> ## 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.
# Self Assessments
> Reflect on and record your capabilities through Self Assessments — rate your proficiency across career skills, flag areas for growth, and keep your skills profile up to date.
**Quick Summary:** A self-assessment is a structured evaluation where you grade your own proficiency across a set of skills. Completing a self-assessment updates your Employee grade in your Skills Profile and gives your manager and organization a view of your self-reported skill levels.
# Overview
A self-assessment is a formal evaluation cycle assigned to you by your manager or an administrator. During a self-assessment, you review each skill assigned to your role and grade your own proficiency using your organization's grading scale (typically 1–5). You can also mark skills that do not apply to your role and flag skills you want to develop.
Self-assessments exist to give employees a voice in how their skills are recorded. Rather than relying solely on manager observations, self-assessments capture your own view of your proficiency — which your manager and administrator can then compare against their own assessment and the role's benchmark expectations.
All employees can complete self-assessments when one is assigned to them. You do not need any special permissions to access or complete your self-assessment.
**Note:** Self-assessments are assigned by your administrator or manager. You cannot create or initiate your own assessment cycle. If you believe you should have an active assessment but cannot see one, contact your manager or administrator.
***
# Navigating to Your Assessments
To view your active and completed assessments Select **Assessments** from the left sidebar navigation. The **Assessments** page shows all assessments assigned to you, with the following columns:
| Column | Description |
| ------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Name** | The assessment title |
| **Deadline** | The date by which you must submit |
| **Status** | Your current progress (In progress, Completed, or Ended) |
| **Actions** | A button to continue, view the scorecard, or start the assessment |
An assessment shows **Ended** when your administrator has closed the assessment cycle. In this case, the action button shows **Scorecard** so you can view your results. If the assessment ended before you submitted, contact your administrator.
Select any assessment row or its action button to open it.
***
## Starting an Assessment
When you open a new assessment for the first time, an intro modal appears to prepare you before you begin grading.
**Step 1: Keyboard shortcuts**
The first step of the intro modal shows the keyboard shortcuts available during grading. These shortcuts let you navigate and grade efficiently without using your mouse.
| Key | Action |
| ------- | --------------------------------------------------------- |
| `1`–`5` | Assign a grade to the current skill |
| `N` | Toggle Not Applicable for the current skill |
| `→` | Move to the next skill |
| `←` | Move to the previous skill |
| `Enter` | Move to the next skill (or submit when on the last skill) |
| `?` | Open the keyboard shortcuts reference |
| `Esc` | Exit the assessment |
Select **Continue** to proceed to the assessment overview.
**Step 2: Assessment overview**
The second step shows a summary of your assessment:
| Card | Description |
| ---------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Deadline** | The date by which you must submit, and how many days remain |
| **Total Skills** | The number of skills you need to grade |
| **Est. Time** | An estimated time to complete (approximately 2 minutes per skill) |
| **Progress** | Your current completion percentage if you have already started |
Select **Start Assessment** to begin grading. If you have already started and are returning to continue, the button reads **Continue Assessment**.
***
## Understanding the Grading Layout
The assessment grading interface is divided into three areas:
| Area | Purpose |
| ------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Left sidebar** | Skills list showing all skills grouped by job role, with completion status indicators |
| **Center content** | The current skill being graded, with the grading table and skill details |
| **Right sidebar** | Activity feed showing comments for the current skill |
The center content area shows:
* **Skill title** — Displayed as "\[Section]: Skill Name" (for example, "Leadership: Team Management")
* **Skill description** — A collapsible description of what the skill involves
* **Labels** — Any labels applied to the skill for categorization
* **Progress counter** — "X of Y graded" shown at the top right, updating after each grade
The **grading table** in the center has the following columns:
| Column | Description |
| --------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Grade** | Your self-assessed proficiency grade. Shows "Add Grade" until a grade is selected. |
| **Benchmark** | The expected proficiency level for this skill in your role (read-only). |
| **Prior grade** | Your grade from a previous assessment cycle, if one exists. |
| **N/A** | A toggle to mark the skill as Not Applicable. |
| **Focus** | A button to mark the skill as a development priority. |
**Note:** The Benchmark column only appears if a benchmark has been set for your role. The Prior grade column only appears if you have completed a previous assessment cycle. Your administrator controls the grading scale labels (for example, "Beginner" through "Expert") for your organization.
***
## Grading a Skill
To grade a skill:
1. In the **Grade** column, select **Add Grade** to open the grade selector.
2. In the grade selector, choose the grade that best reflects your current proficiency level. Each grade option shows a short description (for example, "Proficient") and a longer detail description.
3. Select your chosen grade. The grade saves automatically and the Grade column updates to show your selection.
The grade selector also shows a **Benchmark** badge next to the grade that matches your role's expected level, and a **Prior** badge next to the grade that matches your previous assessment, so you can orient yourself before selecting.
**Tip:** Use the keyboard shortcuts `1`–`5` to assign a grade instantly without opening the dropdown. This is the fastest way to move through a large assessment.
When you select a grade, the progress counter increments and the skill in the left sidebar shows a checkmark indicating it has been graded. The **Next** button at the bottom of the page activates, allowing you to move to the next skill.
***
## Marking a Skill as Not Applicable
If a skill does not apply to your role or current work, you can mark it as Not Applicable instead of assigning a grade.
