10 years work experience?

Hello - from your experience and knowledge please consider the following:

Whilst studying at university, I was working from aug 94 until early 99 in a part-time capacity as an Analyst Programmer in the construction industry.

The position was a graduate level position, and in fact soon after I started I replaced their highly paid contractors from a consulting company for all development work. I would be able to get a letter from my former employer stating the above.

I graduated in 1998.

Since early 1999 I have been working in various roles in a senior capacity. This has included 'specialist' roles in the media/interactive television domain (3 years in the UK for a digital tv channel as a senior developer/architect - on a company sponsored Work Permit).

On returning and working in Australia I have been working as a senior developer for a large utility company developing internet applications involving enterprise systems.

I was wondering if this would get me the maximum possible points in work experience, according to the caseworkers assessment criteria.

ie. 10 years work experience in a graduate level job including senior or specialist level work experience for 5 years - 50 points

Thanks for your help.
KD.

i think the graduate level work has to be full-time. i think you would get 35 points from the last five years' work experience.

That was my first thought before posting as well - but it can't hurt to check or even apply.

Is this based on your experience, or is it mentioned in IND docs (either notes for caseworkers or an HSMP guide) ?

I can't recall anything specific.

In principle if an applicant has 10 years of work in a graduate level job (not just dipping toes in water) the terms of work should not matter. IND might have a different opinion!

kd.

it says so in the guidance notes, i'm pretty sure the word "full-time" was there. they would know the five years was part-time because they coincide with your university attendance. i think you would have problems if you try to pass it off. you can try, of course, but better rely on points elsewhere.

Dear kd,

Here is how I think about this problem.

In my application I treat part-time work as just as important as fulltime work. HOwever, I recognize that parttime work should be approached as being different from fulltime because of course not the same amount of experience is being accumulated with part time experience. Therefore, I calculate a "full-time equivalent" number of months/years for my parttime experience. I do this by dividing the parttime work in half. So, for a job that lasted one year, I give myself 6 months graduate level credit.

I explain this very carefully in a letter in the application. For each of my positions, including my part-time positions, I show how long I worked the position; then for each part-time position, I show a full-time equivalent amount which I think I should be credited. Then I add up the full time amount and the full time equivalent amont to show the total number of years worked in graduate level positions. I also explain the logic of dividing my part time work time in half, and why I think that this is a fair way to approach my part time work. ( For more about my thoughts about the usefullness of explaining letters written by me, see http://www.immigrationboards.com/viewtopic.php?t=2463

kd, following my formula, you have:

4 years, 4 months at part-time = 2 years, 2 months fulltime equivalent
6 years graduate level full-time = 6.0 years fulltime
TOTAL: 2.0 + 6.0 = 8 years, 2 months in graduate level positions.

(I am counting you as having 6 years becaue 2004 is almost over...)

Maybe an option for you is to wait until you can document another 22 months of graduate level work before submitting an application?

On the other hand, do you really need all ten years? Or can you score additional points in other categories, such as the income category?

I hope this helps.