Do we need a formal assessment of computing skills

[fefifo72]

Hi first post so bare with me. We have been looking at the many pages of info regarding emigration to New Zealand. Am I right in thinking that my OH skills of 8 years in computing( has a degree) does not need to be assessed by any governing body. I know that for Ozz you have to go through the ACS society.
Thanks for the help

[JandM]

Hello and welcome.

As he has a degree, that should be a good start - I'm being hesitant, because some people have found that the actual wording of the course title didn't meet the requirements of INZ for IT, so you will need to check that specifically. But assuming all is well there, he will need to provide proof of the jobs he has held in the eight years, in particular, the job title, the hours per week worked, and the specific skills used and responsibilities undertaken.

If you'd care to give the name of the course he followed, we have lots of forum members in the IT area who will be able to comment in detail.

[nikcho]

I second JandM -- I had a problem with the wording of the degree. The Operational Manual states that in order to be claim points in the long term skilled shortage list one needs to have "Bachelor Degree (Level 7) qualification majoring in computer science, information science or information technology AND three years of relevant work experience"
I have a Master's degree in Information Systems from an exempt university (in the USA). So my Master's degree was automatically recognized as level 9. However "Information Systems" is not any of the three qualifications listed in the OM, so I was asked to submit a full NZQA assessment which to my pleasant surprise covered all three. I was awarded "Bachelor of Information Technology at Level 7 (360 credits)" --AND-- "Master of Computer and Information Sciences at Level 9 (240 credits)"

So in your case all depends on the wording. If your school is exempt, and the wording of your qualification matches the requirement of the OM, then you do not need an assessment (or at the most you need a PAR which is about $140 and does not need any documents - only an online form) In any other case, you will need a full IQA which costs $700 and which is a bit more time consuming.

[fefifo72]

Hi JandM, thanks for getting back to us

I have a degree in Computing from the robert gordon university in Aberdeen, Scotland. I have been working as an Analyst/Developer(programmer) for the last 10 years with two different companies, I work with microsoft technology mostly, c#, .net, ssrs, sql server, also been using java for the last 5 years and also used delphi pascal for the first 4 years i was working.

thanks Jim & Fee

[JandM]

I'm sure you'll get some comments when the IT people see your post.