Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Before You Start
Introduction to SkillsAware
Having a conversation with SkillsAware
Understanding Skills IQ Indicator digital badges
Understanding Skills IQ Indicator Capability Statement
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Table of Contents
What is SkillsAware?
SkillsAware provides an AI-powered platform that captures and maintains an evidence-based indicator of the many skills that individuals accumulate progressively. SkillsAware enables organisations to identify the skills that exist within their workforce and highlight strengths and gaps so they can plan for the future. SkillsAware assists with skills-based hiring and resourcing and supports and contributes to productivity, performance, reward, diversity and equity goals. SkillsAware has relevance for individuals, small, medium and large enterprises and industries in the recognition of current capability, prior learning and experience.
Login to SkillsAware
Chat with the AI Engine
Upload evidence
Receive Skills IQ Indicator
digital badge
What is a Skill?
A skill is a measurable task or know-how in its context. Skills are often aggregated into units of competency, or jobs or identified in position statements.
SkillsAware focuses on measuring skills to the most granular level that is meaningful.
Who uses SkillsAware and why?
SkillsAware is licensed by organisations and used by individuals within their organisation. There are uses and benefits for both parties:
Organisations – licence SkillsAware for the individuals in their team. Once consenting individuals in their team use the service and have their skills identified, this information is visible to administrators within the organisation. They can then see the skills that exist in their organisation and use this data to inform resource planning, training, skills-based hiring and more.
Individuals – use SkillsAware to create a detailed and up-to-date list of all their skills and knowledge. Using SkillsAware, individuals maintain a clear picture of their skills. When they use the service, they give permission to their employer to see some or all of their skills. They can also share skills information in their resume or job application, or with others outside the organisation (in digital badge format).
What can individuals use SkillsAware for?
SkillsAware helps individuals get recognition for their existing skills. It does this by matching their skills and experience to national VET training standards (training.gov.au) or other mapped frameworks (such as industry association frameworks), and then provides a report and a digital badge as evidence of skills mapping. This can be useful for people who have been working for a while but don’t have formal qualifications, or for anyone who wants to show what they can do to employers or training providers. It’s like a digital catalogue that makes it easier for users to get credit for their skills, potentially opening up new career paths or training opportunities.
How do I use SkillsAware?
- Login to SkillsAware using the link and login details provided by the licensing organisation (e.g. employer, volunteer organisation or association).
- You will be prompted to create a unique user password, set up 2-factor authentication, and agree to the Terms of Service.
- You will be redirected to the SkillsAware home page, where you will see some link options and other important information:
- Discover Skills – selecting this gives you access to the SkillsAware AI recognition engine, where you can begin to chat.
- View Skills – selecting this will show your provisional and completed digital badges, which contain links to your Personal Evidence Record and Capability Statement.
- Discover Skills – selecting this gives you access to the SkillsAware AI recognition engine, where you can begin to chat.
- To start using the SkillsAware service, select ‘Discover Skills’.
- In the chat screen, start by asking “What do you need from me?”
- The AI engine will guide you, in chat conversation form, through the skills discovery process. It may ask you to describe your current and previous job roles, your skills, to upload your resume, job descriptions, or other evidence to support your claims, such as formal education certificates, transcripts or training records.
You can interact with the AI engine in the following ways:- Type text in the chat prompt field and select the ‘Send’ icon
. - Select the ‘Speak’ icon to start recording your prompt instead of typing it (you will need to ensure your microphone is available and turned on to use this feature). Once your words appear in the chat prompt, select the ‘Speak’ icon again to stop the recording, then select the ‘Send’ icon .
- Upload documents and other files by selecting the ‘Upload’ icon . A new window will open, where you can navigate to and select the files you wish to upload. Once the file name appears in the chat prompt, select the ‘Send’ icon .
- You can clear the current chat session history (everything above the chat prompt field) and start a new chat by selecting the ‘Clear’ icon . Note that any files shared or assessments completed will still be available.
- Type text in the chat prompt field and select the ‘Send’ icon
If you need to leave the chat to source or find the evidence suggested, you can close the chat window and when you return, the AI engine will have retained any files shared or assessments completed and you can continue your conversation.
The time span between chats is not defined, so you can complete your skills discovery conversation at a pace that suits you, giving you time to gather evidence to provide as full a skills evidence portfolio as possible.
Note that any evidence you upload will be embedded as an artefact that can be opened and viewed when shared with others.
