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Data Science is not in the SOL List. Will I still be eligible for PR?Here’s a simple problem — You chose Data Science and you’re excited about pursuing your masters in Australia. Your end goal however, is to get PR. But you heard that Data Science is not listed in Skilled Occupations List (SOL). Darn! Your friends tell you that you can’t apply for PR with having an SOL-listed job. You go to Quora, facebook, whatsapp and hear a 100 different views — some say you cannot apply for PR, some suggest to choose a different job and other say it’s just going to be a little difficult. You then find a hint of hope in believing that Data Science will be added to the SOL list very soon, because c’mon, it’s in such huge demand! But in the end, you’re just simply confused.I hope by the end of this article, you will be confused a 100 times more — and eventually get a proper overview of the entire process, as related to you.But before, we must settle one question once for all.Firstly, is it necessary to have an SOL-listed job in order to apply for PR?The answer is a resounding yes. It is mandatory that you have an SOL-listed job for PR. In fact, the very first step for PR application is nominating an occupation from the list! Here’s a screenshot from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) website that mentions Skilled Independent Visa’s requirements.✪ Note: Visa subclass 189 the proper name for PR. There’s also a state-sponsored Visa subclass 190.Here’s another one from DIBP —It will become more obvious are go further. But before, what the heck is this Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List?!NOTE: Since April 19, 2017 ‘Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List’ (MLTSSL) replaced the previous ‘Skilled Occupation List’ (SOL). However, in this article, I shall continue to use the term SOL. If you see that long phrase anywhere, just keep in mind that they’re referring to what was known as SOL.✪ ✪ NOTE: As I was the writing the article, DIBP has updated its page on Visa 189 and the new one makes it even more clear. Here’s a look —Now that we’ve settled that question — First, let’s start with an an overview of the PR process , as relevant to those without an SOL-listed job — we shall examine each step in detail later.STEP 1 — NOMINATING A JOBLet’s start with the first step — nominating a job from the SOL list. Currently, there is no job titled “Data Analyst” or “Data Scientist” — there are a few close ones however, like ‘Database Administrator’ , ‘Analyst Programmer’ etc.This leads us to an important question —Question: Since there’s no Data Science job in the SOL list, how can I nominate a job? Does that mean I will have to find a job as a Business Analyst or an Analyst Programmer — and can’t work as a Data Scientist till I get my PR?Answer:That is one option, yes. You could do your masters in Data Analytics and start your career as a Business Analyst — just for the sake of PR. However, there’s another option. You don’t actually need to have the exact job — your job could be ‘closely related’ to one you’ve nominated. This is great news!Check this screenshot from the ACS website. (We’ll get to who’s ACS? later).✪ Note: ANZSCO code simply means your Job title. Like “261311 — Analyst Programmer” or “261111 ICT Business Analysts”.Now comes an obvious question — What does it mean to be “closely related”? Who gets to decide whether my masters is closely related or not? Well, keep reading. We’ll address that in Stage-3 of Skills Assessment.STEP 2 — SKILLS ASSESSMENTOnce you nominate a job from the SOL that you think is the closest to your qualifications and employment, you will send all your documents for skills assessment.The Assessing authority for Computer Science, IT, Analytics related fields is the Australian Computer Society (ACS). Once you have finalised and nominated an occupation, you would submit your application to the ACS — and hope they will determine the result as being ‘closely related’.The ultimate goal is that by the end of your assessment, you will be labelled “suitable” — keep that word in mind as we’ll visit it many times.It’s important to know that the ACS will assess two things —Your educational qualifications (your masters degree, including each unit)Your work experience✪ Note: ICT just means “Information and Communication Technology”, kinda like IT.Step 1 — Establish which AQF level your qualifications satisfy. You will get a result between “Level 1” and “Level 10”. We’ll explore this later.Step 2 — Analyse all your courses and units. The result of your assessment will be one of the following — ICT Major, ICT Minor or Insufficient. Again, more on this later.Step 3 — Determine which percentage of your units are relevant to the job you nominated.Step 5 — Assess your work experience.Before we start exploring these four steps in detail, this would be a good time to take a break and talk about “Suitability Criteria” — specifically, The ACS Summary of Criteria Requirements for a Suitable ICT Skills Assessment Result☞ Remember when we said above — being labelled as ‘suitable’ is the whole goal in that 2nd step in PR process.Requirements for getting a “Suitable ICT Skills” Assessment —Here’s a screenshot of the guidelines given by the ACS. We shall analyse it in detail below.Let’s break this down — very important!