IML skills assessment for senior management occupations

How IML actually assesses these occupations

IML's process "evaluates both your higher education degree and your employment history for up to 10 years," and a positive outcome, once issued, "is valid for three years." Every one of the eight codes in this family follows the same two-branch structure, varying only in the exact years and the name of the related role: with a Bachelor's or Master's degree highly relevant to the occupation, you need a shorter total in a related role — typically three years — with at least two of those years spent specifically in the title being assessed. Without a highly relevant degree, the same structure stretches to five years, still with two years in the named role as the floor. On top of that, IML separately requires "currency of industry skills" — at least one year of relevant paid employment within the past five years. Years-in-role and currency are both assessed; one doesn't substitute for the other. IML is blunt that this rules out recent graduates: "work experience is essential for all the occupations that we assess," and "unfortunately, recent graduates do not meet the requirements."

The evidence: Statements of Employment and Organisational Charts

The single most consequential document in this family is IML's own Document Checklist, because it's where "how do I prove I managed, not just worked" gets answered concretely. It asks for Statements of Employment on official letterhead, signed by "your direct manager, the HR manager or the company's CEO," and — for every position submitted, not optionally — an Organisation Chart that "must be signed by your direct manager, the HR manager, or the company's CEO" and must show, both upward and downward, the CEO/MD, your own position, everyone reporting to the CEO/MD, everyone reporting to you, and everyone reporting to your direct subordinate managers. That's a genuine structural test of whether you sat inside a real management hierarchy. Where a signed Statement or Chart genuinely can't be obtained, IML accepts a Statutory Declaration or Affidavit from a same-or-above-level colleague instead, alongside a ten-year CV and a written response to IML's Management Competency Framework — one competency each from "Manage and lead self," "Manage and lead others," and "Manage and lead the business," ideally using the STAR method, at 500 words or fewer per competency.

If you're the boss, or you own the business, the checklist treats you differently

Two applicant types get named directly in IML's Document Checklist. If you're the most senior person in your organisation — a CEO or MD with nobody above you to sign your evidence — your Statement of Employment and Organisational Chart "can be signed off by the Head of Human Resources," but you must additionally provide audited financial reports, or an equivalent document, showing your organisation's revenue and staffing for the last three years. A business associate is also an acceptable referee in this situation, since a direct manager doesn't exist. Small Business Owners — defined by IML as running "an actively trading business with 0–19 employees" — get the checklist's most direct warning: "Your application is not as likely to be assessed positively without managerial experience prior to your own business." In practice, running your own small operation isn't on its own treated as equivalent to the senior managerial experience IML is looking for. An applicant whose whole career has been their own small business, with no earlier employed managerial role behind it, faces a genuinely harder evidentiary case than someone who earned the same title inside somebody else's larger organisation. Both CEO/MD and Corporate General Manager assessment criteria also note that "it is unlikely that employment within an organisation with a total staff of less than 50 employees would support employment experience at the required level" — an informal size floor worth knowing about before you apply.

CEO/MD vs Corporate General Manager: the reporting line, not the title

These two codes are separated by IML's own criteria on reporting structure, not job title. The Chief Executive or Managing Director "position held by the applicant must be the most senior position in your organisation," reporting to "the Board of Directors, the Head of the organisation or equivalent." The Corporate General Manager "position held by the applicant must be the most senior day-to-day operational manager position," and is "expected to have reported to the CEO or Managing Director or the Head of a division/department or equivalent" — one rung below the CEO/MD, running operations rather than setting overall direction. The years required are identical either way; what separates the two is who you answered to and how much of your authority was governance-facing versus operational. A Managing Director title held while actually reporting into a parent-company CEO describes a Corporate General Manager, not a CEO/MD, whatever the business card says. It's also worth flagging: Migratio's published data shows both codes on the Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List, but their listed visa reach doesn't include the 189 or 485 visas that MLTSSL membership normally carries. That gap is an open, unresolved data question in our records — we're reading it as published, not resolving it here, so don't assume 189 or 485 eligibility on either code without checking directly.

