If you’re applying for an Australian trade skills assessment, your overseas employment experience can play an important role in demonstrating that you have the skills and knowledge required for your nominated occupation.
But providing a résumé or stating that you’ve worked in your trade for several years isn’t necessarily enough.
Your employment claims need to be supported by evidence that can be assessed and verified. Under Trades Recognition Australia (TRA) skills assessment programs, applicants are responsible for providing authentic, current and complete evidence, and TRA and its approved Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) can take steps to verify the information supplied.
So, how does this verification work, and what should overseas tradespeople know before applying?
Why Does Your Employment Experience Need to Be Verified?
The purpose of a trade skills assessment is to determine whether you can work in Australia at the required skill level for your nominated occupation.
For programs such as the Temporary Skills Shortage (TSS) Skills Assessment Program, your relevant work experience forms part of determining whether you meet the requirements for assessment. The assessment considers not only whether you’ve been employed, but whether your skills and experience are relevant to the occupation you’re nominating.
This means an assessor needs sufficient evidence to establish that your claimed employment is genuine and that the work you’ve performed is relevant to your trade.
For an overseas cabinetmaker, for example, it’s not enough for a document to simply say that you worked for a furniture or construction company. The evidence needs to help establish the nature of your employment and support the cabinetmaking experience you’re claiming.
1. Your Employment Documents Are Reviewed
One of the first steps is a documentary evidence assessment.
Depending on the assessment program and your individual circumstances, you may be asked to provide documents supporting your:
- Identity
- Qualifications and training
- Employment history
- Skills and experience
- Employment statements
- Payment or financial history
RTOs must be able to verify the content and validity of documents supplied as part of an application. They can also request original documents where required.
The documents you’re asked to provide will depend on the assessment program and your circumstances, so it’s important to follow the requirements given by your approved RTO rather than assuming that one particular document will be sufficient.
2. Employment Statements Help Explain What You Actually Did
Employment evidence isn’t only about proving that you worked for a particular company.
Assessors also need to understand the work you actually performed.
This is particularly important for trades because job titles can differ significantly between countries.
Someone whose overseas job title was Joiner, Furniture Maker, Woodworker or Carpenter, for example, may have performed duties that overlap with cabinetmaking. Conversely, someone with the title Cabinetmaker may have worked in a highly specialised position that doesn’t demonstrate the necessary breadth of skills.
A detailed and accurate employment statement helps the assessor understand your role, employment period and the duties you performed.
The focus should always be on accurately representing your real employment—not trying to make your experience sound closer to the occupation than it actually was.
3. Assessors Look for Consistency
One of the most important aspects of a well-prepared application is consistency.
Your supporting evidence should collectively present an accurate picture of your employment history.
For example, the dates and details provided throughout your application should make sense when compared with the supporting evidence you submit.
If information cannot be verified, further evidence may be requested. TRA’s guidance for its skills assessment programs makes clear that providing a document does not automatically mean an employment claim will be accepted.
Before submitting an application, it therefore makes sense to carefully review your employment history and supporting documentation for accuracy.
4. Evidence of Payment Can Help Verify Employment
Employment verification isn’t based solely on a reference letter.
Depending on the applicable TRA program, applicants may need documentary evidence showing that their claimed employment was paid employment.
For example, TRA’s Migration Skills Assessment requirements include documentary pay evidence and specify that additional evidence can be requested where employment claims cannot be verified.
The exact evidence requirements vary between programs, so applicants should always check the current requirements for the assessment they’re undertaking.
The important takeaway is that an employment reference on its own may not necessarily establish everything an assessor needs to verify.
5. Your Employer or Referee May Be Used to Support Verification
Your employer or another nominated referee can also form part of the assessment process.
For example, the assessor gathers evidence from nominated employers or other referees in addition to conducting the technical interview.
This is another reason why employer and referee information should be genuine, current and accurate.