● You should have first completed an Australian Bachelors or Masters — meaning, you cannot apply while you’re still pursuing it.● Remember in the 2nd step of skills assessment, where after analysing your units, the result will be given as of three options? (Major, Minor or Unlisted) Well, you must receive the outcome as being “Major”. How do you get that? Don’t worry, we’ll get to it.● You should have 1 year of relevant work experience OR you could complete an ACS Professional Year Program (which will cost you about 6 lakhs)● Keep in mind that your work experience should be after you finished your Masters.Again, there’s a very clear, well-defined guidelines for deciding whether or not your work experience is relevant or not. We’ll get to that soon.Alright, now that we understand the requirements for suitability criteria, lets get back to understanding each stages in the skills assessment process.STAGE 1 — AQF COMPARABILITYSo in Australia, there’s these things called AQF Levels — where each part of your education has a particular level. I’ll just post this chart, we don’t need to be bothered very much by this, but you could come and refer to this if needed.Since we’re in Level 9, we should have to worry about this. Moving on.STAGE 2 — ASSESSING EACH INDIVIDUAL UNITS FROM YOUR MASTERSNow this is pretty big, so be patient with me please.Guidelines for deciding whether your qualifications will be deemed as Major, Minor or Unlisted —First the screenshot and then we’ll detail it further.In simple terms —If your course does not have a pre-requisite (Bachelor with ICT Major — like major in IT, CS etc) then,● You should have at least 2 trimesters or 1 year of full-time ICT content (what ICT content? we’ll get to it)● Overall, 50% of your units must be ICT, in a 2-year Masters course.● However, if your course does have such a pre-requisite, 33% of your units must have ICT content.If you satisfy these, you would be classified as having an ICT Major. But that’s not enough. You would also need to have your qualifications “closely related” to the job you have nominated.✪ NOTE — in addition to having a ‘Major’, to be “closely related to your job” , 65% of your units must be relevant to the occupation you nominated in the first step!Now comes the big question —STAGE 3 — What are these “Relevant Units”?These relevant units are job-specific, which is why it’s important for you to research carefully which job best suites your qualifications and work experience.✪ Note: Suppose you submit your application by nominating one job — and after the assessment is finished, they conclude your qualifications better suit another job (and hence increase you chance of PR), you could pay a fee of $200 and change the job you nominated first. However, ACS is unable to guide you whether or not your qualifications are suitable until the entire assessment process is completed (which lasts about 12 weeks).Coming back, there’s this thing called the ANSZCO code, which outlines very clearly, the units and work experience required to be “closely related” to your nominated job. I’ll post few screenshots below, and the link the to the manual at the bottom.It’s extremely helpful to be aware of the units in the ANSZCO code, so that you will choose those specific electives in your masters!Firstly, these are the jobs that we, as Data Scientists could nominate.Here are the courses required for those jobs —1. ICT Business Analyst✪ Note: It’s important to have sufficient Core ICT courses in your curriculum. How much? I’m not sure.You could look through the required courses for other jobs in the pdf that I’ll attach below (ANZSCO Code).Additional Information —They also accept certifications from Microsoft and Cisco — but only Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert and Microsoft Certified Solutions Developer.If you have those Vendor certifications, you will be treated as ICT Major in AQF Level 5. (Diploma Level).There might be additional conditions with regards to Vendor Certifications and I suggest you to refer the manual (Page 10).We reached the end of “qualifications assessment” — this concludes Stage-3. Now, let’s move on to work experience.STAGE 4 — Relevant Work ExperienceThis step is also pretty complicated and I can’t do justice to all the readers as they come from different backgrounds and different levels of experience. I’ll just briefly mention the important points and you could refer the manual for further details.