To mark a skill as Not Applicable:
1. In the **N/A** column, toggle the switch on.
When a skill is marked Not Applicable:
* The grade is cleared and the Grade column shows an N/A indicator.
* The Focus button is disabled for that skill.
* The skill counts as completed for the purposes of assessment progress.
* The skill is excluded from the average grade calculation shown at the end of the assessment.
To reverse the Not Applicable status, toggle the switch off. The skill returns to an ungraded state and you can assign a grade normally.
**Important:** Marking a skill as Not Applicable removes any grade you had previously entered for that skill. If you toggle N/A off again, you will need to re-enter your grade.
***
## Marking a Skill as a Focus Area
Marking a skill as Focus signals to your manager that you want to prioritize developing that skill.
To mark a skill as a Focus area:
1. In the **Focus** column, select the **Make Focus** icon (a circular outline icon).
When a skill is marked as Focus:
* The icon changes to a filled checkmark circle and the label reads **Focus**.
* The skill appears in your **Highlights** view in your Skills Profile.
* Your manager can see which skills you have marked as development priorities.
To remove the Focus designation, select the icon again. The icon returns to the outline state.
**Note:** The Focus button is disabled when a skill is marked as Not Applicable. Unfocus a Not Applicable skill first if you want to mark it as a Focus area.
***
## Navigating Between Skills
You can move through the skills in your assessment in any order.
**Using the navigation buttons:**
* Select **Previous** at the bottom of the page to go to the preceding skill.
* Select **Next** to advance to the next skill. The Next button is only active once the current skill has been graded or marked as Not Applicable.
**Using the left sidebar:**
* Select any skill in the left sidebar to jump directly to it, regardless of order.
* Skills that have been graded or marked N/A show a checkmark.
**Using keyboard shortcuts:**
* Press `←` to move to the previous skill.
* Press `→` to move to the next skill.
**Tip:** You do not need to complete skills in order. Use the left sidebar to jump to any skill at any time. Many people prefer to work through skills they are confident in first, then return to skills that require more thought.
***
## Submitting Your Assessment
You can only submit your assessment once all skills have been graded or marked as Not Applicable.
When you select **Next** on the final skill (or press `Enter`), SkillsDB checks whether any skills remain ungraded.
**If ungraded skills exist:**
A modal appears listing all skills that still need a grade or N/A marking, grouped by job role. Select any skill in the list to navigate directly to it and complete your grade.
**If all skills are complete:**
A completion modal appears showing a summary of your assessment:
| Card | Description |
| ----------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Deadline** | The submission deadline and days remaining |
| **Total Skills** | The total number of skills in the assessment |
| **Total Time** | The estimated time you spent on the assessment |
| **Average Grade** | Your average grade across all graded skills (excluding N/A) |
To finalize and submit your assessment:
1. Review the summary in the completion modal.
2. Select **Submit**.
Your assessment is marked as Completed and you are redirected to your assessment scorecard.
To return to grading without submitting, select **Back**. Your grades are saved and you can continue editing before submitting.
**Important:** Once you select **Submit**, your assessment is locked. You cannot edit your grades after submission.
***
## Viewing your Results
After submitting, you are redirected to your **Assessment Scorecard**. You can also access the scorecard at any time by selecting a completed assessment from the **Assessments** list and selecting **View Results**.
The scorecard shows:
* Your self-assessed grade for each skill
* Your manager's grade for each skill (if your manager has completed their assessment and the administrator has configured manager grades to be visible)
* The benchmark grade for each skill in your role
* Visual comparison of your self-assessment against benchmark and manager grades
The scorecard is read-only. Grades cannot be changed after submission.
***
# Common Questions
Yes. Grades are saved automatically as you select them. You can close the assessment at any time and return to it later from the **Assessments** page. Select the assessment and choose **Continue Assessment** to pick up where you left off. Your progress is preserved.
Yes. You can revisit any skill and change your grade at any time before you select **Submit**. Navigate to the skill using the left sidebar or the Previous/Next buttons and select a new grade. The grade updates immediately.
No. Once you select **Submit**, your assessment is locked and grades cannot be changed. If you need to update your grades after submission, contact your manager or administrator.
The average grade is the mean of all your graded skills, calculated by adding up all your grade values and dividing by the number of graded skills. Skills marked as Not Applicable are excluded from the calculation.
If all skills are marked Not Applicable, the completion modal will show an average grade of zero or will not display a numeric average. You can still submit. However, if you believe this is not accurate, review the skills and consider whether some should have a grade instead.
Benchmarks are set per job role by your administrator. If no benchmark has been configured for a specific skill in your role, the Benchmark column will be empty for that skill. Contact your administrator if you believe a benchmark should be visible.
If the deadline passes and the assessment has been closed by your administrator, you will no longer be able to access the grading interface. The assessment may show as overdue in your list. Contact your administrator if you need an extension.
The **Next** button is inactive until the current skill has been given a grade or marked as Not Applicable. Select a grade or toggle the N/A switch to activate the Next button.
***
# Related Articles
View your skill grades, training records, and learning resources
How managers conduct and submit assessments for their team
Understand what Focus, Expert, Mentor, and Interest flags mean
How skill gaps are identified from assessment results
Create a personal learning plan based on your focus areas
Complete skills surveys sent by your manager or administrator
***
# Need Help?
If you run into any issues or have questions, reach out to your organization's SkillsDB administrator or contact [SkillsDB Support](https://www.skillsdb.com/support).