Writing a CDR for the first time? As a CDR report writer in Australia, you need to keep a number of things in mind. Click here to learn some crucial details about CDR.
There is a huge demand for qualified engineers all around the globe, and when it comes to Australia, the demand is actually quite higher than in the rest of the world.
A number of reports suggest a great number of public sector infrastructure projects in Australia that require experienced and proficient engineers. Despite the demand, getting a job in Australia is not exactly easy for migrating engineers.
What Is A CDR?
If you are a citizen of a foreign country (excluding the member nations of the Washington Accord), then you need to present a CDR to pass the skill assessment conducted by EA. A CDR consists of the following sections.
- Continual Professional Development (CPD):
In this part of your competency demonstration report (CDR), you need to add all the crucial things you have learned to stay updated with the latest technical developments and skills in engineering you have finished your degree.
- Career episodes:
In this section, you need to provide three different essays regarding three major episodes in his/her engineer career that highlight his/her engineering knowledge, skills, competency and other crucial abilities.
- Summary statement:
This section should include a summary of all the major elements of your career episode. Also, you need to make sure that you have addressed all the competency concerns inquired by EA. While it is always better to check out a few CDR samples to get some idea about how to approach a CDR, you must go through the guidelines mentioned in EA’s migration skills assessment (MSA) booklet.
Crucial Things to Remember while Writing Your CDR
Since the CDR is practically the key to your dream career in Australia, you need to be very careful about what you write in the report. You will be shocked to know that thousands of CDRs get rejected by EA as they fail to meet the expected standard. As a CDR writer, you need to keep the following things in mind:
- Always discuss different projects in each of the career episodes:
You are asked to deliver three different career episodes in your CDR. While drafting these episodes, make sure you do not discuss the same project in multiple career episodes.
You should never make the mistake of dividing the same projects into two parts and include each part in two different career episodes. The requirements of the EA clearly mention that you should describe one complete project in each career episode.
- Do not write about group activities in the career episodes:
Since the career episodes need to be about the projects you have been a part of, you may consider adding group activities in your career episodes. But that is a huge mistake.
The career episodes in your CDR should describe your individual knowledge, skills and competencies.
The people at EA assess your application based on your role mentions in the career episodes and how efficiently you have achieved it. So, if you discuss what your team has achieved instead of discussing your individual achievements, it may lead to the rejection of your CDR.
- Write the career episodes in the first person:
When you are writing your career episodes, you are supposed to write them in the first person. It will be helpful if you treat each career episode as a narrative essay, where you discuss your experience of a specific project.
However, do not make it too informal while using the first-person approach. Remember, it is for the assessment of your professional skills and knowledge in the field of engineering.
- Do not use the same approach as found in a sample:
While the CDR samples available on the internet can help you get the drift of how to present your own CDR, it is never a good idea to copy the style, approach or content of a CDR sample. Engineers Australia uses a number of advanced software to identify plagiarised content.
Whether you plagiarise a CDR sample intentionally or unintentionally, you will get caught. So, even if you refer to a sample, always think of ways how you can add something unique to your CDR.
- Comply with the instructed word count:
Engineers Australia mentions it in their CDR requirements that each career episode should be more than 1,000 words but should not exceed 2,500 words. Make sure that the introduction of each career episodes is around 50 words.
The next paragraph, which gives the background details, should be between 200 and 500 words. The last paragraph or the summary of the career episode with being done in about 50-100 words. So, you can calculate how many words you should use in the main body paragraphs.
- Be very specific about the information:
Lastly, you should give relevant information as precisely as possible while writing your career episodes. You must mention crucial details about the project you are discussing, such as the duration of the project, the location, company profile, project objective, etc.
If you just use generic terms to describe your experience in the career episodes, no one is going to find it special. Needless to say, your CDR may get rejected if you do not mention the crucial details.
Conclusion
There is no denying that CDR writing is a challenging task. That is why a number of applicants hire CDR experts to guide them in preparing the CDR. While you also have that option, you can prepare one on your own if you remember the things discussed in this blog.
Author bio: Karen Hamada is an electrical engineer in Melbourne, Australia. She has been a part of the team of experts at MyAssignmenthelp.com, where he offers assignment help to students on requests. She loves to learn about the latest development in the field of technology.
