I found this in a promoted twit. ACS is offering free trial membership till end of June with "unlimited access* to our digital libraries, thought leadership presentations, mySFIA self assessment tool, plus more!"
I always wondered what ACS membership provides and joined to try it anyway.
You should, it's pretty good. Hail Satan!
At least with that church you might get something out of it. The ACS is one of the most useless organisations out there. They make stupid amount of money from foreign students who wants to apply for a visa by "validating" that they did a degree here in Australia - something that you can find out by just contacting the unis themselves. Unfortunately Immigration has given the ACS a monopoly on the Migration Skills Assessment test so you are forced to go through them if you want a visa. They also play no real role in quality nor standards by turning a blind eyes to the 457 Visa abuse, arguing that there's no need to clamp down on these. Of course, the reason is more money for them! Quite a hopeless bunch.
I wouldn't say hopeless. I'd say they only care about the money coming in. Doing the work expected? No
They are big supporters of it being on the 457 list too. Don't give them your details
I concur
even student visa's are abused. witnessed it in my lab. international students don't meet attendance requirements (coming in once every 3 months). university turns a blind eye. some from countries that support terrorism. immigration won't do a damn thing even if i reported it. meanwhile local australian born students struggle while these immigrant students get all the opportunities.
i agree with your points too. ACS. waste of money.
The reason for is that international students pay a lot, which translates into a lot of money for the government. The government is milking them till dry. On top of that they don't have to go through the same security clearance as when you are applying for a spouse visa. You can just get 1 from your local police station and it doesn't even have to be translated into English. You could easily fake it. So much for how government cares about its citizens.
This is not the place for your prejudice, go discriminate somewhere else
What do you care what int'l studenrs are up to when not at lab? Have you asked one? I asked one of my fellow students why they missed class, it's because they were working a 13 hour shift to help pay off their families debt that helped them get over here.
Australian studnets not given a fair chance because of this, really? Without the money coming in from international students we wouldn't be able to keep half our higher educational sector running, where would we Aussies get our education then? Maybe depend on government funding to keep schools open, yeah right.
Privatisation would be the next step with fee hikes so that only the rich could send their kids to get an education. Maybe that's your preferred option?
"some from countries that support terrorism"
Welcome to Ozbargain Donald.
@Mr Mrrtn: tell you what, you spend half your life studying hard for something you love only to have rude obnoxious immigrants obtain jobs easily while you're still desperately trying to make ends meet.
this is not prejudice, i know many intl students that deserve what they have, but when others lie and cheat their way through uni and get everything handed to them on a platter just because they're a refugee or other reasons, it's bs.
the students i am talking about aren't working 13 hours, they're partying and taking it easy. the one that i know that did come into the lab once in a while, had her feet up on the table all day buying clothes online and watching youtube with headphones (rich arab country).
Without the money coming in from international students we wouldn't be able to keep half our higher educational sector running
i think the problem is that we don't need half the higher education sector to be running at all. dumbing down courses so intl students pass (with extremely poor english), whilst competent local australian born students struggle to get a job because the government wants to play this game. these lower end institutions that are a cash cow for the government should be closed down (includes TAFE and superTAFEs). where would we be? well uni degrees would actually be worth a damn like they were back in the 80s, not the joke that they are now.
fee hikes? i have tens of thousands of dollars of HECS debt that i will probably never be able to repay whereas rich brats from arab countries just walk into uni and industry jobs. sure, some of them pay more at the undergrad level, but at phd level they often pay nothing - it's all subsidised through scholarships.
I asked one of my fellow students why they missed class, it's because they were working a 13 hour shift to help pay off their families debt that helped them get over here.
That's likely a violation of their visa. They're only allowed to work 40 hours a fortnight. If they're pulling 13 hour shifts, they're breaking their visa restrictions. They're also breaking their visa restrictions by not attending their classes.
they're partying and taking it easy. the one that i know that did come into the lab once in a while, had her feet up on the table all day buying clothes online and watching youtube with headphones (rich arab country).
Maybe some. But so are some of the aussie students milking off FEE-HELP or whatever it's called. Except the international students doing the same thing are putting 25-40k a year into the economy just in regards to the tuition. not to mention what they add in their day to day lives.