- At the end of the chat, SkillsAware analyses your responses and documents, and compares them against official skill standards. The skill standards included in UAT Phase One are selected from National Training Packages, comprising units of competency (UoC), as outlined on training.gov.au in the following areas:
- Active volunteering & Outdoor activities
- Construction
- Aged care
- Active volunteering & Outdoor activities
The SkillsAware AI engine will tell you which Units of Competency (UoC) your skills align to and at what level based on the evidence provided. It may also propose further actions you can take or other evidence you can provide to improve your final Skills IQ confidence score.
- SkillsAware will then generate a sharable Skills IQ Indicator comprised of the following elements:
- A provisional digital badge – a Skills IQ indicator, which can be accessed, issued and shared via the ‘View Skills IQ Indicators’ link on the home screen. The Unit of Competency (UoC) code and title your skills align to is included in the name of the badge – e.g. BSBOPS403 – Apply business risk management processes.
- A personal evidence record – accessible from within the Skills IQ indicator digital badge via a link. Provides an overview of the Unit of Competency (UoC) skills alignments, links to uploaded artefacts, and details of framework alignments.
- A capability statement – accessible from within the personal evidence record as the first artefact. The capability statement:
- Shows the Unit of Competency (UoC) your skills align to, the relevant Unit code and link to further information.
- Shows the Chance of Success score – the chance of success based on the evidence provided that you could perform the tasks outlined in the Unit of Competency (UoC) your skills align to.
- Provides a detailed description of and the reasoning behind the assessment results, requirements and voracity of evidence provided.
- Shows the Unit of Competency (UoC) your skills align to, the relevant Unit code and link to further information.
- A provisional digital badge – a Skills IQ indicator, which can be accessed, issued and shared via the ‘View Skills IQ Indicators’ link on the home screen. The Unit of Competency (UoC) code and title your skills align to is included in the name of the badge – e.g. BSBOPS403 – Apply business risk management processes.
Is SkillsAware private?
For full details, please see our Terms of Service, but in brief:
Organisations – each SkillsAware account includes a secure, standalone skills warehouse. The skills warehouse contains the Capability Reports and chat transcripts of each member of your team that choose to use the service. The skills warehouse is private to your organisation and cannot be accessed or viewed by anyone else.
Individual – if your SkillsAware access has been provided by a licensing organisation (e.g. employer, voluntary organisation or association), then anything you input (via the chat) or upload (such as a file or document) is accessible and can be viewed by them in a secure, standalone skills warehouse. The skills warehouse is private to the organisation and cannot be accessed or viewed by anyone else.
SkillsAware keeps your privacy and data safe in the following ways:
- Secure login – when you log into SkillsAware, your information is protected with secure login and password management features.
- Data protection – your data is kept private and secure. Each licenced organisation’s data is stored separately to ensure it’s protected and kept confidential.
- Compliance with laws – the system follows all relevant legal and industry standards to ensure that your personal information is handled safely and in accordance with the law.
It’s important to note that it is the individual user’s responsibility to ensure that any documents uploaded do not include any personal information they are not comfortable sharing – such as date of birth – as uploaded documents will be embedded in the personal evidence record ‘as is’ and can be opened and viewed by anyone the digital badge is shared with.
What happens if I forget my password?
If you do not know your SkillsAware password, or enter your password unsuccessfully, you will be prompted to use the “Lost password?” link available on the login page. This option will guide you through a process of recovering your login credentials by entering your registered email to receive a reset link.
What types of evidence can I upload to support my skills claims?
To get the best results from SkillsAware you can upload documents like your resume, certificates and job descriptions. SkillsAware can handle files in all the common formats, like PDFs, CSVs, and images of text, like JPEGs and PNGs.
What happens if I need to stop my conversation and come back later?
If you need to take a break or stop the conversation with SkillsAware, you can. When you come back, the AI engine will remember what you’ve already talked about. It’s similar to pausing a movie and being able to resume it later without missing anything. You won’t see the transcript from your last chat, but the AI will have a record of your previously uploaded artefacts and remember details about the skills information you have already shared.
If you click on the three dots icon in the top right hand side of the screen, you can see the list of evidence provided at any time.
What happens if I finish my conversation and get a result, then decide I have more information or details I could add?
You can return to the SkillsAware chat any time to submit more skills claims for any provisional (unissued) badges/Skills IQ indicators. SkillsAware will remember your previous conversation and use the new information to enhance its analysis. It will then generate updated provisional badges and reports.
How does the AI engine ensure that my skills are accurately mapped?
