What is Occupational Competence?
As some of you may be aware, one of the requirements you need to become an Assessor is ‘Occupational Competence’. However, what this actually is can be quite unclear. So, let’s talk it through.
What is Occupational Competence?
The way we see it, there are two ways you can prove Occupational Competence.
- Work Experience
- Qualifications
And, you don’t always need to have both…
Work Experience
This is as simple as it sounds. Any experience you have working within a sector counts towards work experience.
Whether this is a couple of years or twenty years, it can prove Occupational Competence within that area. So for example, if you have been working in a management role for the past 20 years, but never actually completed any formal qualifications within that time, you will still have occupational competence. Two years of experience is the minimum amount that we would count as occupational competence.
It’s also worth noting that some sectors, such as Health and Social Care, may not accept Work Experience alone as Occupational Competence.
However, even with work experience alone, you would only be able to assess up to Level 3 in your relevant sector. Now, this would be different if you had Qualifications under your belt…
Qualifications
Any accredited qualifications you have in any sector makes you Occupationally Competent to assess within that area. The higher the level of the qualification, the higher the level you can assess.
Just to make this clear as an example, if you have a Level 3 Qualification in Health and Social Care, you can assess up to Level 3 in that area. But if you had a Level 5 Qualification in Health and Social Care, then you would be able to assess up to Level 5.
If you achieved an accredited qualification a long time ago, employers will ask to see a CPD log. This will show that even since completing the qualification, you have kept up to date within your sector.
If you’re still not sure if you’re Occupationally Competent, we created a flow chart that you can go through…
