Reasons why CDR gets rejected by Engineers Australia

Did your CDR get rejected? Did you prepare your report on your own? Were you well prepared for the CDR assessment? So, where did it go wrong? 

This blog is written just for candidates like you who were rejected on their first try. Our experts will explain why your CDR was rejected in detail. Learn what common mistakes are in the report and how to prevent these mistakes from repeating. Despite considerable time and effort, CDR reports are frequently denied. 

As a result, adhering to Engineers Australia’s guidelines is essential when preparing a CDR report. You should be able to offer relevant information about your skills and professional experience in engineering. Your writing should be in-depth while still following the MSA guideline criteria.

Engineers Australia analyzes your CDR to assess your skills, abilities, and knowledge. Engineers Australia requires that you obtain the necessary skills in the engineering profession you claimed before moving to Australia. Engineers Australia, as a result, assesses the competency of engineers who possess a bachelor’s degree in engineering but are not covered by the Washington Accord. They need a high-quality report for your CDR to be accepted.

The MSA manual guidelines must be followed appropriately, and it is rather challenging to have a CDR report accepted when written by applicants themselves. If the CDR is prepared under the guidelines and requirements of Engineers Australia, the CDR report will be accepted. You can opt for CDR-writing experts if you need clarification about creating a CDR to obtain the best outcome.

Engineers Australia requires a Competency Demonstration Report (CDR) to assess your skills and qualifications. So applicants need to submit a high-quality report to illustrate their capabilities in their professional field. But even when you take extra care, you may still make common mistakes while writing a CDR. And these mistakes may result in the rejection of your CDR report. A CDR will be rejected by Engineers Australia if it is not written as per the requirements specified by EA.

Read More: Common CDR Report mistakes by engineering applicants for Skill Assessment. 🤔🤔

Common reasons why CDR gets rejected.

Here is a list of common mistakes applicants make while writing a CDR for the Engineer Australia Skill Assessment.

1. Divide one project into two career episodes

Many people make this mistake while writing career episodes, and they divide the same project into two parts and include each part in each career episode. It is a requirement of Engineers Australia that you describe one complete project in each career episode.

For example, a Mechanical Engineer prepares his career episodes based on the projects done during the seventh and eighth semesters of his engineering course. This project was about the design and simulation of a wind turbine.

The first project was done when he was in the seventh semester. The project was about collecting the data, preparing the literature review, and designing the process of the wind turbine. Hence, he discussed this project in his first career episode.

The second project was done in the eighth semester. The project was to complete the designed wind turbine analysis, test the wind turbine, modify the wind turbine, and finally produce the resulting design and simulation report. Thus, he wrote about this project in his second career episode.

Even though these two projects had separate marks and were done for different purposes during his academic period, for EA, these projects are parts of one project since both projects were done to construct a wind turbine. The second part of the project was done based on the first part. So, EA considers this project a single project done in two parts. And it should be discussed in only one career episode.

2. Writing Career Episode about a group activity

This is the most common mistake people make when describing how their group or team worked on the project, solved the problem, and completed the project. However, CDR is meant to assess your skills, not the teams. It assesses what you did in that project, your role, how you achieved it, how you worked on the team, your decision-making skills, and so on. Hence, write your report in the first person, i.e., focus on what you (I) did personally rather than what your team (WE) did.

For Example, A mechanical engineer discussed an academic project during his engineering study. The project was done in a group, and different parts of the project were divided among the team members.

The team did a project regarding the design and simulation of the wind turbine. The works were divided into a literature review, design calculation, design of the project, analysis of the project, modification of the project, selection of components, fabrication of the project, and finally, testing or implementing the project. Among these tasks, the mechanical engineer was involved in the following:

• Design of the project
• Analysis of the project
• Selection of the components
• Testing or implementation of the project

So, he needed to describe their duties and responsibilities (design work, analysis, selection, and testing) in his career episode rather than describe the works (literature review, design calculation, design work, analysis, modification, fabrication, testing, and implementation) done by the group to complete the project.

