Assess the actual knowledge and its relevance to the proposed work. Testing is not automatically sufficient or automatically excluded simply because it did not involve live customers.
Explain what the employee learned and can apply
Identify the organizational process and evidence of the employee’s understanding. Avoid converting a participation certificate or a successful demonstration into an unsupported claim of advanced knowledge.
Specialized knowledge means special knowledge of the company's product, service, research, equipment, techniques or management and its application in international markets, or an advanced level of knowledge of the company's processes and procedures. Assess the knowledge, employment and company requirements together with premises and financial ability to pay the employee and commence business. Exclusivity is not a universal requirement; establish qualifying special or advanced knowledge. The absence of a course does not automatically defeat the case, but unsupported claims of expertise remain insufficient. Explain what training occurred, what was learned and how it relates to the organization’s interests or processes. Qualification still requires the year of employment abroad, a qualifying corporate relationship and evidence that the knowledge is genuinely distinctive. The typical mistake is calling every skill gained before promotion “specialized” without tying it to the company.