Determining your NOC code for work experience (Express entry)

When applying for express entry, you have to specify your NOC code for every position in your work experience.  You also have to decide the primary NOC code for your application.       

What is NOC and what is its significance?

NOC stands for National Occupation Code. Each of the various occupations and jobs that are applicable have been assigned a NOC code. Since you are applying as a skilled immigrant, each of the positions in your career for which you are claiming points, has to be associated with a NOC. This is the basis on which you would get an invite i.e. ITA. Remember that once you get an invite, you have to get job duties listed by your employer. So please invest time to find the correct NOC.

Primary NOC is the NOC that you would like to apply for. You should have a good deal of experience in that NOC.  Since you would be working in that role, CIC would like to ensure that you are indeed going to do a skilled job and you have the experience for it.

If you have a job offer from a Canadian employer and you are claiming points for that in your express entry application, you would also need to specify the NOC for that job offer as well.

How should I find my NOC?

1. Skill level 0, A or B are considered for Express entry.

• For NOC 0 check this video.

For NOC code A, check the video below. This is one of the biggest categories for which invites were sent! Codes 217, 2173, 2174 and 1112 received the highest invites.

2. Here is the list of NOC codes. You may not find the exact title that you may hold now. That's where you have to do a little bit of work.
3. Each of the NOC codes have responsibilities listed clearly. You need to compare the responsibilities of the NOC with the letter your employer might give you.
4. For every position you have take the time to research and compare the NOC.
5. Select your primary NOC carefully.  You should have at least one year of skilled experience in that NOC. It is perfectly fine if you have other NOCs in your experience.
6. Your job duties may vary and may not match 100% and that is expected because  every employer may have different expectations for a given title. While there is no % match mentioned on the site, it might be good to get a close match to the description of the main duties. Companies might have job positions that might have mixed duties. In my case I was a scrum master and analyst but I  had more duties as an analyst but completely stated both my job duties in the letter and chose the NOC of an analyst.
7. Another thing to note is that the typical job titles are also mentioned in the NOC. Your employer may have different titles. For example,  scrum master isn't a title but based on your responsibilities,  you could choose a NOC of IT manager or analyst. 
8. The minimum education is also stated for the NOC. Please consider that too while selecting a NOC. If that NOC needs a minimum masters and you only have higher secondary education then it might not be a good fit.

Recommendations from our research

The search functionality on the CIC site could definitely use a lot of improvements.  One of our pain points was finding the correct NOC. Note that you know your job role well and so go thru the responsibilities mentioned in the NOC before using it. This is just for you to get started.

IT / Computer software job roles

1. IT System Analyst / Business analyst / Product owner / Security analyst / performance analyst - 2171
2. Scrum master / project manager / program manager- 0213
3. Front end developers/ UX developers - 2175
4. DBA / database analysts - 2172
5. UX designers who wireframe and create prototypes - 5241
6. Developers working on maintenance projects or gaming / animation works - 2174
7. Software architects and senior developers - 2173
8. Quality assurance - 2283
9. Operations / support technicians / LAN managers - 2281
10. Directors, Vice president and above - 0013

Frequently asked questions-

1. Where else do you need NOC?
NOC is required when you submit your profile i.e. you specify primary NOC and NOC for every position in your experience.  If you have a job offer and using it towards getting points then your offer letter will need the NOC.

2. If you have not used any job offer towards points, do you need NOC to search jobs?
No, you don't need NOC. You search jobs normally.  Here are some tips.

DISCLAIMER - This is a very subjective topic and I am stating this based on our personal experience.  If you need any further assistance,  please contact an immigration attorney. 

Next steps -
1. Get ready to submit your express entry profile. 

Hope this helps you choose the correct NOC!

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