Candidates
Q: How much will the RC process
cost?
A: It really depends on how competent you
are. This process is interview based and ALSO involves the assessor
observing you at work. The more they can see your work in action, and the
more you can talk about your skills and abilities, the better. You will
need to enrol with a registered training organisation (RTO) to complete your
assessment and costs will vary between them. Most should be able to give
you an estimate of what you could expect a recognition process to cost you.
Q: How
long does the process take?
A: That depends on a couple of things - how
many units of competency you are applying for and how competent you are
already. If you are only applying for a couple of units, the training
organisation may be able to cover all the units in one or two visits. If
you are applying for a whole qualification, then obviously they will need to
see you more. If they need more evidence, that is, if they need to see you
demonstrate your skills again, they may need to do other visits.
If you are very competent and are able to demonstrate a lot of skills in a
couple of visits that might be all it takes. If you need training, or if
you need to gain more experience before another assessment, then it may take
a little longer.
Regardless of how many units you are applying for, undertaking a recognition
process should be significantly easier, cheaper and take less time than
enrolling in and completing a whole course.
A training organisation will be able to tell you more about what you might
need to do for your industry.
Q:
What if I dont have pieces of paper to prove my skills?
A: You may not need to. The recognising competency model allows the
assessor to observe you at work and to interview you and ask you about your
previous experience and skills. This is a perfect opportunity to
demonstrate your skills in real time and allow the assessor to see first
hand how you work. The assessor will also be able to ask you about your
current position and you can give examples of people you have worked with,
products you have developed, or projects you have been involved in.
You will be asked to complete an audit of your skills and the training
organisation will be asking another person like a colleague or manager to
complete the same audit. This will tell the assessor how competent you
think you are, and how competent others think you are. This will be some of
the paper evidence that you might need.
Q: Will I have to do training?
A: That also depends on your skills. You may
have very little training to do to fill the gap between what you know and
what you need to know to gain a qualification or you may have a lot. Again,
talk to a training organisation, they will be able to give you an estimate
of what they think your gaps might be based on your previous experience.
Q: What sort of training would I
need to do?
A: This will depend on the unit of competency that you are being assessed on
and if it is a practical skill or a body of knowledge that you need to
learn.
Training organisations have a variety of teaching methods that they deliver
a number of ways. This can include class based or online training. Some
have flexible learning materials that you can complete in your own time,
whilst others do training one on one in the workplace. You may be able to
research and study from the library. It really depends on the unit and the
industry that you are working in.
Before you enrol with a training organisation we suggest that you talk to
them about the different training opportunities that they have you need to
find once that suits your own learning style and capacity to complete the
course.
Q: Is the qualification the same
as if it was completed through training?
A: YES whether you completed a qualification
by attending classes, studying on-line, completing a course via
correspondence, completing a traineeship or apprenticeship through a
workplace or by any other means undertaking a recognition process and
being assessed as competent also means that you have achieved the
qualification.
Competency based training & assessment means that once you are competent
you are deemed competent regardless of how you learnt the skills or
knowledge. You still need to demonstrate that you have the skills to an
assessor as you would if you attended a full time course but the way you
demonstrate your skills is different. Both are valid and both mean that in
the end you will have the same qualification as anyone else.
Employers
Q: What will the RC process cost
me?
A: If you have staff that you wish to put
through an RC process, the cost generally sits with the staff member. You
may choose to pay for your staff to undertake an RC process if you feel
there is some return on your investment. Costs vary from organisation to
organisation and from staff member to staff member it really depends on
the industry and how competent your staff are already.
During the recognition process, there will be times when the training
organisation will visit your workplace to interview and observe your staff
at work. These times will be negotiated with you, but if your staff need to
be removed from the workplace in order to be interviewed you may have down
time. Talk to the training organisation about how they can complete the
observation and assessment whilst still meeting your business needs.
Q: Is there funding available?
A: There are a number of State and Federal
Government initiatives that provide funding for employers and employees to
undertake training and assessment. Talk to an Apprenticeship centre or a
training organisation about your staff and what options are available to you
both.
Q: Is the qualification the same
as if it was completed through training?
A: YES whether someone completes a
qualification by attending classes, studying on-line, completing a course
via correspondence, completing a traineeship or apprenticeship through a
workplace or by any other means - undertaking a recognition process and
being assessed as competent also means that they have achieved the
qualification.
Competency based training & assessment means that once someone is competent
they are deemed competent regardless of how they learnt the skills or
knowledge. Your staff still need to demonstrate to an assessor that they
have the skills as they would if they attended a full time course but the
way they are able to demonstrate those skills is different. Both are valid
and both mean that in the end they will have the same qualification.
Q: What role does the
organisation/workplace have during the process?
A: The candidate (your staff member) will need
you or a representative from your organisation to complete an Employer
Nomination for them. This basically says that your organisation nominates
them for the process and that you believe that they have the necessary
skills and knowledge to be able to participate. You will have this
confidence in them from observing them at work.
The candidate and the training organisation will also need a 3rd
party to complete a skills audit. This person should be someone that has
the qualification that they are applying for, or at least the industry
skills and knowledge to that level and should be someone that has regularly
worked with this person or who observes them at work.
The role of this person is to rate their skills according to how competent
they feel they perform that skill in the workplace. This will form part of
the evidence that the assessor uses to make a judgement about their
competence.
The assessor may need to talk to this 3rd party during the
recognition process to confirm their view of competency. This should not
take time away from their role and can be organised at a time that suits
your business needs.