Q. Does anyone have any advise as to whether or not it’s worth it to attempt applying with an occupation unrelated to your degree? I have some working experience in jobs such as “waiter”, etc., and I am presently in a postgraduate research position. Should I wait and try to accumulate some other experience?
Answer: Applying in a profession unrelated to one’s education is not necessarily unlikely to succeed. Due to NOC requirements for the majority of professions on the GOL, however, formal education or training in one’s field can be a significant factor.
In your message, the occupations that you have stated that you have experience in are not likely warrant sufficient points to allow you to succeed. Also, it is not clear that you even have the minimum requisite one year of experience.
Work experience gained during positions of research during post-graduate research has been repeatedly been presented to immigration officers with success by our office. The work experience gained during such research most often fits the NOC designations in question very well (more so than in most cases when the person has been employed elsewhere). The critical factor regarding whether or not our office would feel that post-graduate research experience is valid would be whether or not the level of education during which the research was conducted was in excess of that required to qualify for that position according to the NOC (National Occupational Classification) manual.