Hints and tips

• Your assessor will want to hear about your current (or most recent) job role, responsibilities and employment history, so make some notes to help focus your thoughts and prepare for the discussion.
• Bring a resume or CV that details where you have worked, either paid or unpaid, and what you did there. Remember, even unpaid, volunteer or community work may count towards your RPL as these forms of work still require valuable skills and knowledge.
• Bring your position description and any performance appraisals from the last two years, so that you can explain your job responsibilities and experience clearly and in detail.
• Collect any certificates from workplace or formal training you have undertaken. Bring photocopies of all these, so that you can leave them with your assessor if required.
• Look for other evidence such as letters from employers, records of your professional development sessions or acknowledgements from employers and clients that could count towards your RPL.
• Have everything neatly organised and in order, so that you can easily take your RPL assessor through all the information and put your best case forward. It may be helpful to assemble all your documentary evidence into a portfolio or file.
• Clearly label and index your evidence – your assessor will appreciate it, and so will you! You may be required to use an 'evidence summary sheet' – this is like a cover sheet that details the contents of your evidence portfolio.

• Think about who will be a good validator for your evidence. Usually, this is a current or recent supervisor or manager, but you may also have other people who can vouch for your skill level. Identify the best person(s) for this, and talk to them ahead of time to ensure that they know what's involved and are happy to support you.
• Your assessor may need to contact your workplace so your evidence can be validated. Be sure to let your employer and/or colleagues know about your RPL and that they may be contacted.
• Consider the time it may take you to get together a portfolio of evidence. You may need to do this in the workplace, which could interrupt your work and/or the work of others. Plan a suitable time for this activity, and check with your employer to ensure you have their support.
• Read through all the units of competency for which you are seeking RPL. You can get them all from www.ntis.gov.au. It's important that you know exactly what your assessor will be looking for during the assessment process. In particular, check the range of variables to clarify the language and terms and the application of performance criteria in your own work context.

Getting your evidence together for RPL can be a time-consuming and complex process, but you may be able to save yourself some time and effort by working smarter not harder.

• Talk to your assessor about areas of commonality amongst the units of competency.

  Many assessors take a more holistic approach to RPL assessment, in which they group competencies together into 'skill sets' or similar. An example of this is communication skills, which are a part of almost every unit of competency in most qualifications – these don't get assessed over again for each unit. In the building and construction qualification, there may be several units that contain the same or similar skills and knowledge requirements, so ask your assessor about the best way to gather evidence for these together rather than individually.

• Recent evidence is required.

  Don't waste your time on gathering evidence from years gone by. Your assessor is looking for currency of competence, so use recent projects or workplace documents as evidence. So if you have an outstanding piece of evidence but it's more than two years old, check with your assessor as to whether it can still be deemed relevant. The only general exception to this rule is with academic training and qualifications, which may go back further than five years.

• Aim for quality, not quantity.

  It's better to have two or three very strong pieces of evidence to state your claim for competency, than ten 'weak' pieces. The best approach is to gather up all the evidence you can find, then systematically eliminate some pieces that are not strong, a bit old, slightly irrelevant etc; until you're left with the best pieces for your portfolio. If in doubt, refer to the unit of competency to see what evidence best fits the requirements.

• Check with your assessor for any 'rules' you should know about.

  Before you start compiling your evidence, be sure to talk to your assessor and find out exactly what's required. For example, do referee or third party reports have to be on company letterhead? Are copies of emails acceptable for referee reports or testimonials? Are photocopies of certificates and/or qualifications from training acceptable?