Sales and Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations Manager: identical tasks, different codes

This is the most concrete trap in the family. IML's Assessment Criteria for Sales and Marketing Manager, Advertising Manager and Public Relations Manager list the exact same four task bullets, word for word, each beginning "directing the development and implementation of" strategies to grow sales, promote goods and services, build brand loyalty and maintain reputation. If you read only the tasks, all three codes describe the same job. What actually sorts them, per IML's own "Position and reporting lines" section, is narrower: each must be "the most senior functional position" in the organisation or division "for" a specific named function — sales and marketing, brand/product advertising, or Public Relations respectively. Public Relations Manager alone carries a published list of alternative titles IML recognises, including Communications Manager, Corporate Affairs Manager and Media Relations Manager. Your actual job title and which department you genuinely ran — not the tasks performed — is what IML uses to sort between these three.

Why the sales/PR trio's visa reach isn't equal

Getting this distinction right isn't just an assessment nicety — it changes which visas are reachable at all. Sales and Marketing Manager and Advertising Manager both sit on the STSOL plus CSOL, reaching 186, 190, 407, 482, 491 and 494. Public Relations Manager sits on the Regional Occupation List alone, reaching only 407, 491 and 494 — no 186, no 482, and no 190 state nomination. Nominating Public Relations Manager over a task-identical sibling, where your real role could genuinely support either, closes off employer sponsorship and state nomination entirely. And because IML only assesses one occupation per application, discovering the mismatch after lodging means a fresh reassessment, not a quick amendment.

Human Resource Manager: the one with a genuinely distinct task list

Unlike the sales, advertising and PR trio, Human Resource Manager's task list in IML's criteria is actually its own — it includes "representing the organisation in negotiations with unions and employees to determine remuneration and other conditions of employment," language that doesn't appear anywhere in the sales-and-image bullets shared elsewhere in this family. The seniority test still applies: the position must be "the most senior HR position in your organisation or division." Because this code doesn't share wording with a confusable sibling, the main work for an applicant is proving genuine HR seniority through the evidence checklist, not sorting between similarly worded occupations. HR Manager sits on the STSOL plus CSOL, reaching the full six-visa spread this family offers, including 190 state nomination.

Supply and Distribution Manager vs Procurement Manager: the same pattern again

The supply-chain pair repeats the sales/advertising/PR problem in miniature. Supply and Distribution Manager and Procurement Manager's Assessment Criteria PDFs share identical task-list wording — both list "negotiating contracts with suppliers to meet quality, cost and delivery requirements" and the same further bullets, describing a general supply-chain function rather than anything procurement-specific. The distinguishing line is again the "most senior functional position" clause: "product supply and distribution" versus "product purchasing and procurement." Procurement Manager's only recognised alternative title is Purchasing Manager; Supply and Distribution Manager's list is longer, including Logistics Manager, Supply Chain Manager and several Australian Defence Force supply titles. Supply and Distribution Manager carries STSOL plus CSOL, reaching 190 state nomination. Procurement Manager sits on ROL plus CSOL — it keeps CSOL access to 186 and 482, but the missing STSOL membership means no 190. An applicant whose role could plausibly be described as either gains a real visa pathway by correctly identifying which functional title actually fits.

One more mix-up: Sales and Marketing Manager isn't Marketing Specialist

A separate, easy-to-miss trap sits across two different assessing authorities entirely. "Marketing Manager" and "Marketing Specialist" read as interchangeable job titles day to day, but they're different ANZSCO codes assessed by different bodies. Sales and Marketing Manager (131112) is assessed by IML, as covered above. Marketing Specialist (225113) is assessed by VETASSESS, which states the boundary directly on its own site: "Occupations not considered under this ANZSCO code: Market Research Analyst Advertising Specialist Sales and Marketing Manager Technical Sales Representatives Sales Workers." VETASSESS describes its own Marketing Specialist as someone who "identifies market opportunities and advises on the development, coordination and implementation of plans for pricing and promoting an organisation['s] goods and services" — a professional/advisory role, not a managerial one. Someone with "Marketing Manager" on their business card genuinely could belong to either code; applying to the wrong authority wastes both the application fee and the processing time before the mismatch is caught.

