Occupational Skill Level
All employers expect that a new employee will have the appropriate level of schooling and/or work experience needed to do the job. Occupations can be grouped according to what most employers hold as the minimum skill level needed for an occupation. For example, an "accountant" is generally required to have a higher level of schooling than a "bookkeeper". The table below categorizes four broad skill levels used to classify all NOC occupations.
NOC Skill Level Criteria
| Skill Level |
Education/Training |
Other |
| A |
University degree (bachelor's, masters or post-graduate). |
|
| B |
Two to three years of post-secondary education at community college or institute of technology.
(or)
Two to four years of apprenticeship training.
(or)
Three to four years of secondary school and more than two years of on-the-job training, training course or specific work experience. |
Occupations with supervisory responsibilities are assigned to skill level B.
Occupations with significant health and safety responsibilities (e.g., fire fighters, police officers and registered nursing assistants) are assigned to skill level B. |
| C |
One to four years of secondary schools education.
Up to two years of on-the-job training, training course or specific work experience. |
|
| D |
Up to two years of secondary school and short work demonstration or on-the-job training. |
|
In the example above, an accountant would be classified with a skill level "A" and a bookkeeper with a skill level "B".
An exception to this rule occurs among managerial occupations, which are not assigned a skill level since the criteria for hiring managers and senior executives often includes other non-schooling/training factors such as some particular type of experience.
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