Skill Swap FAQ
Answers to common setup and operating questions about Skill Swap.
For what the app is and how to set it up from scratch, see the
Skill Swap Overview.
Setup
Do I need to configure anything before employees can start using Skill Swap?
Enable the app from the Apps Marketplace — it is disabled by default and requires a licence. Once enabled, every employee can create a skill profile and browse the opportunity board. No other prerequisite is required, though you may want to review the default settings under the Settings tab before announcing the app.
Who can access Skill Swap once it’s enabled?
Every active employee in the organization can create a profile, post opportunities, express interest, and manage their own partnerships. The Settings and Analytics tabs are visible only to administrators and Skill Swap app admins. App admins can also edit or delete any opportunity, not just their own.
Permissions and access
Who can change Skill Swap settings and view analytics?
Administrators and Skill Swap app admins. Both roles see a Settings tab in the app’s sidebar that opens the configuration page and an Analytics link to the dashboard. App admins have the same record-level access as full administrators within Skill Swap — they can edit any opportunity and manage all matches.
Why can’t an employee see the Settings tab?
The Settings tab appears only for administrators and Skill Swap app admins. A regular employee sees the six other tabs — Dashboard, My Profile, Opportunities, Skills & Interests, Matches, and Partnerships — but not Settings. To grant someone access, assign them the Skill Swap app admin role.
Day-to-day
How does matching work?
Matching is skill-overlap based. When an employee views an opportunity’s recommendations, the system scores each candidate on how well their teachable skills overlap with the skills the opportunity needs (each match adds 10 points) and how well their learning interests overlap with what the opportunity offers (each match adds 8 points). A cross-department match adds a 5-point bonus. Candidates with zero shared skills are never surfaced. Each match card shows a compatibility score and the specific shared skills. You can restrict matching to the same department under Workflow settings > Cross-Department Matching.
What are the four opportunity types?
Teaching (someone offers to teach a skill), Learning (someone requests to learn one), Project (a project needing specific skills), and Group (a group session such as a lunch-and-learn). For Teaching, Project, and Group postings the creator becomes the mentor; for a Learning posting the interested person becomes the mentor.
What happens when someone expresses interest in an opportunity?
A pending match record is created and the opportunity owner receives a notification. The owner reviews the match, sees the compatibility score and shared skills, and accepts or rejects. Accepting creates a learning partnership with a start date and an expected completion date. The interested person is notified of the outcome.
Can I pin an opportunity to the top of the board?
Yes. Administrators and Skill Swap app admins can mark an opportunity as Featured. Up to three featured opportunities appear pinned at the top of the board regardless of filters or pagination. Regular employees cannot feature their own postings.
What happens when a partnership is completed?
Both partners can rate each other on a 1–5 star scale and leave written feedback. The learner’s rating updates the mentor’s average teaching rating for that skill. If the skills taught match entries in the organization’s skills catalog, the platform proposes a skill signal for the learner — a record that enters the skills-inference review flow as a suggestion, not a confirmed skill.
Can the opportunity owner invite someone directly?
Yes. The owner can invite a specific employee to their opportunity. An invitation sends the invitee a notification; the invitee accepts or declines. This is separate from the normal express-interest flow — for an invitation, the invited employee is the one who decides, not the owner.
When something looks wrong
Why can’t I post a new opportunity?
Each employee can hold a limited number of active opportunities. The default is 5; your admin may have set it to 3, 10, or Unlimited under Workflow settings > Max Active Opportunities. The count includes active partnerships, not just postings. Close or complete existing opportunities to free up a slot.
I expressed interest but nothing happened — what’s going on?
Your interest is pending until the opportunity owner accepts or rejects it. The owner receives a notification, but they may not have acted yet. You can check the status on the Matches tab under Sent. You can withdraw a pending interest at any time; once it has been accepted or rejected, it cannot be withdrawn.
My opportunity disappeared from the board — what happened?
If you set an expiry date, a nightly maintenance sweep marks expired opportunities as Expired and removes them from the active board. The sweep runs daily. You will receive a notification when this happens. The opportunity still appears in your My Opportunities list with an Expired status. You can repost it by creating a new one.
Why are my employees not getting Skill Swap notifications?
Check three settings under the Settings tab. Enable Notifications is the master switch — when off, nothing is sent. Notification Level controls which events fire: All events sends everything; Important only sends only action requests (new interest and invitations) and drops informational updates like match decisions and expirations. Email Notifications controls whether notifications also go out as email — turning it off limits delivery to the in-app Inbox.
A partnership has been sitting active for months — can it close automatically?
Yes, but you need to opt in. Turn on Auto-Complete Partnerships under Learning settings. A nightly sweep then marks any active partnership past its expected completion date as completed and notifies both participants. The expected completion date comes from the opportunity’s duration or from the Default Partnership Duration setting (4, 8, or 12 weeks; default is 8 weeks).
The board says “Full” but the opportunity is still active — what does that mean?
An opportunity can be Active and Full at the same time. “Full” means the number of active partnerships has reached the participant cap, so no new interest can be accepted. The owner can complete or cancel an existing partnership to free a slot, or increase the participant cap (up to 50) by editing the opportunity.
AI agent
What can the Skill Swap AI agent do?
When the Enable AI Agent toggle is on (it is on by default), employees can interact with Skill Swap through Ask AI. The agent can browse open opportunities, search for mentors who teach a specific skill, show the employee’s own profile and stats, and list their partnerships. It can also take actions — completing or pausing a partnership, or pausing an opportunity — but it always shows a preview of the change and asks the employee to confirm before writing anything.
Licensing and limits
Does Skill Swap require a licence?
Yes. Skill Swap requires a licence and is disabled by default. An administrator enables it from the Apps Marketplace. If the app is included in your plan (a bundle or app subscription), it cannot be switched off from the Settings page — the subscription governs access.
What are the limits I should know about?
| Limit | Value |
|---|---|
| Active opportunities per employee | 5 by default (admin can set 3, 5, 10, or Unlimited) |
| Participants per opportunity | 1–50 |
| Opportunity title | 5–200 characters |
| Opportunity description | 10–2,000 characters |
| Skill name | 2–100 characters |
| Interest / response message | Up to 500 characters |
| Session duration | Up to 480 minutes (8 hours) |
| Rating scale | 1–5 stars (both mentor and learner) |
| Profile bio | Minimum 50 characters |
| Weekly availability | 0–40 hours |
| Proficiency levels (teachable skills) | Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert |
| Learning interest priority | Actively Looking, Interested, Someday |
| Default partnership duration | 8 weeks (admin can set 4, 8, or 12) |
| Analytics export formats | CSV and JSON |
| Analytics time periods | Current month, Last month, Current quarter, Last quarter, Current year |
More help
- Skill Swap Overview
- Ask AI — the assistant answers Skill Swap questions from these articles.