✪ Note: Only the work experience that you do after your masters will be counted as skilled employment and be used for migration purposes.Alright then, let’s revisit this screenshot again:Similar to your course units, 65% of your ‘duties and responsibilities’ in your reference letter must be related to the job you nominate.But then,How do I know which ‘duties and responsibilities’ are closely related to the job in nominate?Lets get back to the ANZSCO Code Information — along with required ICT course units, this also provides the required duties and responsibilities that need to be mentioned in the reference letter for a specific job.I’ll just post one example. You can look at the rest yourself.Finally, here’s a sample employment reference letter. (Again, there are many other things you should note and conditions that might apply to you personally — hence, I strongly urge you to read the Manual, Page 11)Last Question: What if I don’t have a relevant work experience? Is there an alternative?Yes!Luckily, the ACS also provides a Professional Year Program —● This 1 year training program can substitute any lack of work experience● It costs about 6–7 Lakhs● You will also get 5 PR points for doing this program, under Skilled Occupations List.More details and eligibility criteria here — https://www.acs.org.au/cpd-education/professional-year-program.htmlAlright, that’s it. Phew!Of course, there’s like a billion other little things — but as Data Scientists without an SOL-listed job, these are things that we should be aware of, before starting our program — so that we could select our electives carefully.Cheers!REFERENCES —DIBP Page on Visa 189 and its requirements — https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Visa-1/189-#tab-content-1Skills Assessment Guidelines for Applicants (The Manual!) — http://more.acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0020/7319/Skills-Assessment-Guidelines-for-Applicants.pdfACS Summary of Criteria Requirements for a Suitable ICT Skills Assessment Result — http://more.acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0016/7324/Summary-of-Criteria-2014.pdfANZSCO Code Descriptions — http://more.acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/7641/ANZSCO-Descriptions-2015.pdfDIBP Page on Skills assessment and assessing authorities — https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/Work/Skills-assessment-and-assessing-authoritiesMedium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL) — https://www.border.gov.au/Trav/Work/Work/Skills-assessment-and-assessing-authorities/skilled-occupations-lists/mltssl

Disclaimer: The following are my thoughts and views. It might not be what you think or might have experiencrd. Also the details are as such on the date it is published. Things change every year. So some facts that are given might have changed over time.MS in Germany is very demanding and widely sought out throughout the world for reasons such as:Low / No Tuition Fee ( a low fees called semester fees included which is around 350 Euro. Very few colleges have high tuition fee)Prospective Job Market in a developed country such as GermanyInternational CommunityTravel Options: Could travel across Europe if you are a traveler ( approx. 26 countries normally known as Schengen Countries)The Major Cons are:German Language is given a high priority and even if its not mandatory, its best for you if you want to live in Germany for an extended period of time.The Tax is high, but you can make up for it with the high standard of living.In this thread I would like to mention about only about MS in Engineering FieldsFind your interests or range of interest for doing MS. Make a list of the colleges and courses it offers. Go in depth and research about these. Know more about the curriculum, job market etc. You can get a basic idea about this from the DAAD website and for more information to the course website. German Academic Exchange Service - DAAD Now you have made a shortlist. You can use the LinkedIn platform for finding students in particular colleges or alumni who will give advise on the same.There are two kinds of Universities: Technical Universities (denoted as TU/TH) and University of Applied Sciences(FH/HS). Technical universities are mostly research focused and you may find the courses to be more theoretical. Applied universities are more industry oriented and practical's would be more compared to technical universities. However, you should take a caution as to whether you would be able to do PhD with a masters degree from an FH/HS or as if it may be valid in your home country for PhD. As well as for courses with 90 credits, just bear in mind, you might be required to do further 30 credits. I am not entirely sure, but you may find people in LinkedIn and could get a better understanding.Point to Note from experience: Pre requisites and credits are given a high value. There are more chances of rejects if you do not fulfil the criteria.There are lots of common requirements for courses in Germany. Documents such as Transcript, Letter of Recommendation, Letter of Motivation (SOP), Bachelor degree certificate, Language Certificate {TOEFL/IELTS).There are two semesters in a year: Summer ( starts around April) and Winter (starts around October). The application period starts around July- August for Summer and October-November for Winter. These are for the courses that starts the earliest. So you have to prepare the documents before hand.Some basic doubts regarding the documents:GRE: GRE is not mandatory everywhere, but some universities like RWTH Aachen has made it mandatory. It will be provided in the course application