Site Administrators can configure how career paths are calculated and displayed to users in the Career path view. This includes the position recommendation limit, the thresholds used to categorise aspirational position match scores, and the underlying algorithm that determines how career path connections between positions are generated.
Configure career path view settings
The Career path view settings control how many positions can be recommended to a user and how the heatmap columns are divided according to skill match score. These settings are configured through JSON-based threshold definitions and a set of algorithm parameters, allowing the organisation to tailor career path recommendations to its own skills framework and hierarchy structure.
To configure the career path view settings, follow these steps:
Navigate to Quick-access menu > Plugins (/admin/plugins.php).
Under Local plugins, select Totara Skills, then select General.
In the Position recommendation limit field, enter the maximum number of positions that can be recommended to a user. The default value is 20.
In the Thresholds Configuration field, locate the section beginning with career_path_thresholds and edit the JSON configuration to define the column thresholds based on skill match scores. Each threshold defines a separate column in the view.
Click Save changes.
By default, thresholds are configured in 10% increments up to a 50% match score, after which 50-100% forms a single group. These can be customised as required.
Example JSON entry: { "min": 20, "max": 30, "value": "normal" }
Default match score range | Default label |
|---|---|
0-10% | Very low |
10-20% | Low |
20-30% | Normal |
30-50% | Good |
50-100% | Excellent |
Configure the career path algorithm
The career path algorithm settings determine how the system calculates career path recommendations, including how connections between positions are formed and how penalties are applied for skills gaps, missing skills, and hierarchy jumps.
To configure the algorithm, follow these steps:
Navigate to Quick-access menu > Plugins (/admin/plugins.php).
In the Local plugins section, select Totara Skills, then open the Totara Skills Career Path section.
Configure the algorithm settings as required.
Click Save changes.
Career path algorithm settings
The following settings can be configured to control how career paths are calculated.
Setting | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Position group lane colours | Position groups, described in Totara Skills general settings, are displayed as lanes in the career path view. This setting defines five colours for the lanes. | Colours repeat in sequence after every five lanes. |
Career paths number | Defines the maximum number of career paths calculated for each user for each position. | Default: 3 |
Career path edge mode | Defines how connections between positions are created in the career path graph. | Available options:
|
Max new skills | Defines the maximum number of new skills the next position in a path may require for a connection to be created. | Default: 8 |
Minimum coverage | Defines the minimum percentage of skills from the next position in a path that must already be covered by the previous position for a connection to be created. | Default: 0.2 |
Max neighbors per position | Defines the maximum number of positions with the most skill coverage that is considered when generating a path. | Default: 30 |
Max missing skills | Defines the maximum number of missing skills between two positions in a path before the configured penalty is applied. | Default: 10 |
Importance of gap value | Defines the weight assigned to the skills gap when calculating career path recommendations; a higher value increases the influence of skills-gap difficulty. | Default: 0.7 |
Penalty value for missing skills | Defines the penalty applied when the number of missing skills exceeds the configured threshold. | Default: 0.1 |
Penalty value for hierarchy jump | Defines the penalty applied when a career path step skips one or more hierarchy levels. | Default: 0.1 |
Penalty value for step in different hierarchy | Defines the penalty applied when a career path step moves to a different hierarchy. | Default: 0.1 |
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