According to the US Department of Labour, Bureau of Labour Statistics the Standard

(http://www.bls.gov/soc) Occupational Classification (SOC) system is used by Federal statistical

agencies to classify workers into occupational categories for the purpose of collecting,

calculating, or disseminating data. All workers are classified into one of 840 detailed

occupations according to their occupational definition. To facilitate classification, detailed

occupations are combined to form 461 broad occupations, 97 minor groups, and 23 major

groups. Detailed occupations in the SOC with similar job duties, and in some cases skills,

education, and/or training, are grouped together. In the united States general questions

concerning the SOC may be sent by email or faxed to 202-691-6444.

The applicable classification system in Canada is the National Occupational Classification (NOC).

The National Occupational Classification (NOC) is the authoritative resource on occupational

information in Canada. It is used daily by thousands of people to understand the jobs found

throughout Canada’s labour market. The NOC 2011 updates both the National Occupational

Classification 2006 of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada and Statistics Canada’s

National Occupational Classification for Statistics (NOC-S) 2006. This revised edition eliminates

the differences between the two former systems.

According to Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, “[t]he National Occupational

Classification 2011 (http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC/English/NOC/2011) is a four-tiered

hierarchical arrangement of occupational groups with successive levels of disaggregation. It

contains broad occupational categories, major, minor and unit groups 10 broad occupational

cateories

 Each broad occupational category has a unique one digit code number and is composed of one or more

 Each major group has a unique two-digit code number and is composed *of one or more minor groups.

major groups. 40 major groups

The first digit of this code indicates the broad occupational category to which the major group belongs.140

minor groups

 Each minor group has a unique three-digit code number and is composed of one or more unit groups. The

first two digits of this code indicate the major group to which the minor groups belong.500 unit groups

 Each unit group has a unique four-digit code. The first three digits of this code indicate the major and

minor groups to which the unit group belongs.

Go To

U.S. (http://www.bls.gov/soc)

Canada: (http://www5.hrsdc.gc.ca/NOC/English/NOC/2011.