SkillsAware ensures skills are mapped as accurately as possible by checking your responses and uploaded documents against national training standards (training.gov.au) or other frameworks (such as those provided by industry associations) and uses a special scoring system to measure how well your evidence matches the requirements. It carefully reviews your skills and gives you an overall score that incorporates your self-identified skills, those validated by an organisation (typically an employer) or a certified education and training body (such as an RTO or university).
What happens if I disagree with the mapping results?
SkillsAware is an AI chatbot that has been trained to have a conversation, draw information about your skills and any evidence you provide and match it to the information drawn from the Unit of Competency (UoC). You may not have provided enough detail about the skills you have or tasks that you have completed for the AI to link your skills to the Unit of Competency (UoC). You can make further attempts by providing additional details which may impact your results.
How do I access my Skills IQ Indicator digital badge(s) from my profile?
After your SkillsAware chat session has concluded, you can access your Skills IQ Indicator provisional digital badges by selecting ‘View Skills’ from the home page screen. You will find your digital badge(s) and attached report(s) there. Select a badge image to view the provisional evidence record which contains the skills assessment results, including the Capability Statement and links to any evidence you uploaded during the chat.
What is a Personal Evidence Record?
A Personal Evidence Record is a detailed report that shows what skills you have. It lists your skills, based on your personal and work experience and any evidence you provided, like certificates or job descriptions. It’s a snapshot of your abilities, aligned to nationally recognised training standards or other frameworks, which you can share with potential employers or training providers.
What is a Provisional Evidence Record?
A Provisional Evidence Record is a dynamic digital document that acts like a progress report for your skills. It shows what you’ve achieved so far, updating in real time as more evidence of learning is submitted to the AI engine. You can share the provisional record to show your progress even before you finish your skills journey, but it’s marked as “provisional” to show that it’s not the final, issued version. Once you have finished adding your evidence to SkillsAware, you can choose to issue the permanent digital badge that can’t be changed.
What is a Capability Statement?
A Capability Statement shows the Unit of Competency (UoC) your skills align to. It’s a detailed description of how your skills align to the Unit of Competency (UoC), which you can share with potential employers or training providers.
What do the S, O and C indicators mean on my Capability Statement?
These indicators represent the types of evidence submitted during conversations with the SkillsAware engine:
- “S” represents self identified skills
- “O” represents evidence from an employer or organisation
- “C” represents evidence from a certified learning institution
- “SO” represents self identified skills and evidence from an employer
- “SC” represents self identified skills and certified learning institutions
- “OC” represents evidence provided by an employer and certified learning institution
- “SOC” represents self identified skills and evidence provided by an employer and a certified learning institution
What can you do with your Skills IQ Indicator?
You can:
- Share it with employers – include the report(s) in your job applications or share them directly with potential employers. This gives them a clear and verified picture of your skills, potentially giving you an advantage in the hiring process.
- Use for further training – use the report(s) to identify any skill gaps and choose relevant training programs to upskill. This helps you stay competitive in the job market and progress in your career.
- Maintain a skills backpack – store the digital badge and embedded report(s) in a personal digital backpack (not included in SkillsAware), such as the Canvas Badges backpack. This allows you to keep a record of your skills and achievements over time, which can be useful for future job applications or professional development.
How do I share my Skills IQ Indicator?
The Personal Evidence Record and Capability Statement are embedded into the Skills IQ Indicator digital badge. They can be opened and viewed by anyone you choose to share the badge with.
To share the Skills IQ Indicator, open the Personal Evidence Record. Under the name of the Skills IQ Indicator, you will see the following options:
- Print – opens a tab that allows you to print to a printer attached to your computer
- Share – gives you the option to select a social media account, email or create a link that you can add to any document, such as your resume
What happens if I cancel my account?
If you choose to cancel your account, you will lose access to the SkillsAware service and any saved data. You can request full deletion of your account information and user data by emailing info@skillsaware.com.
What happens if I change jobs?
If you’re leaving your job and want to keep your digital badges, you can take them with you by taking the following steps:
- Before you lose access to your company email, log in to your account and select ‘View Skills’
- Download your issued badges as files (in JSON or PNG format, which includes metadata) as a personal backup (you cannot download provisional badges). You can re-upload them to another badging platform if needed
SkillsAware uses Canvas Badges as their badging agent. Access further information on Canvas Badges backpack management and use via their Support site, particularly the article “How do I use the Canvas Badges Backpack?”