of achieving Qualifications.  You don’t have to do further study to prove your experience and the Qualifications are issued quickly once the RPL process is completed.

By listing a Nationally Recognised Qualification on your Resume / CV, it will show that you have professional credentials to match your career and work history.  This will increase your chance of promotions and increases the standard of your skills when you are applying for a new jobs or seeking internal promotions.

Evidence Required

An extensive range of evidence can be used to verify and assess competency of applicants.  This includes contracts of employment & job descriptions, details of training & inductions, performance reviews and appraisals, references from current and past employers, work samples and examples of work you complete ‘on the job’.

Work examples can be presented as documents such as checklists, schedules, reports, emails and correspondence or notes.  But you can also use photos, videos and recordings to show yourself working on the job.  This is particularly useful for applicants using RPL for to complete qualifications for ‘hands on’ jobs such as Hospitality and Trades.

Qualifications Available

Get Qualified Australia offers RPL options for over 400 qualifications across an extensive range of professional industries including Commercial Cookery & Bakery, Tourism & Hospitality, Business & Management, Finance, Marketing, Human Resources, Education & Training, Project Management, Child Care & Age, Transport and Logistics, Trades and many more.

Tertiary Qualifications ranging from Certificate II to Advanced Diploma level can be issued using the RPL assessment process.  Once all your evidence has been sent to GQ Australia and is checked to make sure you are competent, the Qualification Certificate will be issued within 2 to 4 weeks of completion.

If you currently hold an Advanced Diploma and have extensive Department Manager or Executive level industry experience, you can also use established ‘pathways’ to complete Higher Education Qualifications at University level using the RPL process.  You can firstly obtain a Vocational Graduate Certificate or Diploma using RPL, then you can apply for Credit Transfer and exemptions towards Australian MBA programs.

Get Qualified Australia also have partnerships with University Enrolment Consultants that can assist you with finding the right pathway to achieving Higher Education Qualifications.

The RPL process

Professional Industry Skills Assessors from Get Qualified Australia can complete a FREE evaluation of your Resume / CV and suggest suitable qualifications matching your skills and experience.  All you need to do is contact the GQ head Office first and chat to one of the friendly helpful staff so they can give you more information on the RPL process.

You can be assured that the service you will receive is the highest standard.  Get Qualified Australia assessors all hold Australian Training Qualifications and have worked at Executive Management level in their industries and fields of expertise.  They have also worked as trainers and assessors in industry and also at colleges in the lecturing environment.  Because of this experience, they can provide valuable recommendations, advice and guidance to help you achieve a Qualification.

When you complete RPL with Get Qualified Australia, you will be provided with detailed information on how to prepare and submit evidence to support the RPL application.  Your assessor will give you support and guidance throughout the RPL process and assessors are available to talk with you at any time to answer any questions that you might have.

Use Your Current Qualifications

If you already have qualifications attained from previous study, you can use this as evidence to support your Application.  If your qualifications were issued by an Australian RTO, the Academic Transcript which provides a full listing of all the Units of Competency that were successfully completed can be reviewed by RPL Assessors.  If any of the Units are the same is those included in the qualification that you are seeking you will be given Credit Transfers and will not need to complete these Unit.  This ensures that you only have to provide evidence for a reduced number of Units to complete the Qualification successfully.

International Qualifications and Experience

If you have International Qualifications they can be used for RPL, but this Credit Transfer process cannot be completed unless you have had the Qualifications verified by Australian Education International.  This is an Australian Government organization that can assess overseas qualifications in higher education, post-secondary technical and vocational studies and match them to the Australian equivalent.

Any industry experience that you have gained outside of Australia is still relevant for an RPL Application.  However, references need to be written on company letterhead, in English or translated, plus verified by a Justice of the Peace.  Referee contact details are also essential for conducting reference checks to verify your skills and experience.  They will need to be fluent in English so that they can be contacted via email or phone.

Australian Education International can assist you with assessment of overseas qualifications

Getting Started with RPL

For all enquiries please contact Get Qualified Australia on 133 775 and talk with one of our Industry Skills Assessors.  They will ask you to send a copy of your current resume / CV for review and can provide detailed information on RPL.

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Preparing for RPL Assessment

To have your skills formally recognised in the Australian Vocational Education and Training (VET) system, Skills Assessors must make sure you have a sufficient level skills and knowledge required to meet the expected industry standards. This means you will be involved in a comprehensive Assessment process that covers the content of all Units of Competency for the Qualification you are seeking.

