The professional year program is a job preparation program that combines workplace experience and some formal learning. It is for 44 weeks, where you're meant to do a 12-week internship. You should do a professional year program because you can claim five points towards your Permanent residency and add value to your resume.
The first thing you need to know for a professional year program is the timing of your program. So many students start a professional year program once they have been granted a 485 visa. But you can start your professional year program as soon as you have lodged your 485 visa because all you need is your bridging visa A to start your professional year program. So the earlier you finish your professional year program, the earlier you can claim five points, and you will have more time at the end of your 485 visa to prepare your Permanent residency application.
The second thing you need to know is the provider's location and flexibility.
With ever-changing migration laws and the states changing their requirements all the time, you need a professional year program provider available in most of the states of Australia. What if you want to move states in the middle of the program and find out that your provider is not available in that state? So, you want to ensure that your provider has campuses across Australia and that you can quickly transfer from one campus location to another. Another thing you should check is if they've got weekend and weekday classes and if they're happy to transfer you between those classes because your employment situation may change in the middle of the course. You can switch to a weekend class or a weekday class.
The third thing you need to know is your provider's quality of internships. So, you need to ensure that your provider has access to many more host employers than any other provider and that they have internships available in your nominated occupation. You also want to research a bit more and see how many of the students got a job at the place of their internship because that tells you more about the provider and the quality of their internships.
The next thing that you need to know is the payment plan option. So, we all know that you have invested thousands of dollars in your studies, and finally, you've got your 485 visa with full work rights; you want to ensure that your provider offers you flexible payment plan options.
If you're interested in knowing more about the Professional Year Program, please contact us because we can assess your profile and match you with a provider who best suits your situation.
Disclaimer:
The information shared by Nationwide Migration and Education on social media and blogs is for general informational purposes only. (The information is accurate at the time of publication but may be subject to change.) It is not legal or immigration advice and should not be relied upon as such.
If you need immigration advice specific to your circumstances, please book a consultation with our Registered Migration Agent.