We’ve been telling you about REINSW’s Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) program for a couple of months now.
If you haven’t heard about it yet, RPL enables you to have your industry experience recognised in the achievement of your CPP40307 Certificate IV in Property Services (Real Estate).
While we think RPL is a great way to achieve the qualification required to transition to your real estate licence, we thought you might like to hear about it from agents and industry professionals who have actually done it.
So, with licensing reforms imminent, we chatted to three RPL alums about why they chose this pathway, the benefits and their advice for other agents.
Why did you apply for RPL?
Ben Austin, Sales Professional at Stockland Communities NSW, says he had completed the course for his real estate licence in Queensland through REIQ. However, in moving to Sydney, he realised there were extra components he needed to complete in order to achieve the qualification for his licence in NSW.
“RPL was the simplest way to complete these extra courses quickly,” he says.
Cassie Gilmore and Anita Scott of Cardow and Partners Property, both needed to update their qualification to maintain their agency functions.
“I needed to update my licence and, given my industry experience, RPL was the simplest option,” says Gilmore, a property manager.
Scott, a sales assistant, agrees.
“I have held my Certificate of Registration for 13 years,” she says. “But with the new training reforms coming in, I needed to update my qualification.”
So what attracted Austin, Gilmore and Scott to the RPL program?
While all RPL alums agree it is the simplest way to achieving the required qualification, Gilmore and Scott say the licensing reforms were a major factor in choosing to act now.
“RPL was a convenient option for our team,” says Gilmore. “Having the one-on-one training was helpful and, in recognising our industry experience, we were able to achieve our qualification before the new licensing reforms take effect.”
Scott says she researched many other RPL providers but found REINSW to be the best priced and most flexible.
“REINSW came to our office to do the training in-house,” she says. “As we had three staff all needing to do the training, we felt this process would provide the best outcome for our office.”
So how long did it take to complete and was it a straightforward process?
“I contacted REINSW to find out what the best option was for me to get my licence given my circumstances and it ultimately led to RPL,” says Austin. “The process was streamlined and the team at REINSW was on-hand to answer my questions throughout the process. Once I’d finished my assessment, I received my results within two weeks.”
Gilmore and Scott, both with the benefit of in-house training, completed the RPL program very quickly.
“I completed two days of in-house training with REINSW then completed the online components,” says Scott. “All up it only took me four days.
“The process was extremely streamlined and easy to follow. Having the REINSW team on-hand made the process so much easier.”
Is RPL a good way for people with industry experience to transition to their licence?
“Absolutely!” says Gilmore. “Having our prior industry experience and learning recognised was a great start in the process of transitioning to our licences. We didn’t have to learn about things we perform on a daily basis, which means we still had ample time to focus on our agency roles.”
Were you nervous about whether you had enough experience to qualify for RPL?
“I was nervous about the questions they were going to ask over the phone, as I wasn’t sure I had the required experience in all the necessary fields,” says Austin. “Some questions I couldn’t relate to my current role, so I simply completed an extra assessment for these.”
Gilmore and Scott both say they were apprehensive about the time it would take to transition to their licence, given they were already operating in agency roles.
“We spoke a lot with our trainer prior to providing our documents,” says Gilmore. “This gave us the confidence and information we needed to move forward with the program.”
Did the RPL program help you identify strengths and weaknesses?
All RPL alum agree that the RPL process helped them identify areas they were confident in and those they needed to work on.
“Going through the RPL program basically showed me what areas I was unconsciously competent in and what areas I needed to focus on to further develop my skills,” says Austin. “This was identified upfront when going through the review and recommendation stage [stage 2].”
Gilmore agrees: “By talking my experience through with a trainer, I was able to identify my strengths and weaknesses,” she says. “When asked a question or asked to speak about a certain subject, it made me recognise my knowledge on the subject and where I needed further training.”
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