Are you planning to submit a Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) report for a qualification you acquired through your work experience? If yes, you must provide employment reference letters as evidence to support your claim. An employment reference letter is a document that your employer or manager writes to confirm your job duties, skills, and experience.
The Australian Computer Society (ACS) is responsible for undertaking skills assessments for the Department of Australian Home Affairs. You need to nominate your occupation to assess your skills, and your ICT knowledge and skills will be tested based on it. Applicants who lack an adequate ICT background must undergo RPL assessment pathways.
An essential part of the RPL report is the employment reference letter. It is crucial to provide detailed information about your academic qualifications and work experience, reflecting your skills and capabilities, to be assessed as suitable in the migration skills assessment.
This blog will discuss the guidelines for writing an employment reference letter and provide sample reference letters for an RPL report to ensure a positive skill assessment.
Read More: Guidelines for writing a perfect ACS RPL report. 👍👍
Introduction to RPL and Employment Reference Letters
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) is a process through which individuals can receive credit for their prior learning, including work experience, formal training, and informal learning. Employment reference letters are one of the key documents that are required to support an ACS RPL application.
These letters help the assessor understand your job duties, skills, and experience and how they relate to the qualification you are applying for. So, you have to prepare an effective employment reference letter for skill assessment.
Employment criteria for skills assessment
For skills assessment, your employment must fulfill the following criteria:
- Paid employment: You must be rewarded for working at least 20 hours per week. Unpaid, partially paid, or volunteer services will not be counted as employees for skill level assessment.
- Employment period: The employment completed after you met the ACS suitability criteria will only be counted as skilled employment. The work experience used to meet the suitability criteria will not be counted as skilled employment.
- Single employment episode: Only one employment episode can be claimed if you have multiple employments with different employers for the same period. If you provide multiple employment episodes, only the one with the best outcome will be selected, and the others will be tagged as “concurrent employment.”
- Recognized ICT teaching: The ICT teaching must be at an institution recognized by the ACS assessment and at the level of AQF or higher.
- No research work for the thesis: The work you’ve done for your thesis will not be accepted as part of your employment experience. You need to provide evidence from your employer that states the other research work you’ve done other than that which is a direct input to your thesis.
Learn More: How to avoid RPL rejection from ACS? 🤔🤔
Employment Reference Letter format
The following format should be followed while writing an employment reference letter:
- Dates: The start and finish dates of the employment period in a DD/MM/YYYY format
- Employment position: State your employment position
- Duties performed: List all the duties performed that reflect your nominated occupation
- Roles and duties: Describe the roles and duties performed for the same employer, if applicable
- Total hours worked: Details on total hours worked per week
- Employment location: State the country where your employment was undertaken
- Authorized signature: Organization letterhead, along with a signature from an authorized person. Digital signatures are acceptable, but they must be verifiable.
Inside and outside Australian employment records
Each period of employment inside Australia must be recorded separately in an online application. Employment outside Australia also must be recorded separately in an online application if you worked for different employers, or the outside Australian employment is broken up with Australian employment episodes.
This could be listed as Australian employment if you have worked in other countries, excluding Australia, under the same employer in an occupation closely related to your claimed field.
Read More: Top 10 ICT job demands in Australia. 💪💪
Payment detail
Your employment payment evidence must include at least two categories according to your skill level.
- Official tax payment record/document
- Payment slip including the name of the employer and applicant
- Insurance records for the employment
- Bank statements with salary payments from the employer
Outlines for unacceptable work experience
Here are some of the unacceptable work experiences which you should discard in your RPL report:
Parallel Employment
If the candidates perform one employment cycle and another employment episode simultaneously, only one employment episode will be recognized at a time.
Not closely related to the nominated ANZSCO field.
The roles and responsibilities not associated with the assigned ANZSCO occupation are based on the documents’ proof.
Not assessable due to not enough documentation
If your provided documentation doesn’t follow the Skills Assessment guidelines necessities or is not insufficient to meet the assessment standards.
Not assessable due to inadequate detail
The provided documents need more information for the candidates to make migration skill assessments.
