Skill Levels - Nomeclature

Question

I'm trying to build an abstract skill level chart to be applied to diverse subjects.

Right now - using only common sense - the list of levels I was able to think is:

{MISSING} : Don't know anything about it nor have any skill on it.
Aware : Just know about it, but does not have any skill on it.
{MISSING} : Has some knowledge but no skill on it.
Practitioner : Has some knowledge and have a basic skill on it.
{MISSING} : