Monthly Archives: January 2014

You Can’t Ignore Benefits of RPL

MORE IDEASIf you are looking to upgrade your qualifications and have skills and knowledge developed in your career, recognition of prior learning (RPL) and skills recognition could be the perfect option for you.

Get Qualified Australia uses RPL assessment to reviews your career experience and matches it against the competency requirements in Nationally Recognised Qualifications.  RPL is a valid assessment method endorsed within the Australian Qualifications Framework.  It can be used to issue Australian qualifications in the vocational education and training sector.

RPL provides an opportunity to “fast track” qualifications based on your career knowledge, without the need for study.  The simple, fast and convenient self-paced assessment process is used to verify you have clear knowledge and understanding of expected industry standards.

RPL and skills recognition provides numerous advantages, many you may not have considered, so here is my detailed list.

 CONVENIENT, QUICK & PERSONAL

  • RPL is a simple, fast, cheap and legitimate alternative to fulltime study;
  • The RPL assessment process is made personal for each individual and gives consideration to your specific job history, experience, skills and various jobs performed;
  • RPL saves you considerable time and there is generally no requirement for extra study or training (unless gaps are identified); and
  • repetition and duplication of learning will be eliminated because you won’t repeat college training or study.

 DEFINING YOUR EXPERIENCE

  • RPL gives full consideration to all skills and experience you gained working “on the job”.
  • Your career knowledge is clearly defined and verified by “mapping” it against industry standards contained in Training Packages;
  • RPL accurately clarifies the complexity of your knowledge and expertise in overlapping industry fields, so you can easily achieve multiple qualifications; and
  • Self-paced online learning options are available to achieve competency if gaps are identified in your career experience.

FLEXIBLE AND EFFICIENT

  • Flexible timeframes for RPL assessment allow you to gather evidence in your own time, without imposing on current work and personal commitments;
  • Many varied forms of evidence can be used to prove your competency, including manager references, testimonials from industry colleagues, work appraisals, skills reviews, copies of work documents you use or create, projects you have completed, photos, recordings and videos.
  • RPL considers learning that has taken place outside of the ‘formal’ training environment, such as seminars and industry workshops; and
  • Any “informal” experience have you gained can also be used as evidence, including volunteering or charity work, unpaid internships or work experience.

TOP QUALITY

  • RPL is endorsed as part of the Australian Qualification Framework, the guidelines for vocational training and assessment in Australia;
  • Your career evidence is reviewed by skills assessors that are highly qualified in their industry fields and hold the qualifications being assessed;
  • You are issued with a Nationally Recognised Qualification from a Registered Training Organisation with a full list of the Units of Competency you achieved; and
  • Pathways to complete further study at a higher level are available and the qualification can be used to obtain credit exemptions– this includes tertiary university study such as Bachelor Degrees, Graduate Certificates, Graduate Diplomas and Masters Degrees.

GETTING AHEAD IN YOUR CAREER

  • As you gain qualifications your confidence, self-esteem and a sense of accomplishment will increase, because your career skills are fully confirmed and validated;
  • Industry peers and colleagues will know your skills and experience has been reviewed using complex RPL assessment processes;
  • Adding qualifications to your resume will open up career options such as promotions, pay rises and it will give you more credentials when seek new job opportunities;
  • RPL provides access to qualifications for people that might not normally have opportunity to complete ‘traditional’ study due to commitments and financial limitations; and
  • RPL builds and strengthens your options for ‘lifelong learning” and encourages people to continue with further study and career advancement opportunities.

If you are currently considering options for studying, you should definitely look at RPL and skills recognition with Get Qualified Australia first.  You will be surprised with the range of qualifications that you could be eligible to obtain.

It’s a quick, simple and effective method to upgrade your career options.

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RPL and Your New Year Resolution

Are you one of the many people that made a new years resolution to find a new job, get a promotion, ask for a pay rise or even change your career?  Are you seeking more money, respect from colleagues and peers, opportunities to use your expert skills?

We are already two weeks into 2014, so what are you doing about making it happen?  Are you still sitting around dreaming about the future and how to make the changes, or are you acting on your decisions with a clear focus?  Are you already making the same old excuses that keep holding you back, or do you already have some new ones?  If you haven’t made an effort to get your career progression started, don’t keep wasting time procrastinating.

