How to determine whether a skill falls under the category of Required Skills or Preferred Skills? – RChilli HelpDesk

To determine whether a skill should be classified as a Required Skill or a Preferred Skill, you can follow a structured decision-making framework based on context, use-case, and business requirements. Here’s a comprehensive guide aligned with RChilli’s capabilities and taxonomy-based enrichment system:

Understanding the Distinction

Required Skills (Must-Have):
- These are non-negotiable for job performance.
- The candidate must possess these skills to be considered for the role.
- Typically found in mandatory job requirements sections of a JD.
- Often validated through education, certifications, or direct work experience.
Preferred Skills (Nice-to-Have):
- These add value but are not essential for the job.
- Candidates without these skills may still be eligible.
- Common in "good to have" or “bonus skills” sections.
- Might be based on newer tools, secondary responsibilities, or additional competencies.

How RChilli Handles Skills Differentiation

RChilli provides the following functionalities to help automate or standardize this classification:

Skill Segregation by Source Section

Using its parsing engine and taxonomy library, RChilli extracts skills based on the source (e.g., education, experience, certifications, etc.):

If a skill appears in multiple relevant job roles under experience, it’s often treated as required.
Skills found only in side projects or interests may be mapped as preferred.
The SkillSegregation section in the parser output identifies:
- Skill Type (Operational, Soft)
- Skill Source (Experience, Education, Projects, etc.)
- Confidence Score

This structured data allows recruitment systems to automate categorization using rule-based logic or custom filters.

Using Taxonomy API for Skill Classification

With the Taxonomy 3.0 API, you can:

Fetch standardized skill categories
Get comparable terms, aliases, and taxonomy-based tags
Distinguish core domain skills (often “required”) from supplementary ones (often “preferred”)

Tips to Classify Skills Effectively

Factor	Required Skills	Preferred Skills
Mentioned in JD as	Must have, Essential, Required	Nice to have, Bonus, Desirable
Frequency in Resume	Repeated across roles/projects	Mentioned once or in hobbies
Source Section	Experience, Certifications, Main responsibilities	Education, Additional training, Interests
Mapped via Taxonomy	Core job-specific skills	Related or generalist skills
Skill Score (RChilli)	High confidence, relevant domain	Lower weight, secondary relevance

Best Practices Using RChilli

Enable reqskillsdrill and skillsource in API settings to get detailed segmentation.
For more details, refer to the Resume Parser API Settings Documentation.
Use custom scoring in the Search & Match engine to assign higher weight to required skills during candidate matching.
Learn more at the Search and Match API Documentation.
During JD parsing, structure job descriptions using headers like “Requirements” vs. “Preferences” for more accurate classification.

Need Help Implementing This?

For assistance in configuring parser rules, taxonomy mapping, or automating this logic in your platform, contact:
support@rchilli.com
Or refer to RChilli Taxonomy API Documentation