Read More: Lack of skilled manpower in Australia: High demand for engineers. 💪💪

For instance:

He wrote:

We did the design work in a program called Creo Parametric 2.0. We used various tools, like lines, splines, extrusion, sweep, etc., for the design work. We did design work in the software according to the mathematical calculations for the design work.

He should have written:

I did the design work in a program called Creo Parametric 2.0. The design I made using different tools in Creo, like lines, splines, sweeps, extrusions, etc. The design work in the software is done according to the mathematical calculations for the design. And the final design is shown in the figure.

3. Plagiarism from samples available online

Never do this. The CDR sample provided by different sites is for reference only. Engineers Australia uses different software to find out about plagiarized content. So, whether you did it on purpose or not, you will be caught. So just read the sample, learn from it, and write your career episode on your projects similarly to the CDR sample but with a focus on plagiarism-free CDR.

4. CDR in different languages

You must present your CDR report to Engineers Australia in the English language. Please use Australian English and use it correctly. Suppose you wrote your career episodes in another language. You must translate your report into English because EA might need help understanding it to assess your CDR report.

5. Grammatical, spelling errors, and report formatting

When you present your CDR report to the EA, you submit an official document meant to be written by a professional. So, you must pay attention to its formatting, the correctness of its spelling and grammar, and the flow of sentences in your CEs. This section needs to be reviewed. 

Ensure that there are no spelling and grammar errors, formatting issues, or mistakes in the flow of sentences. You are submitting your report as a professional, so it should look like it has been written by a professional. These are minor mistakes, but they affect your assessment in a big way.

Learn More: RPEng Australia | How to prepare RPEng report? 🌟🌟

An additional reason for CDR getting rejected

• Use of excessive technical details: It is okay to write some essential Technical information on your projects but providing too many technical details, like calculations, charts, tables, photos, etc., on every project event degrades the quality of the report. A CDR should give to-the-point information rather than long and elaborated details that are tedious for readers.
• Provide information on the bullet point: This is a common mistake many make while preparing CDR. Many people present valuable information, like data, in bullet points when it should be presented in paragraphs. It is one of the critical requirements of Engineers Australia. So, explain your data and other information in paragraphs adequately so that it is easily understandable.
• No mention of information like duration, location, company profile, and project objective. You not only have to include this information, but it should be present in chronological order. You must include this information in your report.
• Word Count: Engineers Australia has provided specific rules for the number of Words to be written in each section of the CDR Report. Each Career Episode must be at most 1000 words and should be at most 2500 words. You will need more than just providing Extra details and making career episodes long to get a positive assessment. So, you need to choose essential data and information and present them to satisfy all the requirements of Engineer’s Australia. Here’s more information on the ideal length of the CDR report. 
• Not following the Structure of Report: While writing Career Episode, the first paragraph must be an introduction with around 50 words; the following paragraph is the background which can be from 200 to 500 words; the third paragraph is a body, and the main paragraph, and at last summary of Career Episode is done in about 50-100 word. Learn more about CDR guidelines here.
• Not Mentioning Problem Statements: This is a crucial part of the CDR Project. Include problem statements in your CEs and mention the steps you took to solve them. The details you were involved with and what you did in the project should be central to your Career Episode.
• No details about Design Activity: Design activities are highly prioritized in CDR assessment. Lack of design experience may hinder your CDR from being assessed positively. Hence, explain any creative engineering and technological experience regarding designing activities you have and make sure to highlight it.

CDR report rejection sample

Why CDRWritersAustralia?

If you are unsure about your own CDR writing, you can seek professional assistance from experts. CDRWritersAustralia is the leading service provider, with a high approval rate from EA. We offer high-quality CDR report writing as well as CDR report reviewing services. So, don’t be afraid to seek professional assistance if you want to get a migration skills visa on your first try.