Does Experience as a Trainee in India Count????

[Tulips1987]

Hi Guys,

So i have worked for Wipro India for almost 5 years.... which i think now i shouldn't have...

If you are from India and have worked in IT industry... you might be aware of this WASE program which Wipro has. Under this program which they call as a work integrated program ....they hire fresh graduates... make them work on weekdays as any other full time employee on projects, conduct classes on weekends ..pay minimal stipend...and give them a masters degree after 4 years and a position as Sr. Project Engineer.

But the catch is they don't mention you as an employee but a student/Trainee on the experience letter for those 4 years....although the truth is we work full time for them on weekdays and have classes on weekends...

This way the company gets cheap labor...

In the experience letter they mentioned me as trainee...... So basically i have a letter stating i was a trainee with them for 4 years and my stipend amount..

Will this experience count in my PR if i apply under CEC(i have 1 year exp in canada)... and i give a letter stating i was a WASE Trainee and was paid a stipend.

i want to get points for my experience outside canada.



Thanks for the help...

 

[Asivad Anac]

They way I see it - this was paid, full-time work experience and can be counted. You'll have to get a work reference letter clearly mentioning your job responsibilities - if the experiences of other forum members are the norm, this could be the bigger challenge.

 

[Tulips1987]

Thanks for the quick reply...

however i did not get what you meant by :"if the experiences of other forum members are the norm, this could be the bigger challenge."

Please help..

 

[Asivad Anac]

Other forum members have found it difficult in the past to get reference letters from Indian IT organizations. The biggest challenge has been to get explicit mentions of job responsibilities which also happens to be the most important requirement in a reference letter.

 

[Tulips1987]

I have an experience letter stating that i was a "student" with them for 4 years and the responsibilities..... i managed to get them write my responsibilities...

and.... i have another letter ..stating that i was a wipro trainee for 4 years and my Stipend amount


In experience letter they have mentioned me as student with the required responsibilities and in stipend letter as a 'Trainee'...

 

[Asivad Anac]

1. Are you claiming and getting points for that education as well? As full-time? If yes for both questions, your work experience will be treated as part-time. If yes for first and no for second, your education must be treated as part-time.

2. It will certainly be better if the 'student' bit wasn't present. Can you get a revised reference letter which has responsibilities and replace 'student' with 'trainee'? If that isn't possible, you'll have to make do with what you have and submit this along with an LOE (Letter of Explanation) to explain this anomaly further and request the officer to consider those 4 years as legitimate full-time paid work experience in the chosen NOC.

 

[kateg]

1. Are you claiming and getting points for that education as well? As full-time? If yes for both questions, your work experience will be treated as part-time. If yes for first and no for second, your education must be treated as part-time.

Asivad - wouldn't that just be for Canadian experience? My wife got credit for both full-time work and full-time studies.

For CEC, work experience is calculated as such:

For a student who had graduated from a Canadian post-secondary institution, only work experience gained after graduation will count towards meeting the work experience requirement (e.g., post-graduate work permit).

FSW doesn't seem to have that - if it's paid (even as a student), I believe it is counted.

 

[Asivad Anac]

Asivad - wouldn't that just be for Canadian experience? My wife got credit for both full-time work and full-time studies.

For CEC, work experience is calculated as such:

FSW doesn't seem to have that - if it's paid (even as a student), I believe it is counted.

I'm sure one can claim both foreign education and employment concurrently but I was under the impression that only one of them can be full-time, for obvious reasons (you cannot justify 2 simultaneous activities as BOTH full-time).

 

[kateg]

I'm sure one can claim both foreign education and employment concurrently but I was under the impression that only one of them can be full-time, for obvious reasons (you cannot justify 2 simultaneous activities as BOTH full-time).

We claimed both as full-time, and didn't experience any problems. It's quite common for grad students (at least where we were) to put in 60 hours a week - more than enough to be both full-time student, and full-time worker.

The period of study doesn't really matter much, I suppose - it's the degree that ultimately matters, so if anything it would likely make sense to claim full-time worker and part-time student.

 

[Tulips1987]

Hi Kateg,

So you are saying that your wife got points for experience where she mentioned Student/trainee under CEC class??

Thanks for the reply

 

[Asivad Anac]

We claimed both as full-time, and didn't experience any problems. It's quite common for grad students (at least where we were) to put in 60 hours a week - more than enough to be both full-time student, and full-time worker.

The period of study doesn't really matter much, I suppose - it's the degree that ultimately matters, so if anything it would likely make sense to claim full-time worker and part-time student.

Fair point. For the OP, it'll make sense if they can claim 4 years of experience as well as getting their Masters assessed as equivalent to a Canadian Masters. Period of study shouldn't matter much.

Hi Kateg,

So you are saying that your wife got points for experience where she mentioned Student/trainee under CEC class??

Thanks for the reply

No. Their partner got those points under FSW. Under CEC, this is explicitly disallowed.

 

[kateg]

Hi Kateg,

So you are saying that your wife got points for experience where she mentioned Student/trainee under CEC class??

Thanks for the reply

Not under CEC. FSW. CEC is different, as I quoted above.

 

[Tulips1987]

So i think i should go under FSW to claim those points...

Now i am wondering how does it matter if i apply under CEC, FSW or other category... because once i qualify and get into the pool every one is treated the some...

sorry if i am getting off the topic...

 

[kateg]

For CEC, here's what CIC says:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/perm/econ/cec/work.asp

Applicants must have at least 12 months of full-time, Canadian skilled work experience (or the equivalent in part-time work experience) in one or more NOC 0, A or B occupations within the 36 months before the date of application receipt [R87.1(2)(a)].

In addition, during that period of employment, the applicant must have:

performed the actions described in the lead statement for the occupation(s) as set out in the occupational description of the NOC [R87.1(2)(b)]; and
performed a substantial number of the main duties, including all the essential duties, of the occupation(s) as set out in the occupational description of the NOC [R87.1(2)(c)].

Any period of employment when the applicant was engaged in full-time study will not be included in calculating the period of qualifying work experience (e.g., work experience gained through co-op work permits, off-campus work permits while a full-time student and on-campus work permits). [R87.1(3)(a)]. Officers should verify the work permit information in GCMS.

That makes it sound to me like study time will not be counted if it was in Canada against meeting the CEC criteria.

From how I am reading things (feel free to chime in Asivad), it would appear that they will count foreign work experience, provided it's used for purposes of CRS calculation and not CEC eligibility, if that makes sense.

In other words, to qualify for CEC, they will discount any work experience while a Canadian student. Once you qualify for CEC, the CRS score will count all work experience, including as a student.

 

[kateg]

So i think i should go under FSW to claim those points...

Now i am wondering how does it matter if i apply under CEC, FSW or other category... because once i qualify and get into the pool every one is treated the some...

sorry if i am getting off the topic...

If you qualify for both, the main difference would be the proof of funds requirement. Once you're in, they have done a couple of CEC-only draws, but generally there's not much difference.