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Tasks to Skills by Occupation API Guide

Tasks to Skills by Occupation API connects real-world work activities with the underlying skills required to perform them — offering a practical, task-first lens to skill development and workforce planning.

It empowers learning, workforce strategy, and hiring teams to drill down from task execution to skill requirements using Pearson’s ontology.

Who is this API for?

This API is ideal for teams focused on building role clarity, learning pathways, and talent alignment. In particular:

  • Learning Manager – building training programs based on the actual tasks and associated skills

  • Workforce Planner – mapping roles by activity and identifying critical skill clusters

  • Talent Recruiter – improving job descriptions and selection criteria using task-aligned skills

Goals this API helps you achieve

This API supports initiatives such as:

  • Analyzing the specific skills required to perform real job tasks

  • Mapping work activities to capability frameworks and learning content

  • Building job architectures that reflect task-level reality

  • Improving talent assessment and training design

What does this API return?

For a selected occupation, the API provides:

  • A breakdown of common tasks performed in that role

  • The skills linked to each individual task

  • Time allocation (where available) to indicate the share of focus per task

Each task includes:

  • A task description

  • Associated skill(s) with unique IDs and definitions

  • Optional: % time spent on each task

📌 For example, a Graphic Designer role may include tasks like “Develop design concepts,” linked to skills such as “Digital Illustration” and “Visual Storytelling.”

Input & Output

Required Input:

  • occupation_id — Pearson Ontology code or occupation name

Optional Input:

  • occupation_level — Filter for granularity

Output:

  • A list of tasks for that occupation

  • Skills linked to each task (including IDs and descriptions)

  • Optional: Percent time spent on each task

Real-world applications

Teams use this API to:

  • Design learning experiences mapped to real-world job activities

  • Identify and address skill gaps per task

  • Align hiring and upskilling with what’s actually required in the role

  • Structure new or evolving job roles by task and skill

API Bundle

This API is included in the Skill Analysis & Development bundle — ideal for L&D, workforce planning, and org design teams.