Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://help.skillsdb.com/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Overview
Careers in SkillsDB are the organizational templates that define what skills matter for a given job role. Each career represents a position or role — such as “Software Engineer” or “Operations Manager” — and contains a curated set of skills that employees in that role are expected to develop and demonstrate. Careers serve as the foundation for SkillsDB’s skills tracking, assessment, and analytics features. When a person is assigned to a career, they receive a skills profile aligned to that role. Their proficiency grades are tracked against the career’s benchmarks, and their training completion is measured against the career’s training requirements. All of this data flows into the Skills Matrix, assessments, and team analytics. A career is more than a flat list of skills. It has a three-level hierarchy: the career itself contains sections that group related skills together, and levels that represent progression stages within the role (for example, Level 1 through Level 5). Skills can be assigned individual benchmarks at each level, so the expected proficiency for a given skill shifts as employees advance. Administrators have full access to create, edit, configure, and delete careers. Managers can view careers and assign their team members to them. Standard employees can view the career they are assigned to and track their own progress against its requirements. The Careers library requires the Library Roles setting to be enabled in your organization settings. If the Careers section is not visible in your sidebar, contact your SkillsDB administrator to confirm the setting is active.Prerequisites
Before working with careers, you need:- Permission level: Administrator role to create, edit, configure, or delete careers; Manager role to assign people to careers
- Setup requirement: Library Roles enabled in your organization settings
- Optional: Skills created in the Skills library before building out a career (you can also create new skills directly within a career)
Understanding Career Structure
Every career in SkillsDB follows a consistent three-level hierarchy:| Level | What it is | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Career | The top-level job role or position | ”Software Engineer” |
| Section | A group of related skills within the career | ”Backend Development”, “Security” |
| Skill | An individual competency within a section | ”Python”, “SQL”, “API Design” |
Navigating the Careers Library
To access the Careers library, select Library > Careers from the left sidebar.Group By
The library supports three grouping modes via the toggle at the top of the page:| Mode | Behavior |
|---|---|
| Default | A flat list with no grouping. This is the default view. |
| Alphabetical | Careers grouped into collapsible sections by first letter. |
| Type | Careers grouped by their career type. |
Columns
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
| Career | The career name. Select a row to open the career detail page. |
| Labels | Tags applied to the career. Labels can be edited inline using the Add label button. |
| Type | The career type (e.g., Job Role). |
| Assigned | The number of people assigned to the career. |
Filters
Select Filter in the toolbar to open the filter menu. Available filters: Career, Type, Labels, People Assigned.Creating a Career
Administrators can create new careers from the Careers library. Each career requires a title and a type.- Navigate to Library > Careers
- Select + Add Career in the top-right navigation area
- In the Create Career dialog, enter the following:
- Career title (required) — Enter a unique, descriptive name for the career
- Add career description (optional) — Provide context about the role
- Add Type (required) — Select a type to categorize this career (see Managing career types below)
- + Add label (optional) — Apply one or more labels for organization
- Optionally toggle Create More to keep the dialog open after creating, allowing you to add multiple careers in sequence
- Select Create
Building out a Career
After creating a career, you structure it by adding levels, sections, and skills. Open a career’s detail page by selecting it from the Library > Careers table. The detail page title displays as Manage / [Career Name]. The detail page shows the career’s sections, the skills within each section, and any associated learning resources.Managing levels
Levels define the seniority or progression tiers within a career. Add levels before assigning benchmarks to skills, as benchmarks are tied to specific levels. To manage levels on a career detail page:- Select the Levels control within the career structure panel
- Select + Add Level to create a new level, then enter a Level Title
- Select Save
Managing sections
Sections organize skills within a career into logical groupings. A career with no sections treats all skills as a single flat list. To add a section:- On the career detail page, select + Add Section
- Enter a Section Name
- Select Save
Adding skills
Skills can be added to a career either by searching for existing skills in your skills library or by creating new custom skills directly within the career. To add an existing skill:- On the career detail page, select + Add Skill within the section you want to add to (or at the career level if no sections exist)
- In the search dialog, type the skill name to search the skills library
- Select the skill from the results to attach it to the career
- Optionally, set a benchmark (the expected proficiency grade for this skill in this career)
