Skip to content

PProFinda Learning

Learn
Docs
What's new

My learning BookmarksNotifications noneSettings Insights

Role · prototype control

Learn
Docs
What's new

Learn / Topic / Quiz

Quiz · 5 questions · 4 min

Skills ontology check

Five questions to check what you took from the skills ontology course.

ontology, skills taxonomy, matching, governance

Checks the course Understanding the skills ontology. No pass mark — it is here so you can check yourself.

Question 1

Question 1 of 5

What distinguishes a skills ontology from a flat skills list?

It contains more skillsIt defines relationships between skills, such as parents, synonyms, and adjacencyIt is maintained by HR rather than the resourcing teamIt only includes technical skills

The ontology is a structure of relationships, which is what lets matching infer that related skills are relevant.

Question 2

Question 2 of 5

Why does matching quality depend on the ontology?

The ontology sets each person's utilisation targetMatch ranking uses the relationships in the ontology to score people whose skills are related, not just identical, to the requestThe ontology controls who has permission to searchMatching ignores the ontology and uses free text only

The engine uses ontology relationships to rank candidates whose skills relate to the request, not only exact matches.

Question 3

Question 3 of 5

A partner asks for a skill that does not exist in the ontology. What is the right first step?

Add it immediately as a new top-level skillCheck whether it already exists under a synonym or a related term before proposing an additionTell the partner the request cannot be staffedSearch using an unrelated skill instead

Most "missing" skills are already present under a synonym; unchecked additions create duplicates that degrade matching.

Question 4

Question 4 of 5

Who is typically responsible for keeping the ontology current?

Every user edits it freelyNobody - it is fixed at implementationA named owner or small governance group reviewing proposed changesThe ProFinda matching engine updates it automatically without review

A small governance group reviews changes so the structure stays consistent as the firm's skills evolve.

Question 5

Question 5 of 5

What is the usual effect of duplicate skills in the ontology?

Matching improves because there are more entry pointsSearch results split across the duplicates, so each looks thinner than the real supplyNothing - duplicates are merged automatically at search timeUtilisation figures double

People tag against different duplicates, so no single search sees the full population.

ProFinda learning and documentation portal

How this portal works Styleguide

Internal · 2026