Can You Get Qualified If Your Work Was All Under a Head Contractor?

If you've spent years working under a head contractor — turning up to their sites, using their sign-in sheets, doing the work they put in front of you — you might wonder whether any of it "counts" towards a qualification. The short answer is yes, it can. The work you did on the tools is still your work, regardless of whose name was on the head contract. What matters is whether you can show what you actually did, and that the evidence lines up with what the qualification requires.

Your experience is still your experience

Plenty of skilled tradies have never held the head contract on a job. You might have subbied for the same builder for a decade, or moved between contractors as the work came up. On paper it looks like someone else ran the show — but you're the one who framed the walls, hung the doors, cut in the ceilings or rolled out the second coats.

That hands-on experience is exactly what gets assessed when you go to turn your experience into a qualification. Nobody expects you to have run your own company. They want to see that you can do the tasks in the units competently, safely and to standard.

What the assessor is actually looking for

When you're getting qualified for the skills you already have, the partner Registered Training Organisation (RTO) needs evidence that you've done the work described in each unit of competency. Working under a head contractor doesn't change what that evidence needs to show — it just changes where some of it comes from.

Useful evidence often includes:

• Photos and videos of you doing the work on site
• Job records, dockets or timesheets showing what you worked on
• A reference from the head contractor, supervisor or builder you worked under
• Details of the types of jobs, materials and tools you've handled

You don't need to have been the boss. You just need to be able to point to the work and say, honestly, "I did that."

When you don't have your own paperwork

This is where a lot of subcontractors get stuck. If the head contractor kept the contracts, the permits and the client invoices, you might feel like you've got nothing in your name. That's more common than you'd think, and it doesn't stop you.

A big part of what All Pathways helps with is working out what evidence you can gather. A supervisor who's willing to confirm the work you did is worth a lot. So are the photos on your phone, the messages about jobs, and a clear rundown of your day-to-day tasks. We help you pull that together into something the RTO can assess.

Just keep in mind: we can't promise a qualification. Whether you're assessed as competent depends on your evidence meeting the unit requirements, and that decision is made by the partner RTO — not by us.

Which trades this applies to

Right now, All Pathways works with experienced tradies in two areas:

• Certificate III in Carpentry
• Certificate III in Painting and Decorating

If you've done years of carpentry or painting work under a head contractor, this is exactly the situation these pathways are built for. Whether you were subbing, labouring your way up, or running a crew for someone else, the work you did is what gets recognised.

How it works and what it costs

We keep the process simple and the pricing clear:

• The first week is free, so you can see how it works before spending anything.
• After that it's $20/week while you build your evidence, and you can cancel anytime.
• There's a one-off $500 right at the end — only when your evidence is complete and ready to go to the partner RTO.

No lock-in, no surprises. You work through it at your own pace, online, around your jobs.

Give it a go

If your whole career has been under someone else's contract, don't let that put you off — that work is still yours, and it may well count. Start with the free week and see what your experience could be worth.

Feel free to have a look around All Pathways and get started whenever you're ready — no pressure, no rush.