A plain-English guide to moving from a student visa towards a skilled visa: what a skills assessment is, why the first 12 months after graduation matter so much, and what you can do while you're still studying.
24 months. That's the whole window.
↳ every month spent job-hunting comes out of this bar
Important: we are not migration agents. Netlabs365 is a training academy. This article is general information based on what is publicly available at the time of writing (September 2026), and migration rules change often. It is not migration advice. For advice about your own situation, please speak with a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner.
For most international students who finish a bachelor's degree in Australia, the next step is the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485), Post-Higher Education Work stream. For bachelor and coursework master's graduates it generally runs for two years and gives you full work rights. (Age limits, English requirements and durations have changed in recent years, so always check the current rules on the Department of Home Affairs website.)
Here's the part many students don't hear early enough: if you want to move on to a skilled visa in an IT or cyber occupation, you'll almost always need a positive skills assessment. And for Australian graduates, the usual way to get one is to have 12 months of relevant work experience after your degree — or to complete the ACS Professional Year instead.
So the two years on your graduate visa aren't really two years of "figuring it out". They're a tight schedule: get a relevant job, build a year of the right experience, get assessed, and then find a sponsor or lodge an expression of interest — all before the visa runs out.
A skills assessment is an official check of whether your qualifications and work experience meet the Australian standard for a specific occupation. For IT, data and cyber security occupations, the assessing authority is the Australian Computer Society (ACS), which carries out the assessment on behalf of the Department of Home Affairs.
You'll generally need one if you plan to apply for a skilled visa in an ICT occupation — for example the points-tested visas (subclass 189, 190 and 491) and employer-sponsored permanent or regional visas such as the 186 and 494. Some temporary employer-sponsored visas may not always require one, so check the rules for the specific visa. You don't need a skills assessment for the 485 Post-Higher Education Work stream itself.
ACS checks whether your degree counts as an ICT major and how much of its ICT content is closely related to the occupation you nominate. A generic IT degree may suit some occupations better than others.
For the Post Australian Study pathway, that's at least one year (365 days) of relevant work completed after your degree, at a professional IT level and at least 20 hours per week.
Your job title matters less than what you actually did. Your reference letters need to describe day-to-day duties that line up with the occupation you've nominated.
Degree and transcripts, ID, and proof of employment such as detailed reference letters and payslips. ACS generally won't accept extra documents once an application is in progress, so it has to be right first time.
Why a positive assessment matters: it's how the immigration system recognises that you're skilled in your nominated occupation. Without a positive skills assessment, there is generally no skilled visa option for that occupation — no matter how good your degree results were.
Every occupation on Australia's migration lists has a six-digit ANZSCO code. When you apply for a skills assessment, you're assessed against specific codes — so the code you're aiming for should shape the jobs you apply for after graduation. Below are some of the ICT and cyber occupations ACS assesses; the ones most relevant to networking and cyber graduates are highlighted.
Not a complete list. Check the ACS website for every occupation it assesses and the full duties for each. Being assessable is not the same as being eligible for every visa — each visa uses its own occupation list. The ABS has released a newer classification (OSCA) to eventually replace ANZSCO; at the time of writing, visas are still processed using ANZSCO codes.
Two years sounds like plenty. But those 12 months of experience have to be in a role that matches your nominated occupation, doing the tasks that occupation describes. Any job in IT doesn't automatically count.
Take Cyber Security Engineer (261315) as an example. To be assessed positively, you'd need to be working in a security engineering role and performing duties that match the occupation description. Compare it with Cyber Security Analyst (262116) — a closer fit for many SOC roles:
Duties summarised from the occupation descriptions published by ACS. Read the full description for your occupation before you apply for jobs.
Very few graduates land a security engineer or network engineer job as their first role. Employers usually want to see that you can already do some of the work — and for a junior role, a degree alone rarely proves that. Many graduates end up starting in general helpdesk or unrelated work while they build up to the role they actually need. Depending on the duties, that experience may not count towards the occupation you want to be assessed in.
Every month spent getting to the right role is a month off your 24. That's why the skills and certifications employers look for are worth building during your degree, not after it — after graduation, the clock is already running.
If you hold an Australian bachelor's degree (or higher) with an ICT major that's closely related to your nominated occupation, the ACS Post Australian Study pathway gives you two ways to meet the rest of the requirement.
Work in a role that matches your nominated occupation for at least 365 days after your degree is completed, at a professional level and at least 20 hours per week.