Oh and I was an international student. My first 3 semesters I went to every class and lecture. My final 3 semesters, I went to none of them unless they were assessed. My GPA skyrocketed after I stopped going to lectures/labs. First 3 semesters, arguably the easiest, I was a 5.0 (out of 7.0) student. My final 3 semesters, arguably the hardest, I averaged close to 7.0. Graduated with a 6.0 overall.
dumbing down courses so intl students pass (with extremely poor english), whilst competent local australian born students struggle to get a job because the government wants to play this game.
So they're dumbing down courses for people that can barely speak english, but some how these people who can barely speak english and barely qualified for their degree, are taking australian jobs? Which is it? Because it can't be both. And if it it, that says there's something seriously wrong with the way employers are hiring, if they're taking barely conversational degree holders over australians.
@geoffellis: the universities don't check, that's the problem. they aren't always coming from poor backgrounds, to think that is the case is just being delusional. many intl students come from wealthy backgrounds and simply want to setup here because they can continue that wealth here, or go back to their own country with what is a prized qualification for work in their home countries (with a better level of english than what they had when they came here), which again, is highly sought after.
So they're dumbing down courses for people that can barely speak english, but some how these people who can barely speak english and barely qualified for their degree, are taking australian jobs? Which is it? Because it can't be both. And if it it, that says there's something seriously wrong with the way employers are hiring, if they're taking barely conversational degree holders over australians.
they're dumbing down courses so the pass rate overall is higher. they implement scaling if they accidentally make the course too easy so more will pass, and if they stuff up and make the course too easy, no problem, just scale everyone down. so that HD you worked for and met the requirements for, is now a D.
having been subjected to and witnessed jobs going to intl students over locals i can tell you that it's far more than just language skills at play. entry level jobs internationals get are favourable over locals as they can be exploited far easier, are less familiar with workplace laws etc. and are probably more likely to stay on for longer despite horrid working conditions. for some disciplines spoken language is not an issue. eg. programming. i knew one guy who was terrible with spoken english but his emails were perfect and he could program well. he might not work his way up very fast but that's another job going to someone who can just do the job, potentially for less pay as well, because the employer knows it's a lot of $$ in his home country.
it always varies from case to case. like i said, i know internationals that really worked hard and deserve to be where they are, but i know others that actually cheated off of me/didnt pull their weight/plagiarised repeatedly and are gainfully employed while i still struggle.
@kwydjibo: thx for the welcome.
yes, controversial comment. but when you witness rich arabs getting all the opportunities with everything handed to them on a platter. i couldn't care less if it's controversial.
and i'll also add that what if something were to happen? like an attack where a student was involved, and after investigations that student was using the time that they weren't in the lab to build IED's or something? is it really that paranoid to consider that in these times?
a crackdown is needed. but nobody seems to care.
@insular: Absolutely it is paranoid. I really pity someone like you who goes through life immediately thinking so pessimistically of people. You will deny this I am sure and there is no arguing with your misguided logic but you really are missing out on a joyful life. We are all entitled to our opinions however (profanity) up yours really is.
@Mr Mrrtn:
Long time ago I have been an International student - And if you are working 13 hours shifts you are more than likely breaching the visa condition (20 hours per week). Not to mention that (at least back at my times) other condition was regular attendance.
Yes, it is very hard for those students to earn enough to pay for school and all other stuff. But the student visa was not designed for people to come here to pay off their debts. The primary reason is to get education.
I know a lot of international students do abuse the system and breach the visa condition. Many don't. I, for one, would feel really bad to break the law in a country who I came to as a guest. And I never did. In my 20 years in Australia I have never got even a single speeding ticket, not a single point lost. Because I value this country and the law. And I feel ashamed for people coming here as guests knowingly and willingly breaking the law. And that it no matter what background they are from.
Sorry, had to say my opinion, as I know it is hard but that does not give anyone permission to breach the law.
On the other hand I do not believe that the International students do take any opportunities from any Australian students.
As in Rev 3:9?
Sooo, can you copy paste a short list of articles/titles in their digital library, please?
Just to give us an idea if its good
THANK YOU FOR APPLYING FOR ACS MEMBERSHIP.
Thank you for your application. Your application has been forwarded to ACS member services for activation. We will advise once this has been completed.
For more information, please contact us on 02 9299 3666 or [email protected]
Do they give me a job?
no, if anything, they will approve more 457 workers to make sure you will never get a job
Nothing wrong with that mate.