- Select Save
- Select + Add Skill and select the Create New Skill option in the dialog
- Enter a Skill Name (required) and optionally a Skill Description
- Set a Benchmark if applicable
- Select Save
Assigning People to a Career
Administrators can assign people to a career directly from the detail page. When assigning someone, you can optionally specify which level of the career they are at.- Navigate to Library > Careers and open the career
- Select Assign in the top-right navigation area
- In the Assign Career drawer, search for people by name or email
- Select one or more people to assign
- Optionally select a Career Level to assign them to
- Confirm the assignment
Configuring Career Settings
Each career has four configurable settings that control which features are active for that career. Access Career Settings from the detail page by selecting the Settings icon in the top-right navigation area. The Career Settings modal displays four toggle settings:Proficiency Grading
Default: On Enables skill proficiency grading and grade columns for this career. When Proficiency Grading is on, employees and managers can record skill grades, and grades appear in the Skills Matrix, assessments, and analytics. When Proficiency Grading is turned off, all grade columns are hidden and grading data is excluded from search results and analytics. Turning off Proficiency Grading also automatically disables the Assessments setting.Training Dates
Default: Off Enables training approvals and makes this career’s skills visible in Team > Training > Training Matrix. When Training Dates is on, employees can request training approval for skills in this career, and managers can track training completion. Enabling Training Dates reveals two additional configuration options: Training Timeline — Set the expected time for employees to complete training approval for all skills in this career. Enter values in Days, Months, and/or Years. Bulk Update Skill Training Settings — Select Configure Skills to open a bulk configuration modal where you can apply training settings (required status, evidence type, and expiration timeline) across multiple skills in one action.Assessments
Default: On (requires Proficiency Grading to be enabled) Includes this career’s skills in manager and self-assessments. When Assessments is off, skills from this career are excluded from all assessment cycles. Assessments cannot be enabled if Proficiency Grading is disabled. If Proficiency Grading is turned off, Assessments is automatically disabled and grayed out until Proficiency Grading is re-enabled.User Dashboard
Default: Off Enables a career-specific dashboard for employees, accessible at Profile > Career > Overview. The dashboard gives employees a summary view of their career progress. Enabling User Dashboard reveals Dashboard Components checkboxes to control which sections appear on the dashboard:| Component | Default |
|---|---|
| Career Description | On |
| Training Dates Summary | On |
| Proficiency Summary | On |
| Pinned Pages | On |
Editing, Deleting, and Managing Types
Editing a career
Career names and descriptions are edited inline directly on the career detail page:- Navigate to Library > Careers and select the career row to open its detail page
- Select the career title or description text on the detail page to edit it inline
- Changes save automatically
Managing career types
Career types are optional labels that categorize careers in your organization (for example, “Job Role”, “Specialty Path”, or “Leadership Track”). The default type is “Job Role”. To manage career types:- Navigate to Library > Careers
- Select Manage Types in the top-right navigation area
- In the Manage Career Types drawer:
- Select + Add Type to create a new type and enter a name
- Select the edit icon on any existing type to rename it
- Select the delete icon to remove a type
Viewing Career Analytics
Every career has two analytics views accessible from its detail page: the Skills Matrix and the Flag Matrix.Skills Matrix
The Skills Matrix displays skill proficiency data for everyone assigned to the career. It shows each person’s grade for every skill in the career, color-coded by performance against the benchmark. To access the Skills Matrix, open the career detail page and use the analytics navigation in the top bar. The Skills Matrix page supports six display views — Skills Matrix (default), Training Matrix, Skills Flag, Nightingale chart, Bar Chart, and Learning — and includes filters for organizational structure and performance. See Analytics & Reporting for full details.Flag Matrix
The Flag Matrix shows which skill flags (Mentor, Expert, Focus, Interest) are applied to people in this career. To access the Flag Matrix, select Flag Matrix in the top-right navigation area on the career detail page.Common Questions
Who can create and manage careers?
Who can create and manage careers?
Can the same skill belong to multiple careers?
Can the same skill belong to multiple careers?
What happens if I turn off Proficiency Grading for a career that already has grade data?
What happens if I turn off Proficiency Grading for a career that already has grade data?
What does assigning a career level to a person do?
What does assigning a career level to a person do?
Can I reorder sections and skills within a career?
Can I reorder sections and skills within a career?
What is the difference between Training Dates and Training Timeline?
What is the difference between Training Dates and Training Timeline?
Can I configure training settings per skill rather than for the whole career?
Can I configure training settings per skill rather than for the whole career?