What none of these eight occupations need

None of the eight codes in this family carry a state or professional licensing requirement. No IML source — its site, its nine Assessment Criteria PDFs, its Document Checklist, its FAQ or its Review/Appeal page — describes a registration scheme or legal practising requirement attached to any of them. A positive IML skills assessment answers the migration question only. IML does offer an optional, separate professional accreditation, Certified Practising Manager, aimed at migrants who've already received a positive assessment and want to build local credibility in the Australian job market — it isn't a legal precondition to work as a manager in Australia.

A positive assessment isn't the whole points-test story

IML is explicit that its outcome is "one input into the visa application process," and separately that a positive outcome "does not determine how your employment is calculated or scored for migration points" — the Department of Home Affairs runs its own, independent assessment of skilled employment for points-test purposes. If your outcome is unfavourable, review must be sought within 90 days, and if that review also fails, an appeal can be lodged; IML's own page states the appeal "will be evaluated by an independent Skills Assessment Authority, Vetassess," not by IML itself. Standard Migration Skills Assessment processing runs 10 weeks regular, or 6 weeks express, and only one occupation can be assessed per application — decide which sibling code fits before you apply.

How do I know which sibling code — Sales and Marketing Manager, Advertising Manager or Public Relations Manager — actually fits me?

Not from the task list — IML's own criteria describe all three with the identical four bullet points. What sorts them is the "most senior functional position" clause: which specific function (sales and marketing, brand/product advertising, or Public Relations) you were the most senior person running. Your job title and the department you actually led is the real test, not the duties performed.

Does running my own small business count as management experience for IML?

IML names this directly: a Small Business Owner, defined as 0–19 employees, is "not as likely to be assessed positively without managerial experience prior to your own business." Owning and running your own operation, on its own, isn't treated as equivalent to the senior managerial experience IML looks for without an earlier employed managerial role behind it.

I'm a CEO with no one senior to sign my employment evidence — what do I do?

IML's Document Checklist covers this directly: the most senior person in an organisation can have their Statement of Employment and Organisational Chart signed off by the Head of Human Resources instead, and a business associate is an acceptable referee. You'll additionally need to provide audited financial reports, or an equivalent, showing your organisation's revenue and staffing for the last three years.

What's the actual difference between CEO/MD and Corporate General Manager?

Reporting line, not title. CEO/MD must be the most senior position in the organisation, reporting to the Board or equivalent governing body. Corporate General Manager must be the most senior day-to-day operational position, reporting to the CEO/MD or a division head — one level below whoever runs the organisation overall. The required years of experience are the same for both.

Can I apply for more than one of these occupations if I'm not sure which fits?

No — IML states plainly that "only one occupation can be assessed per application." If you're genuinely torn between two sibling codes, you need to decide before applying; changing occupation later means a fresh reassessment application, not a free amendment.

Does a positive IML skills assessment guarantee my points-test score?

No. IML is explicit that its assessment "is one input into the visa application process" and "does not determine how your employment is calculated or scored for migration points." The Department of Home Affairs runs its own, separate assessment of skilled employment for points-test purposes.

Is "Marketing Manager" always assessed by IML?

Not necessarily. Sales and Marketing Manager (131112) is an IML-assessed managerial occupation, but Marketing Specialist (225113) — a different, more advisory role with an overlapping everyday job title — is assessed by VETASSESS instead. VETASSESS's own site explicitly excludes Sales and Marketing Manager from its Marketing Specialist code. Check which code actually matches your role and seniority before applying to either body.