7 common mistakes to avoid in an assessment application for a professional occupation

1. Not including the relevant qualification documents

There are some additional requirements for qualifications obtained from specific regions of the world. These include China, Europe, the Philippines and Lebanon.

You should ensure that you understand the requirements for the documents specific to the country of origin.

2. Submitting an incomplete application

We often find we don’t receive documents that cover a particular period of employment or that support proof of you completing a qualification. You must provide evidence of all the employment periods as well as your formal academic qualifications that relate to your occupation, not just the most recent ones.

3. Assuming an occupation is assessed by occupation title only

The types of work done in one occupation can vary between countries and applicants need to ensure they understand the requirements of their occupation in Australia. This is set by the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations (ANZSCO).

Someone who does a particular job in their home country may find their application under this occupation is unsuccessful because they do not meet the educational and/or work experience qualifications required for this role in Australia. It is important to read the ANZSCO definition and tasks before submitting an application to understand the significance of the ANZSCO definition and the required skill levels. We also have information sheets available for most of the occupations that we assess.

We offer an additional and optional Skills Assessment Support service for professional occupations, and this can be helpful for people seeking clarification about the criteria for an occupation.

The Service provides a 30-minute phone consultation about our skills assessment criteria for occupational classifications. You can find more information here

4. Not having sufficient employment duration at the time of lodging an application. 

At least a full calendar year of employment within the last five years of the application lodgement date is required.

5. Lodging a Priority Processing application for a second or subsequent application. 

Priority Processing is only available to returning applicants:

• If they have not previously received a negative outcome for the occupation nominated
• They wish to renew an application that has previously been assessed positively for both the employment and qualifications
• They are applying for reassessment for a new occupation.

6. Not providing the applicant's contact details (their phone number and email address) when an agent/lawyer is lodging the application. 

This can significantly delay the assessment process if an assessor needs to contact the applicant directly. Sometimes the assessor has a question or needs to verify qualification and/or employment information.

7. Not supplying original language and/or English translation documents

If documents are not issued in English, you must submit copies of the originals as well as an English translation made by a registered translation service. Documents in the original language without a translation will not be accepted.

An application will be assessed much more quickly if these mistakes are avoided.

Applicants are usually eager to get the process rolling and can be frustrated by the time taken to gather their documents. However, the effort taken at this stage will be worth the time taken.

To find out more about assessment criteria, go to this page.