Australia welcomes Engineers and provides them with great social and family benefits that are not available anywhere else in the world. It has great weather, free Education and Medical facilities for all, and above all, a great number of job opportunities for engineers.Engineers choose Australia to be able to live a better life and secure the future of their children. The major hurdle that you might face in migrating to Australia as a skilled person is to write the CDR which gets assessed positively by EA and win you a visa approval.
EA Skill Assessment Process
The Migration Skills Assessment process by Engineers Australia usually takes about 4 to 7 months through the normal route. To migrate to Australia under the Skilled Migration Scheme, it is important that your engineering discipline is listed in the Skilled Occupations List (SOL) at the time you apply.If your engineering discipline is in the SOL list, you have to submit an Expression of Interest (EOI) through Skill Select. You will have to show that you have the necessary skills and qualifications for your nominated occupation.There are different ANZSCO Occupation Codes for all engineers. You will have to choose which ones you want to apply for.
The Engineers Australia (EA) is responsible for assessing your engineering skills and qualifications and pass on its report to the Skill Select. If you are able to acquire the required number of points, i.e. at least 60 points, you will be invited to apply for the visa within 60 days of assessment process.Only those who are under the age of 45 can apply for skilled migration. To show your English competence, you will need an IELTS score of 6 or more in each of the four test components (Reading, Writing, Listening, and Speaking) or at least 12 for Listening, 13 for Reading, 18 for Speaking, and 21 for Writing in the Test of English as a Foreign Language internet-based test (TOEFL iBT) test. Do remember that the test scores are valid for only three years as far as EA assessment is concerned.
For the purpose of Australian immigration, EA categorizes engineers under the following categories:
• Professional Engineer
• Engineering Technologist
• Engineering Associate
• Engineering Manager
Engineers who do not possess Australian qualifications or Washington Accord qualifications need to submit a Competency Demonstration Report (CDR) to prove that they match the standards and skill sets of an Australian engineer.
A CDR includes:
• Continuous Professional Development (CPD) list: This list shows all you have done to grow as an engineer after completing your graduation in the field. This may include books you have read, tech seminars and workshops you have attended, and the training programs you were a part of.
• Three Career Episodes (CEs): EA lists competencies it is looking for engineers of different skill levels. The Career Episode writing allows you to showcase that. These three narratives have to be crafted very carefully. You need technical precision and the ability to follow the style sheet closely to pen down good-enough career episodes.
• Summary Statement: A summary statement is not an ordinary summary. You have to fish out the exactly where you have highlighted a particular competency EA is looking for in your Career Episodes. Hence, you have to number the paragraphs of your Career Episodes as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3…; 2.1, 2.2, 2.3…; and 3.1, 3.2, 3.3… You can then mention these numbers in your Summary Statement.