Skilled Work Experience Points under new SMC policy clarification

[gayyanm]

Hi,

I have a fairly technical question re the work experience recognition under the new scheme.

The rule says that for getting points based on prior work experience you need to follow two rules:
1. It should be comparable to an ANZSCO occupation
AND
2. Person should be suitably qualified for the job.

See SM7.10.1 here: https://www.immigration.govt.nz/opsmanual/66799.htm


Now, here is where my confusion lies:

For point 2 (suitably qualified), I quote SMC 7.10.10:

SM7.10.10 ‘Suitably qualified’

a. An applicant will be assessed as suitably qualified in terms of SM7.10.1 (b) above if they hold a relevant qualification as specified in the ANZSCO for that occupation.
b. For the purposes of this provision, a qualification is relevant to an applicant’s employment in a skill level 1, 2 or 3 occupation for which they are claiming points for skilled work experience if:
-the major subject area of the principal applicant's recognised qualification is directly applicable to the employment; or
-an immigration officer is satisfied that the qualification was a key factor in the employer's decision to employ the principal applicant in that position.



Now, in the above bold portion, do both a AND b need to be satisfied or is it a OR b?


If you go through the smc manual, INZ are very clear as to where it is "and", but here it is not the case. How should I read these rules? For my past profession, ANZSCO says only a bachelor's is needed. My bachelor's is, however, not exactly in the field of my past job.

I think it would be very lame to say that someone who's studying English has to have work experience only in English related fields. They could, very legitimately and easily, get into something like advertising and social media marketing. It is all about transferring your skills, I think.

Sometimes people get selected for a role just because they took that one course in college that shone on their transcript for the recruiter (even if their degree is not exactly what the recruiter wanted). How will INZ accomodate such cases? For instance, my current manager has a PhD in Genetics, but is doing management consulting now. That's because she is really good with large sets of data.

ChrisMwn, JandM and other members, any thoughts?

[JandM]

I read this as meaning that paragraph b is explaining the terms of paragraph a - stating what INZ are prepared to consider "relevant".

I can't comment on what how that would apply to your own situation because you haven't said what your career is, or which ANZSCO classification you have been looking at.

For people who don't have a relevant qualification, but who have solid provable work experience in their job, see SM7.10.15, on that same link.

[gayyanm]

Thanks JandM. My work experience is 2 years as a management consultant, and now also I am in the same skilled job (ANZSCO code) here in NZ.

Here are the details:
2007-2011: Got a B.Sc in physics (level 7, exempt from assessment)
2011-2013: Worked as a management consultant
2014-2016: Pursued Master's of Business Economics (Assessed at level 9)
2016-present: Working as a senior consultant in NZ

As you would know, consulting is a field that can't be tied to one sort of bachelor's. There is, infact, no program that can just hand out consulting knowledge in a classroom course. It is all about new perspective and out of box thinking, and that's what the interviewers look for.

Do you think I can claim 10 points for my work experience that I have from 2014-2016 or is this "Suitably qualified" condition going to ruin my chances?

[JandM]

I see the problem. I know that under the old rules, people sometimes managed to argue their case - that is was part of the development of their knowledge leading to their present expert state, even though it was before qualification that is nominally relevant. As we're in the era of the new regulations, I don't think this has been tested yet. It would be arguable, but who's to say how the argument would come out...?

[gayyanm]

Hmm..I get your point, JandM. Thanks!

As of now, I am able to claim 160 points only if I include 10 points of my work experience. I am not feeling sure if I should go ahead and submit an EOI.

I tried asking this question to the INZ people, but, like you have said earlier, they are human FAQs and they said physics is not relevant to consulting. It was hard to explain the nuances over a phone call.

Could you or ChrisMwn please suggest if it is worthwhile to go ahead with an SMC application?

I understand that no assessment is a guarantee of anything and I am willing to take some risk, but I would not want to waste time and effort if it is clear rejection right here. I would at least like to get to an ITA stage so that I get a chance to argue for myself. Any help will be really appreciated.

[JandM]

I don't think there is any way to know what percentage of a chance you would have for this.

How long is there on your present visa? I'm just thinking, as time passes, your record for which points will definitely be available (including a bonus for its being NZ experience) is lengthening also.

[param912003]

Hi there,

I absolutely understand your problem. I think this provision needs to be better worded and explained in the operations manual. All those people who do degrees like MBAs will especially lose out here, because that's the entire point of an MBA-change careers by getting more into the management side of things.

A friend of mine is exactly in the same situation. His LIA has warned him of this complication before hand. But if it is any assurance, his LIA has given a green light to EOI submission at least, but is almost certain that the "suitably qualified" criterion will create hassles when a CO assesses his case. Don't interpret this as being applicable to your case, because it might be different.

Let's wait for the experienced members to respond.

[gayyanm]

Thanks JandM and param912003.

I am on an essential skills work visa at the moment. If I were to claim points for NZ 1 year work experience, I will have to wait until December 2017 and get my application in Jan 2018 perhaps. I know it is not that long a wait really, but with the election debates on immigration getting all heated up, I have been a bit anxious about my SMC application.

[JandM]

I don't think there is much chance of another big change in the SMC regulations before then, after what has just so recently happened.

[gayyanm]

I really hope so, JandM. Thanks a lot for your help. param912003, it would be great if you could update me as to what happens with your friend. If he gets an ITA, it would be some sort of a precedent for me. I understand no two cases are the same, but it just shows how INZ are implementing the new rules vis-a-vis such cases.