Example of Employment Reference sample
Here is an example of an employment reference letter sample for your reference.
Date: 20/04/2023
To Whom it may Concern,
This is to certify that Mr. Johnson worked with Intelligent Pathways Ltd. in Sydney, Australia, as a full-time employee from February 16, 2014, to April 20, 2023, as a software engineer (ANZSCO 261313).
He performed the following roles and responsibilities while in the position:
- Identifying technical difficulties and challenges, software or system execution, system preservation, repair, update, and configuration
- Databases, Operating security systems are all subjected to troubleshooting.
- Device testing, detecting and reviewing functionality errors and defects, and writing codes in any language.
- To ensure the programs run as per plan and ensure quality levels.
- Supervise the product and review to ensure the quality of the products or services.
- Planning and Implementing quality audit inspections, as well as analyzing and assessing processes
- To ensure conventional protocols and practices, it is essential to identify variations and possible high-risk zones.
- Observing and Auditing policies and practices to suggest appropriate action plans and resolution improvements
- Connecting with customers and Administrators ensures that Standards, practices, and quality adherence concerns and actions are understood and followed.
- To fulfill customer demands, develop, manage, and validate new and current products.
- Supplying employees with technical assistance
- Prepare technical documentation, which includes procedural, educational, and current products.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Puth
CEO
What do you need to include Employment Reference Letter?
The employment reference letter must include everything you submit in an RPL form. You need to submit the stale file to the ACS for the assessment. Following are the factors you need to consider while providing employment reference letter services:
Writing
A professionally planned and written employment reference letter with a clear set of academic qualifications, history, work experience, achievements, goals, and credentials is how to make an impression with the Australian Computer Society (ACS).
Reading
Applicants must provide 100% plagiarism-free, authentic content in the reference letter. So there is no chance of RPL rejection due to plagiarism.
Proofreading
Proofreading is reviewing the final report to verify consistency and accuracy in grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting.
Things to consider for the Employment Reference Letter
According to ACS Skill Assessment Guidelines, every employment reference needs to include the following information:
1. Employee dates
Employment Reference must include start and end dates specified in a DD/MM/YY format. You should include the “To Date” and the “Date in the reference letter”, if your employment is current.
2. Duties and responsibilities
The Employment Reference Letter needs to include all the duties and responsibilities conducted by the applicant in the time frame. And all the performed responsibilities are related to the occupation.
3. Worked an hour
Need to include total worked hours as a full-time or part-time employee. It needs to be 20 hours per week at maximum.
4. Country
You need to mention the country where you were employed. If you have worked in multiple countries for one country, then the employment reference letter will clearly show specific dates in different locations.
5. Company letterhead and author signature
The employee must sign reference letters or a person approved by your employer. You need to include the name, position, and contact details of the person with referrals.
Learn More: Step-by-step process for ACS Skill Assessment. 🌟🌟
6. Certification
An employment reference letter must be certified as a valid copy by an authorized notary.
Tips for Writing an Effective Employment Reference Letter for RPL
To ensure that your employment reference letter is effective, you should follow these tips:
- Use a professional tone: The letter should be written professionally and avoid unnecessary jargon or technical terms.
- Provide specific examples: The letter should provide specific examples of your skills and experience and how they relate to the qualification that you are applying for.
- Be honest: The letter should be honest and accurate and contain no false or misleading information.
- Use appropriate formatting: The letter should be formatted clearly, concisely, and easily read.
- Proofread for errors: The letter should be proofread for any errors or typos and free from grammatical or spelling mistakes.
Get expert help
Employment reference letters are essential documents for supporting an ACS RPL application. They provide evidence of your work experience, skills, and abilities, which are crucial for demonstrating your competence in a particular field. By following the ACS skills assessment guidelines and tips in this blog, you can ensure that your employment reference letter is compelling and persuasive and can help you succeed in your RPL application.
ACSRPLAustralia has professional expertise in the ICT field, which helps you prepare RPL reports. They have a sound understanding of ACS guidelines. We provide 100% original Employment Reference letter samples and a complete RPL Report preparation service.