details if you need it or not. I do suggest to take the exam and get a good score around 315–320 as it will boost your profile, if you are having not a particularly great profile. Try to write the exams before the deadline so that you can use it for application across all your listed colleges.GATE( for Indian Students): GATE is mandatory for some courses ( e.g. Computational Science Engineering at TU Munich- require 550/1000). It can be introduced in the coming years as part of a screening process as the number of applications are increasing every subsequent year.Work Experience: It is a positive if you are having a work experience in the field of study you are interested. Still a work experience is an added advantage to your profile. Try to obtain the work experience certificate or proof of the same before application starts. They count internships as well.Letter of Motivation (LOM): This might be the hardest document to prepare, but also the most important. Mostly Universities ask for 1–2 pages. Keep on editing and review to make a perfect LOM. Include points such as Why you want to study the particular course, Why Germany, About your Bachelor thesis, work experience, Club activities, Your interests etc which align well with the course you have chosen. Some university asks for LOM in their letter heads( TU Dortmund/ HS Esslingen etc). Hence be careful and get these done before application starts. Try to make your own LOM and if not possible you can use professional help which I would consider as a waste of money.German Language Proficiency: This is not a major requirement for English Taught courses. Some Universities ask on A1, A2 or B1 certificate during application time due to some German electives present in the course. If you plan to stay in Germany for a long time, German language proficiency is required. Every application portal has a upload option for German Language Certificate. I would suggest you to get an A2 certificate to boost your profile. So start preparations either through Goethe Institutes, Private Institutes or any online material you could access easily.TOEFL/IELTS is a requirement for most of the colleges ( some exempt for Indians in universities like HS Esslingen). If you are pursuing MS outside of Germany check which is common for each country. It could be IELTS. IELTS/TOEFL is an easy exam and for those who find English difficult try to focus on the exam pattern. Materials are available online from different platforms. Check Youtube websites for easy learning. Do free online mock tests from Kaplan as well as your TOEFL/IELTS websites. Most universities ask for an average score. The highest that I’ve seen asked is around 90/120 for TOEFL.Letter of Recommendation (LOR): Try to get a minimum of two recommendation letter which is mandatory everywhere, from your professors. Try to get one from your reporting manager if you are working. Most colleges have the upload option, and some needs post. try getting 5 copies of sorts as well as make it in pdf. Some universities require the professors to enter the details in particular URL, hence you have to be prompt about that as well. If you make a course specific LOR it would be more advantageous. Some university asks for LOR in their letter heads( TU Dortmund/ HS Esslingen etc.).CV- A tabular CV, that shows the details from latest to oldest format is preferred. Some universities ask for CV in their university letter head, hence be careful.CGPA- This is a major factor in getting an admit. Generally application requirements ask for a German GPA < 2.5. Here 1 being highest and 4 being the lowest. You can check out your German GPA from TUM Conversion calculator, which could give an approximate German GPA, as different universities use different formulas Grade Conversion Formula for Grades Earned Outside Germany. If you are currently studying, please do ensure to get a good CGPA.Transcript: Be sure to take 5–10 copies of Transcript from your college beforehand. Some college applications are by post, hence taking 1–2 will be a folly. Additionally you would also be required to send to uni-assist as well, if you chose a college which has a tie up with it.School Leaving Certificate: Universities ask for the school leaving certificate ( 12th grade). Do not confuse it with the marksheet. Please upload the pass certificate.Other Documents: Universities such as TU Dortmund and HS Esslingen requires your rank in college, for which the pdf would be provided in the application website. You have to ensure these are obtained. Check out for other requirements as well.Uni Assist- is a third party organizer which has some tie up with universities for application purposes. They check you CGPA and Bachelor qualification for the university and check if you are eligible for application. When you make a list check out the colleges which process through uni assist. You can go to the uni-assist portal select all these colleges, and upload required documents asked by the colleges. The first college selected requires 70 Euro and further colleges an additional 35 Euro.Google is full of answers and reviews. Check out the BharatinGermany videos, MS