The Association of Science and Engineering Technology Professionals of Alberta (ASET) is offering foreign-trained professionals a fast route into tech careers in Chestermere.
ASET is waiving all application fees for refugees who are seeking to obtain their professional designation and find work without returning to school, a ASET media release said.
“With our application fee waiver for refugees now in place and our competency-based assessment program already established and proven to help newcomers, ASET is making it easier than ever for refugees with tech backgrounds to get on the career paths for which they were educated in their home countries,” ASET CEO Barry Cavanaugh said. “Alberta and Canada as a whole need more people with the technical knowledge and experience to contribute to our province and nation and we value what these newcomers bring.”
The fees include the application fee, prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) fee, ASET professional practice exam fee, and the certification exam fee.
“Chestermere is home to 83 ASET members and a significant Ukrainian population, this story will be important to families in Chestermere who are sponsoring or otherwise helping relatives from Ukraine move there,” Michele Penz of Calico Communications said. “The initiatives will make all the difference in helping Ukrainian and other refugees with tech backgrounds get on their feet professionally when they arrive in Chestermere.”
In 2016, ASET launched the competency-based assessment program designed to offer foreign-trained engineering technology professionals a way to establish their careers faster.
The program allows engineering technology professionals to work in their fields without having to return to school full-time.
Foreign-trained professionals who have passed as ASET approved English language proficiency test, and are seeking certification can undergo the assessment, the release said.
The assessment includes submitting academic credentials, work experience documents, competency summary, job descriptions, and references, and completing a professional practice exam that tests them on Alberta-specific legislation, professional ethics, and the ASET certification exam that tests their technical competency.
“Skills and knowledge obtained outside of an academic program are evaluated for the purpose of recognizing professional competence, and certification exams test for the educational standard,” the release said.
“ASET’s competency-based assessment program, the first of its kind in Canada, fast-tracks refugees and newcomers with engineering technology education into their rightful careers in one-half to one-quarter of the time it would take them to complete an engineering technology diploma at a Canadian polytechnic or technical college,” Penz said.
