Recognition of prior learning (RPL) involves an idea of "making learning visible"--of valuing knowledge irrespective of how, when and where it is learnt. This is a phenomenographic analysis of how a group of caretakers from a Swedish property management company experience participation in an RPL initiative focusing on their vocational competence. The results show how RPL is experienced in various ways by the caretakers--as an opportunity for personal development, as a matter of assessment and control, or as "only scratching the surface". The process is also experienced in different ways in terms of learning--with a focus on prior learning or new learning, or even no learning. Other benefits of RPL are described in terms of exchange value or personal development. The results are integrated in a model where the relationship between the individual and the RPL process is a developmental, a credit-exchange or a critical relation.