Things to consider in an employment reference letter

Are you applying for Skilled Migration to Australia as an ICT professional but you do not have sufficient ICT qualification? Then a perfect employment reference letter will help you showcase your knowledge and skills in the nominated field of occupation. If you want your ACS skill assessment to be a success then following things should be considered in your employment reference letter.

• Work experience must be at a professional ICT level and relevant to the nominated occupation (ANZSCO) to be assessed as suitable.
• Accumulate sufficient work experience before applying for the Skills Assessment. ACS has set a criteria for minimum work experience required to meet skill level requirement. Work experience only after the skill level requirement met date is counted as Skilled Employment and eligible for the migration points.
• Work experience before meeting the skill level requirement are not considered as skilled employment and not eligible for migration points. And your RPL will be assessed as “Not suitable due to lack of experience”.
• While writing an employment reference, mention the start and end dates of each employment in a DD/MM/YY format. If your employment is “Current”, then state the term “To Date” and include the date the reference was written.
• You can include as many employment tasks as possible in your reference letter. But make sure those tasks are relevant to your nominated occupation. It is stated that at least 65% of the duties detailed in the employment reference must be relevant to the nominated occupation for the experience to be deemed closely related to the nominated occupation (ANZSCO). Otherwise the reference will be assessed as “Not suitable due to lack of information”.
• Work experience carried out as part of a qualification is not considered for skilled employment and will be reported as “Concurrent Employment”.
• Minimum of 20 hours per week is considered as a full time work. So if you are including full time or part time work in the reference, be sure to meet the criteria and mention the worked hours clearly in the reference letter.
• All references must contain specific information from your employer regarding your performed duties and the skills applied on the job. References without the specific details of your duties will be assessed as “Not suitable due to lack of information”.
• Don’t forget to write the name of the country where the employment was undertaken. If you have worked in multiple countries for one company, the employment reference must show the specific dates and corresponding locations where the employment was accomplished.
• Employment Reference letter must be signed by your employer or any person authorized by your employer. The name, position and contact details of the person making the reference must be clearly included.
• Reference should be certified as a valid copy by an authorized notary. Only the certified copy of the employment reference letter is considered for the ACS Skills Assessment.
• Include your actual work and experience in the reference letter. Never copy from other resources.
• Since employment reference is the proof of your competency, try to be more specific to the nominated occupation and explain employment duties and responsibilities you performed in the field that highlights your strong areas.

ACS processing time for an RPL case

 Here we try to describe about the time for a ACS RPL report processing.There is no fixed timeframe for the completion of ACS skill assessment. Once you submit your RPL application, it takes around eight to ten weeks. ACS suggests all its applicants to allow at least 10-12 weeks for the completion of your ACS skills assessment. But the application processing time can vary depending on the quality of the documentation and information you provide.