Skip to content
Visit the Platform
  • There are no suggestions because the search field is empty.

Skill Proficiency by Occupation API Guide

Skill Proficiency by Occupation API provides a structured view of expected proficiency levels for specific skills within a selected role.

It supports teams designing upskilling programs, evaluating readiness, and aligning training or job requirements with real-world benchmarks.

This API empowers workforce and learning teams to standardize role-based competencies across occupations — ensuring consistent expectations and smarter talent decisions.

Who is this API for?

This API is ideal for L&D and strategy teams focused on competency frameworks, performance design, and readiness assessment. In particular:

  • Learning Manager – tailoring programs to match expected proficiency levels across different roles

  • People Strategist – embedding skill benchmarks into role design, job architecture, or workforce plans

Goals this API helps you achieve

The Skill Proficiency by Occupation API directly supports business objectives such as:

  • Review skill proficiency levels required for each role

  • Align learning programs to real-world job expectations

  • Inform talent assessment or promotion readiness with skill-level distributions

What’s included in the API?

The API provides a detailed view of how proficient a person typically needs to be in each skill associated with an occupation. It includes:

Section Description
Proficiency Mean The average level of skill proficiency expected (on a 1–5 scale)
Distribution by Level A breakdown of job ad counts across each proficiency level (1–5)
Confidence Level The confidence rating of the data based on volume and consistency
Skill Metadata Skill name, ID, and links to further exploration (e.g. definitions, trends)

Proficiency levels are modeled using the Dreyfus Model (Novice to Expert) and are visually represented as both a chart and a table in the UI

Input and Output

Input required:

  • An Occupation ID (from Pearson's Occupation Ontology)

  • Optional: Occupation level (e.g. Level 2 = default)

Output includes:

  • A list of skills for the selected occupation

  • Each skill’s mean proficiency level

  • Distribution (%) of job ads across proficiency levels (1–5)

  • Confidence rating, job ad counts, and skill descriptions

  • Additional metadata powered by the Skill Proficiency Descriptions API

How it connects to the Skill Proficiency Descriptions API

Screenshot 2025-11-21 at 6.00.16 pm

The Skill Proficiency by Occupation API is enriched in the UI using the Skill Proficiency Descriptions API.

For each skill and proficiency level (1–5), users can see a plain-language description of what that level looks like in practice — helping clarify the capability expected at that level.

This pairing brings context to the numbers and supports more actionable decision-making. For example, a skill with a mean proficiency of 4 becomes more meaningful when you understand what level 4 actually entails.

You can adopt a similar integration in your own platform by combining both APIs. For example:

  • Use Skill Proficiency by Occupation to identify required skill levels

  • Call the Skill Proficiency Descriptions API to display descriptive context alongside each

This approach strengthens your internal frameworks and learning journeys with consistent, contextual skill expectations.

Real-world applications

Here’s how teams use the Skill Proficiency by Occupation API in their workflow:

  • Design future-fit competency frameworks by benchmarking skill expectations

  • Align training programs with real-world job data to ensure relevance

  • Guide career transitions or internal mobility using clear skill targets

  • Evaluate job readiness with data-backed proficiency levels

API Bundle

This API is available in the following bundles:

Skill Analysis & Development. Ideal for teams designing learning programs, career frameworks, or capability strategies