Work Experience

[arrayofhope]

Hi All,

1) I currently have nearly 1 year of experience with " Company A " with about 20 hours per week for about 8 months and 3 months with 40 hours per week.
2) Previously I had nearly 2 years of work experience from " Company B " with about 3500+ documented hours.
3) Prior to this I worked in India as Guitar Instructor, I was self employed for the most part, but I also taught at few different music schools. I don't have an exact number of hours worked per week, since the number of students fluctuate from month to month or even week to week. I do have documented proof with the music schools that I taught at and can prove self employed work by producing certificates of students that I prepared for music exams.

All three jobs have different NOC codes.

NOC - 0511 for Company A - Operations Assistant, which comes under Arts Administrator
NOC - 5227 for Company B - State Assistant
NOC - 5133 for Self Employed work. - Guitar Instructor.

My current score gives me full points for foreign work experience which is 50 since I have 8.5 band IELTS.

Should I go ahead and state 20 hours for self employed part of my experience?? or should I put in something lower just to be on the safe side?

I understand that any info that one provides here in this forum is no substitute for a legal opinion from a qualified lawyer, but none the less, I'd like hear some opinions from anyone here who has received an ITA and gone through the process.

Thanks in advance!!

Cheers!!

 

[jes_ON]

1) I currently have nearly 1 year of experience with " Company A " with about 20 hours per week for about 8 months and 3 months with 40 hours per week.

Suggest listing your part-time work experience and full-time work experience as separate positions.

Then, start counting weeks instead of months.

To understand how IRCC will pro-rate your part-time work experience, you add up all the hours and divide by 30 - that gives you the full-time equivalent in weeks. It will be around 22 weeks.)

Then you have 3 months = about 13 weeks full-time work experience (total # of hours is irrelevant).

2) Previously I had nearly 2 years of work experience from " Company B " with about 3500+ documented hours.

If it was full-time (30 or more hours per week), then you just count the weeks, (total hours are irrelevant).

You don't state if Job # 1 and 2 are in Canada or foreign...


3) Prior to this I worked in India as Guitar Instructor, I was self employed for the most part, but I also taught at few different music schools. I don't have an exact number of hours worked per week, since the number of students fluctuate from month to month or even week to week. I do have documented proof with the music schools that I taught at and can prove self employed work by producing certificates of students that I prepared for music exams.

How long did you work? (years or weeks) - if it doesn't bump you up in points, it's not worth the effort of documenting self-employment experience.

Should I go ahead and state 20 hours for self employed part of my experience?? or should I put in something lower just to be on the safe side?

Well, assuming 45-60 min lessons, you would have to give 4 lessons a day, 5 days a week, every week, for that to be true. Not impossible, but it sounds like a lot. You will also have to prove more than just hours, you will also have to prove income earned, and get a couple of letters from students/clients, etc. Again, if it doesn't make a huge difference in your points, it's probably not worth the effort... but if it DOES make a huge difference, just be prepared to go the extra mile for the documentation.

 

[arrayofhope]

Hi,

Thank you very much for information.

I have listed my part time and full time experience from "Company A" as separate positions.
All my jobs were in India and the US.

As for my self employed experience, I was a guitar instructor from 2008 to 2012. I did teach prior to 2008 but I'm not sure if i'd be able to prove it. I believe this bumped up my point to 50 from 35 with just the other 2 positions. I did have a very busy schedule teaching, almost 4 to 5 days a week, but I wasn't always teaching 4 or 5 hours a day. There were certainly periods of time when I did, but it was years ago and I don't recall my hours.

Would you suggest I put in 15 hours per week instead of 20 or simply put in 10??

 

[jes_ON]

Would you suggest I put in 15 hours per week instead of 20 or simply put in 10??

How much income from this job can you prove?

 

[arrayofhope]

As in dollars or just be able to prove I was compensated??

I do have a couple tax forms from the schools that I taught at, otherwise India was predominantly a cash market until more recent years. I would also be able prove I was one of the more prominent teachers/musicians in the city, with some newspaper articles etc.

 

[jes_ON]

As in dollars or just be able to prove I was compensated??

I do have a couple tax forms from the schools that I taught at, otherwise India was predominantly a cash market until more recent years. I would also be able prove I was one of the more prominent teachers/musicians in the city, with some newspaper articles etc.

Yes, you need to document how much you earned. In whatever currency you earned it in. Whether it be (business) tax documents, invoices to clients/receipts, accounting documents, etc. Yes, it is VERY difficult to prove if you were paid in cash. Or least give a reasonable approximation and a letter of explanation (like you stated above) with alternative proof.

It is really hard to say if IRCC will accept it.

Under the section on "proof of work experience" - there is a paragraph on self-employment.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/perm/express/intake-complete.asp

BTW - what a cool job! : ) You realize, you will need a police clearance from India, yes?

 

[arrayofhope]

Thanks. It was a great job. And opportunities to pursue music teaching in Canada are plentiful when compared to the US.

To my surprise, a police certificate from India was a breeze. I received it in a weeks time. Took nearly 2.5 months to get mine from FBI.

I may be able to get reference letters from some of my employers since I still keep in touch. Hopefully they would be able to give me some more info provided they kept records of my pay.

Overall I have a score of 425 now and if I have to scrap the self employed work, I might lose about 15 points. I'm might just hire a good lawyer if the CRS requirement drops closer to 430.

Having said that, I currently have my study permit in processing. Hopefully sooner or later I can get the extra points.