If an assessor needs clarification about your experience, they need to be able to obtain reliable information supporting the employment and skills you’ve claimed.
6. What If Your Employment Can’t Be Verified?
Sometimes an applicant may genuinely have difficulty proving previous employment.
Perhaps you worked for a small overseas company many years ago, the business has since closed, records are difficult to obtain or an employer can no longer be contacted.
These situations can make verification more complicated.
TRA states in its employment guidance that where employment claims cannot be verified, applicants may be asked to provide additional evidence or obtain further verification directly from the nominated employer. Importantly, simply submitting information doesn’t guarantee that TRA will accept the claimed employment.
If you know there may be difficulty verifying a period of employment, it’s better to identify the issue early rather than waiting until your application is already being assessed.
7. What About Self-Employment?
Self-employed tradespeople may not have a traditional employer who can provide employment records.
Instead, different forms of evidence may be required.
TRA’s employment guidance lists several examples of documents that can help verify overseas self-employment, including business registration records, relevant licences, business or taxation records, invoices, bank statements and statements from registered or certified accountants where applicable.
This allows an assessor to look at multiple independent sources rather than relying solely on the applicant’s own statement that they operated a business.
If you’ve spent several years running your own cabinetmaking business overseas, maintaining good business and financial records can therefore be particularly important.
8. Your Technical Assessment Can Support the Overall Picture
Documents help establish your employment history, but the assessment process can go further.
Where required, applicants who successfully progress through the documentary stage undertake a technical assessment.
The purpose is to assess whether you have the practical knowledge and skills expected of someone working at the required Australian trade level. The documentary evidence needs to sufficiently demonstrate relevant skills and experience before an applicant progresses to the technical assessment.
Depending on the pathway, this may include a technical interview and potentially a practical demonstration.
This means your claimed experience and the trade knowledge you demonstrate should naturally align.
An experienced cabinetmaker who has genuinely performed particular tasks throughout their career should generally be able to discuss their methods, tools, processes, safety considerations and practical experience with an assessor.
9. Documents That Aren’t in English Need Translation
If you’ve worked overseas, there’s a good chance some of your employment documents won’t be in English.
Current guidelines require documents in another language to be supplied with an English translation as well as the original-language document.
Applicants should make sure they follow the specific translation and document requirements for their assessment program.
Don’t simply discard the original document and submit only an English version unless the applicable requirements tell you to do so.
10. Accuracy and Authenticity Matter
Perhaps the most important point is that everything submitted as part of your skills assessment should be genuine and accurate.
TRA states that applicants are responsible for the accuracy and validity of the information they provide and that reasonable steps can be taken to verify information supplied during skills assessments.
If TRA believes information relating to a successful assessment may have been false or misleading, it can investigate further and may require reassessment. In certain circumstances, an assessment outcome can ultimately be revoked and Home Affairs advised.
The goal isn’t to create the application that looks the strongest.
It’s to provide a clear, complete and truthful representation of your actual experience.
How Can You Prepare?
If you’re planning to have your overseas trade experience assessed, preparation can make the process much easier.
Start gathering your employment records early. Review the dates you’ve worked for each employer, make sure your employment statements accurately describe your duties and identify any periods of employment that may be difficult to verify.
If you’ve been self-employed, start locating your business, taxation, invoice and financial records.
Most importantly, don’t assume that because you have many years of trade experience, your employment will automatically be accepted.
The assessment is evidence-based, and that experience needs to be demonstrated appropriately.
How ACTS Visa Skills Can Help
For applicants undertaking an assessment through ACTS Visa Skills, the team can explain the evidence and assessment requirements that apply to your circumstances.
Your approved RTO is an important point of contact during the process. TRA advises applicants to contact their chosen approved RTO, which will check eligibility, explain the assessment requirements and advise what evidence needs to be provided.
If you’re a Cabinetmaker considering an Australian trade skills assessment, contact ACTS Visa Skills to learn more about the assessment process and the evidence that may be required for your circumstances.