in Germany, Bharat in Germany groups in FB, Quora for all your doubts and queries. Make use of LinkedIn Platform to connect to people already in the universities.Yocket: is an app which helps in connecting students. It is an android App. You can select all the universities you wish to choose from and the year. They will create group for particular university and year, where you can ask and exchange queries.You do not need to go to agencies and spend lakhs on getting the consultation. There are lot of frauds happening around the world and you can find yourself there as well. If you are motivated enough, do the hardwork and all these procedures yourself. Finally it's your decision.Don’t wait till the application deadline to apply. Try applying at the start of application for its earlier processing so that you would not be needing to take hasty decision at end. Try getting all the documents mentioned above before applications start to make a hassle free approach. Check out if the application is online or via post and proceed accordingly. If you feel your profile is weak, try strengthening it from applying early, better LOM, LOR , German Language proficiency etc.If you wanna know what is a blocked account and what is Expatrio :Eby George's answer to What is a blocked account? How is it used in Germany?If you wanna know about TOEFL: Eby George's answer to How should I prepare for TOEFL?If you wanna know about German Student Visa Procedure: Eby George's answer to How can I get a German visa to study there?ALL THE BEST TO YOU GUYS

Prior to joining Big 4 in 2010, I sent my application as an email to the Graduate Recruitment Program opening that I got to know during the Career Fair. I emailed my resume and a brief cover letter in February 2010 and got their response in May, 2010. One of the criteria for applying to them was that the student should be graduating in 2010 and of Finance / Accounting background. I met the initial criteria so I got pre-screened.The next stage was filling in the application form. Back in those days, the firm in which I applied sent a PDF document, which I had to fill up hand-written and answer questions about myself; courses taken; last GPA before the final semester; expected GPA and CGPA and would it be beyond 3.0 / 4.0. I remember giving satisfactory responses and it was a pain filling up almost 15 pages of Application Form and then scanning it to be sent on the email ID mentioned in the document. As a proof, they also requested me to send the latest copy of the grade list showing the scores earned on each of the courses throughout my under-graduation program and school certificate copies.After that, I received a pre-screening call from them within a week and I spoke for about 15 minutes. Then, after another week, I got an online assessment link to be completed within 1 week prior to getting a feedback on my application.Then, in the first week of June 2010, I got a call for face-to-face interview with the Assurance Audit Manager. It lasted for one hour wherein he interviewed me on basic things about my resume and qualifications; interests; hobby and future plans. No technical knowledge tested in that interview. I thought the interview went well and hoped I would get selected. Then, after one week, I get another email saying that I am short-listed for the Final Interview and Assessment on 01 July 2010. It was supposed to be a day-long affair wherein I would be asked to make a presentation; do a written assessment (similar to the online one); have a technical interview with the Assurance Partner and group discussion. In between, they provided breakfast and lunch and unlimited snacks to make sure we had copious energy to undergo this drill.I personally felt that my performance in group discussion was average as I was not the initiator but the assessor’s feedback was that I chose to give appropriate answers without digressing from the topic, which was commendable. The interview with the Audit Partner was also hilarious to me as he was busy eating his banana and sipping his green tea while asking me the same questions about my CV. I expected some technical questions to come by and was surprised that none came in.After the day long assessment, we all were told (there were 35 of us on that day) that the results would be announced within 3 weeks as they had to assess close to 100 applicants.I got the news of my selection on 29 July 2010, which was my birthday. I think that was the best birthday gift I could have asked for. I was one of the 35 candidates who got selected out of the 100 aspirants and, from there, my journey in Big 4 started with endless training; long hours of work; studying for ACCA and learning about the different industry practices.When making my employment contract, they asked me for my final degree copy. Because my degree was yet to be stamped by the US authorities (since my university was affiliated to American InterContinental University), I submitted my grade sheet and school certificates to proceed with employment contract.That was my story of 2010. I am yet to hear how the hiring process has changed these days in Big 4 for the graduate programs.