Although this process is structured around detailed Training Packages, many aspects of the process are relatively informal and the RPL provides great flexibility. This is highlighted by the fact that it is a self paced process.  You will have a three (3) month time frame to submit your evidence.

You can submit your evidence at anytime during the RPL process as we will provide you with a secure filesharing link so you can upload evidence. The system we use ensures that when you send evidence in electronic format, it is full encrypted and cannot be accessed by any other third party.

There is also a great amount of flexibility in the form of evidence that you can provide to prove your competency. Assessment for RPL is a process of reviewing the evidence you provide and matching your skills, knowledge and experience against the Elements and Performance Criteria in the specific Units of Competency for the Qualification.  This process is commonly known as “skills mapping”.

RPL Assessment will take place in a variety of ways, including your requirement to undertake “self-assessment”. This provides a valuable opportunity for reviewing and analysing your career experience, as well as gathering together documentation and evidence of your skills and knowledge for submission.

Being prepared in advance will save you valuable time and effort, hopefully making the RPL process stress-free to complete.  Here are some tips and hints for you:
  • Be prepared to talk about your job roles and work history which will be recorded by Assessor as a Competency Conversation. This will take place throughout the RPL process, right from the initial stages of making an enquiry. All discussion can have relevance and show your experience and knowledge to be submitted as final evidence.
  • Review your Resume / CV for submission and list all your duties and responsibilities for all jobs. Be sure to list any volunteer or unpaid work, internships, etc as they also show you have gained experience.
  • Contracts of Employment are essential as they validate your current position of employment against details listed in your resume.  Ask your employer for a copy if you don’t have one.
  • Position Description detailing your duties and responsibilities in your job will be valid evidence to match with your Contract of Employment. If you don’t currently have one, this is a chance to work with your employer to develop a Position Description that is relevant to the job that you are performing.
  • Performance Reviews or Appraisals are valid evidence that shows how effectively you have performed in your job role. If you don’t have a copy of your most recent review check if it available from your Manager or HR department.
  • Consider the people within your business / company or any colleagues that you have within the industry that are willing to provide you with a reference. Be sure to contact them and explain the RPL process so that they can be ready to provide you with written references, or so they can be prepared for contact later to provide you testimonials or verbal reference checks.
  • Discuss the RPL process with your Employers and Managers. Your workplace is likely to be highly supportive of your efforts to gain Qualifications and might be willing to provide all the information that you need. Be sure to advise your employer that work based documentation might be required for submission as evidence. Be sure to clarify any issues in relation to Intellectual Property Rights, Confidentiality, Trademarks, etc. If required, business Managers can contact your Assessor to obtain further clarification of the RPL process if required.
  • Think about the people you work with that can confirm your experience and skill level. Think about current or recent Managers or Supervisors who you have worked with in the past 3 years – this is the realistic time frame for valid references. You may also have community group contacts or even clients themselves who can verify your skills and experience. References don’t have to only be from your current Employer or Managers.
  • Gather together copies of any Qualification Certificates and Academic Transcripts that you have for any training you have completed previously. This can be formal or informal training you have undertaken both on and off the job. If you have participated in work based training you might be able to obtain a record from your employer that you can submit as evidence.
  • If you think that you have other relevant evidence or methods you can use to verify your experience and be sure to discuss with your Assessor to clarify if it will be valid to submit. You could be surprised by the diverse forms of evidence you can submit, so don’t be afraid to make suggestions.
If you spend time preparing and organising detailed information and evidence in advance, the process of completing RPL will be much more efficient.  Your RPL Application can be sent to the RTO once the Skills Assessor has reviewed your evidence and established that you have supplied sufficient current and relevant evidence to determine you are competent.
Issuing the Qualification will be a quick proecess as the RTO will review the RPL Assessment documents and the evidence you supplied for final verification of competency.  You will generally receive your Qualification within 2 – 4 weeks.
Detailed information kits will be provided by your Skills Assessor when you commence the RPL process and they can answer any questions that you have.
If you would like any further information on RPL, contact GQ Australia
mystery-door

Sick of that one person that is a total buzz kill when you’re out for a party?

Yeah, we’ve heard it all before and it’s a definite party killer conversation. You’re out with your friends for a fun night out, then someone starts saying “I hate my job”.

Well how’s this for a really simple option – just say “Why don’t you change your career direction by getting a qualification using RPL?”

