Taylor and Cass sit side by side in the Human Resources department of a major Australian mining company.  They started on the same day and are “work besties” who both receive positive reviews and have both enjoyed the “maximum pay bumps” throughout their five years in the roles. Taylor’s job title is Human Resources Officer, and she holds a certificate level qualification in the area.  Cass is an “office administrator”.  Taylor’s role is largely inputting staff HR information and maintaining staff files.  Cass’s role is largely inputting work health and safety information and maintaining work safety files.  Their day-to-day task list is almost identical.  Their salaries are not.

As an office administrator, Cass makes $67,000 per year.  As a HR Officer, Taylor makes $98,000 per year. Taylor makes around a third more than Cass, for what is, essentially, the same job.   The difference?  Taylor spent six months full time, gaining a certificate four in Human Resource Management.  Cass came straight to the company out of high school.

Cass’s situation is remarkably common, especially among 25-34 year olds in Australia.  After choosing not to pursue further education after school, Cass and her cohort now find themselves in a situation where it’s “impossible” to take time off to “go back to school”.  Enter, Recognition of Prior Learning.  

Certified providers of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) online certificates have the power to examine a student’s experience and work history and determine which subjects in a certificate or diploma level course can be “skipped”.  For Cass, five years of “on the ground” experience in the industry, could see her fast tracked to a few subjects, gaining her certificate in Work Health and Safety online in just a couple of months.  

“Studying fast tracked qualifications through a certified RTO is the quickest and simplest way to improve your earning capacity.  We’ve seen students come through with such comprehensive experience that their certification takes weeks, not months” said Ben Klatt, CEO of Australian Registered Training Organisation Skills Recognition International. 

For Cass, delaying the qualification has already cost her more than $150,000 and around 4000 potential job opportunities, set to grow by 16% in the coming years.  What a difference a few months of online study can make.