If you are currently trying to figure out the best options or considering methods to move forward, you should consider the benefits of recognition of prior learning (RPL) and skills recognition.  This can provide you with a simple, cheap, quick alternative to fulltime studying that can help to fast track your career and save you from further unnecessary hard grind in the workplace.

Get Qualified Australia are experts in RPL and skills recognition, a comprehensive method for conducting assessment used to check and confirm your current level of industry experience.  It sounds complex, but it is really quite straightforward.  Our highly qualified vocational assessors will help you document, record and collate evidence of the skills and knowledge you have gained in your working life.  They are experts in the qualifications they assess and have worked extensively in industries relating to that qualification.

The types of evidence that can be submitted by each applicant is “flexible” and will reviewed on an individual basis to ensure each assessment is customised to meet your personal experience.  Many varied forms of evidence can be submitted, including industry references, recommendations and testimonials from managers and colleagues, work appraisals, performance reviews, records of both “on the job” and “class based” study or training, projects, reports, copies of industry registrations or licences, even photos of completed work, or video evidence.

It doesn’t matter where or how you have developed your skills and gained understanding and it can be from formal training and education or informal learning – this is the true value of providing flexible evidence for the RPL assessment process.  If you have performed volunteer or charity work, or been involved in unpaid internships or work experience, this is also considered suitable evidence, because it shows you have developed skills and understanding.

All that is required to get the RPL process started is completion of a simple “self-assessment” of your career experience.  This is essential to make a decision on suitable qualifications and the units you will need to complete to be issued the qualification.  Assessors will discuss the types of evidence that you can submit for review and assist you with compiling the evidence into a comprehensive portfolio of your career and life experience that is matched against Training Packages for the qualification.

Training Packages for each qualification are developed by Australian Industry Skills Councils, based on standards for industry and give consideration to the types of jobs that would be performed at each level, particularly with regard to the “employability skills” required to work effectively in a particular job role.

In addition, RPL assessment is fully endorsed according to requirements detailed in the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), the national guidelines for how vocational training assessment is conducted and how qualifications are issued in Australia.  The Training Packages for vocational qualifications are aimed at ensuring people are “job ready” upon completion.

The RPL and skills assessment process developed by Get Qualified Australia uses specialised checklists and evidence verification systems based on the Training Package for each qualification.  This confirms and validates your specific level of understanding of the key industry requirements to be considered “competent”.

Professional assessors provide guidance and support throughout the RPL assessment process to ensure evidence is relevant and relates directly to the qualification, so you don’t waste time.  They will help advise you on specific evidence you can submit that will be sufficient, valid and current so you can be issued with a qualification from one of our Registered Training Organisation (RTO) partners.

For certain trade qualifications, there is also a requirement to undertake practical assessment for defined “technical high risk” units of the qualification.  This will usually only take one or two days to complete either “onsite” where you work, or in a “workshop” training environment.  This practical assessment is necessary to ensure RPL applicants are “competent” and can meet the expected industry quality and safety standards.  Qualified trade assessors conduct the practical assessments for trades, so your professional skills will be verified and confirmed by an industry expert.

Get Qualified Australia has partnership agreements with many of Australia’s leading RTO’s, so you will receive a nationally recognised qualification that proves your career experience.  This qualification will boost your resume, enable potential for promotions, pay rises and new job options, but it can also be used to obtain exemptions if you consider proceeding with study at a higher level.

All that is required to commence the RPL process is to complete a simple career self-assessment, then send in your evidence.  An assessor will do the rest – review and compiling evidence, provide advice, conduct reference checks, verify your skills and experience – so you can get on with your work and personal life.

The RPL process has no fixed time frame for completion, but if you have sufficient valid evidence that demonstrates you are competent, you could be issued with a qualification within weeks.  It depends how long it takes for the evidence to be submitted, compiled, review to be undertaken and a competency decision made by the skills assessor.

All vocational qualifications in Australian allow for RPL, so options are extensive and varied.  You should consider your options today and act upon those resolutions.  Get qualified and advance your career prospects now and leave the hard times behind you.