It’s likely that most people will just look at you with blank expressions on their faces because they don’t know what you’re talking about.  But don’t worry, this is your big opportunity to show you care,  act like a guru, as well as offer a genuine solution.  Plus, it’s a really simple process to explain, so you can get it out the way quickly, then get back to the good times.

Ok, you can tell them about the whole process in four sentences ……

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is a complete review of your career experience and it is combined with a skills recognition assessment when you have work based skills that need to be checked.

You prove that you have industry knowledge and experience using evidence such as contracts, job descriptions, work references and examples of work you have completed.

You can use photos and videos to show yourself completing tasks “on the job”.

The evidence is matched against the units in an Australian qualification and you receive the qualification to verify that you are a legend at what you do.

That’s it.  Nothing more needs to be said.  Your friend will probably say “Oh yeah, that sounds dodgy!”, but they don’t need to worry, because RPL is a completely legitimate method to get qualified quickly and it might just be the perfect solution they are looking for.  The assessment process is endorsed by the Australian Government and you receive a nationally recognised qualification.

The only other thing that you need to say to say is “Do a search for Get Qualfied Australia now then give them a call or send them your resume”.  Everyone has a smart phone so they can do it straight away and when they read about it they can start smiling again while thinking about the great new job they will have next month.

Well, actually, there is one more thing that you need to say to them …… “It’s your shout”

Call our Head Office in Sydney for more information on 1300 88 43 66
Send your resume to [email protected]
Check our website www.gqaustralia.com.au
This was origninal published on our Facebook page
A solid resume drives your career

A Solid Resume Drives Your Career

I’m sure you already know that a good resume can mean the difference between having an interview for your dream job, or missing out on the perfect opportunity.  Your resume should make a positive first impression with potential employers.  They use it to check you have the experience required for the job, analyse your attention to detail and check the quality of writing and communication skills.

With Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL), your resume doesn’t have to be fancy and you won’t get pulled up if there are mistakes or errors, because you are not selling yourelf.  It simply needs to be well detailed and factual content about your previous jobs.

Factual is the key word that you must consider.  It is common knowledge that people tend to create a resume that suits the specifics of a job application, with employment gaps often being filled in, or duties and responsibilities being polished up.  If you are completing a qualification using RPL assessment, then this type of resume should be avoided – you are not window dressing your career, you are listing specific detail of your knowledge, skills and experience.

The first step of the RPL process is to have a Skills Assessor review your past and current career history.  This is where your resume is required.  Units of Competency for the qualification you are completing will be mapped against your career experience.

You need to pay more attention to the quality and volume of the content, rather than how it is formatted or how appealing the design is to the reader.  In particular, you must be completely honest about dates of employment, names of employers and the key duties and tasks that were performed in those jobs.

This is essential, because our Assessors will cross reference job duties listed in your career history against other evidence you provide, to ensure it matches the Elements, Performance Criteria and Employability Skills in each of the Units within the Qualification.

Elements can be considered the key job duties and the Performance Criteria are the steps and tasks taken to fulfill a duty effectively.  Employability Skills would be the key job responsibilities and interchangeable industry skills that ensure you can perform at the expected industry standards, in a range of job roles and positions.

Evidence to be verified against what is listed in your resume includes contracts of employment, job descriptions, performance appraisals, work reviews, references from employers and testimonials from industry colleagues.

Additionally, if your resume says that you can prepare a budget, then you will need to show evidence that this is true, with valid work examples to back it up.  Because we make qualification recommendations based on what you tell us in your resume, you are just wasting time if you can’t prove that you have experience once you enrol to complete a qualification.

The evidence you are required to provide simply backs up your resume. If you can’t do something or don’t have experience, that is OK.  Just be honest and we can make recommendations to suit your personal career history.

Spelling errors, typos or simple mistakes contained in your resume are not important for RPL, although they should still be avoided.  We also don’t require a summary that says you are a wonderful hardworking and honest person with amazing people skills and a desire to be the best you can.  This kind of fluffy and generalised wording can’t be matched against Performance Criteria, so it’s not needed.

Of course, once you complete  RPL assessment and receive a copy of your new qualification, you will definitely need to update of your resume to show this career development.  This is when you can introduce some of the more descriptive writing and elaboate formatting to impress potential employers.

To help you out, here are some good websites and blog articles for writing resumes that will help you get shortlisted for your dream job interview.

From Resume Bear blog Resume Revamp: Would You Hire Yourself

From The Undercover Recruiter 10 Top Features You Must Include in Your Resume