We're all immigrants in this country.
so why don't you vacate your job for a 457 then?
PS I am an immigrant too, 457 ain't last time I checked
@FW190: I'm a stock trader mate, it's not a job, its a sole business so could give it to anyone.
But If I could help employ someone I would.
Global world community.
Oh yes, those Schroedingers immigrants, simultaneously stealing our jobs and property while bludging on welfare right?
Lol miss G
The rich ones come and buy up all the properties, 1/2 of the poor ones work for illegal wages until they can get citizenship then go on welfare and the other 1/2 keep working undermining Australian wages. No schroedingers cats there. Only people who benefit are property investors, banks & big business.
@freemoneyhunter: Give me the numbers of the people doing this compared with the numbers of local investors and the types of properties being bought. Give me the numbers on 457 visas working in jobs vs the local numbers doing the same jobs. Give me the numbers on welfare. I'd put money on them being comparably very very low.
Haha, that's funny. They approved my 457 about 17 years ago, and I have worked so far - a startup whose founders were actually Americans in Australia later the business sold to a multinational corporation, another startup whose founders were Australians but now they are in financial problems, another startup whose founders were Australians but didn't know how to manage SW engineering team, and now another startup whose founders are Kiwis.
Because I keep quitting from my job, I would say at least I helped someone to get my ex-job!
And in the past ACS might be a good source of exchanging information, trends, etc. But now there are many meetups which are basically free and can see more enthusiastic people.
Can't press back on their site after leaving Ozbargain.
Same with every scam site ever.
Neg because thats a shitty thing to do and there is no deal to a cheap scam
Back button, to OzB, worked just fine for me with Safari.
Not on iPhone.
Australian Scam Society (ASS) ?
ACS is useless
As a previous member of ACS, I couldn't agree more
Never heard of them or at least haven't for a long time. They sound like the mensa equivalent of whatever they are supposed to trying to be.
Does it get annual fee discount when applying credit card?
A Corrupt System :)
I've been in the IT Industry for nearly 25 years and never have I seen this accreditation have any effect on employment opportunities or promotions, on formal qualification or even on academia. It is about as useless as people sticking credential suffixes on modern business cards. Basically.. irrelevant. LOL
same here, been working in IT for 16 years, only people who ever joined the ACS are people who couldn't spell IT even if their lives depended on it. But unfortunately ACS does seem to have the ears of the politicians.
That's why I'm joining now, my learning curve is backwards, I'm an IT Benjamin Button..
I found the same.
Join the ITPA, at least they represent their their members. and you can do it for free!
Or you could just not bother with any of them.
The only thing worth it from the membership is the included liability insurance if you do side work. Only reason I have mine, and that work pays for it :)
Computer says no. cough
Yeah nah…
what are the member benefits? can you apply for discounted amex cards?
I've always called this the Australian Retirement Society. I think my opinion still stands. Sorry no deal for me.
As a former ACS scholarship​ recipient, the negative criticism is right on point. The kind of services and conferences/talks they offered were pretty useless and well behind the curve.
agree on the above comments about how dodgy the oz education system is.
my ex was an english teacher at rmit and students reported to her that some students had got the answer sheet to the upcoming test at which they of course did very well at.
the offending students received no punishment at all and kept their great marks as rmit didnt want to scare off full fee paying students - their cashcow.
bit of a joke.
its a wonder how these institutions keep their good reputtations.
sacking whistleblowers and threatening defamation suits i bet.
Don't bother.
- having ACS on your resume will make zero difference to your employment prospects.
- they put their own interests ahead of their members, and computing professionals in general.
If you want to join a professional organisation with access to a digital library join IEEE or ACM.
I have received the membership and logged in today. Sad to say it is complete utter waste. There is almost nothing useful in there, the digital video courses are outdated, they have digital PC Magazine up to 2016, 0 jobs in the job board, badly designed website. Even the member benefits are nothing to write about. The only slightly useful thing was the SFIA self-assessment at the end of which it tried to sell me "Certified Professional" badge for $370 !!. But I got the SFIA assessment report which is something I can keep.
I don't what value ACS provides, beyond joke, it needs a complete reboot, I will definitely not pay to renew the membership.
Careful you don't join the Australian Church of Satan