A structured program for international ICT graduates that combines professional-skills training with an internship. Completing it satisfies the Post Australian Study requirement in place of the 12 months of work experience — as long as your degree is an ICT major closely related to your occupation.
Worth knowing: the PY is a dependable way to meet the skills assessment requirement for an occupation that's in demand. But it doesn't give you a year of industry experience — the internship is around 12 weeks. That difference matters later, when you're looking for an employer to sponsor you.
| 12 months relevant work | ACS Professional Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Advantages | You earn a salary while you qualify. You gain genuine industry experience. You build a relationship with an employer who may later sponsor you. Experience can also count towards points and visa experience requirements. | A structured, predictable path to meeting the requirement. Guaranteed internship. 5 extra points. Useful Australian workplace skills and a professional network. |
| Disadvantages | You have to land a role that matches your occupation first — hard without experience. Unrelated or lower-level work may not count. Every month of job-hunting eats into your visa. | Costs money and time on top of your degree. The internship alone is short, so you may finish without a year of industry experience that employers and some visas look for. |
| Best for | Graduates who are job-ready on day one and can get into a relevant role quickly. | Graduates who want a structured route — ideally while also working in a relevant job. |
| The risk | Not finding the right role early enough. | A positive assessment, but no employer who knows your work. |
The two are not mutually exclusive — some graduates complete the PY while working in a relevant job, and some providers can use existing employment for the internship. Check with PY providers.
A positive skills assessment doesn't give you a visa by itself. From there, there are two broad directions:
Either way, the same thing helps: real, relevant experience. That's why planning matters so much — the decisions you make during your degree shape which of these doors is actually open to you when your graduate visa is running out.
Praveen studied a Bachelor of Cyber Security — the same degree as John. He didn't see the need to upskill during his studies; he thought the degree would be enough.
John studied the same Bachelor of Cyber Security. During his degree he also completed Network+ and Security+ and built hands-on skills alongside them.
John used his study years to become employable, so his graduate visa went on building experience instead of looking for it.
Illustrative example. Names, employer and timelines are fictional, and every person's migration outcome depends on their own circumstances.
Find the ANZSCO occupation you're aiming for on the ACS website and read the full description. That's the job you need to be doing after you graduate — so work backwards from it.
ACS looks at how much of your ICT study is closely related to your occupation. Where you have electives, choose units that support it.
Look at real junior job ads for your target role. Industry certifications and practical lab skills are often what separate one graduate from the next, and they're far easier to fit in before the visa clock starts.
Apply for roles whose day-to-day duties match your target occupation, not just any IT job. If you start in a stepping-stone role, know exactly how and when you'll move up.
Contracts, payslips and detailed descriptions of what you actually do. A reference letter that lists duties matching your occupation is worth far more than one that just confirms your job title.
Write down when your visa ends and work backwards: job, 12 months of experience, assessment processing, then sponsorship or EOI. Then check your plan with a registered migration agent, because the rules change and your circumstances are your own.
It has to be completed after your degree's completion date, but the 12 months only count while you're in relevant work — at a professional level and at least 20 hours per week. Time spent job-hunting or in unrelated work doesn't count.
It meets the experience part of the Post Australian Study pathway. You still need an Australian bachelor's degree or higher with an ICT major that's closely related to the occupation you nominate, and ACS makes the final decision.
No. It's a requirement for skilled visas, not a visa itself. You'll still need an employer to sponsor you or an invitation through SkillSelect, plus everything else each visa requires.
Many people do — classes are often scheduled one day a week. Some providers can also use existing relevant employment for the internship. Check with individual providers.
The Department of Home Affairs website for visas, the ACS website for skills assessments and the Professional Year, and a registered migration agent for advice about your own situation.
What you do while you're still studying makes the biggest difference at the end. If you'd like help building hands-on networking and cyber skills before the visa clock starts, that's what we do — face-to-face, on real equipment, in Perth.
Training can build your skills. It can't guarantee a job, a skills assessment outcome or a visa.
Not migration advice. Netlabs365 is a training academy, not a registered migration agent. Information on this page is general in nature and based on publicly available sources as at September 2026 (including the Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Computer Society); rules change often. For advice about your own circumstances, consult a registered migration agent or an Australian legal practitioner. Netlabs365 is not affiliated with ACS. CompTIA, Network+ and Security+ are trademarks of CompTIA, Inc.
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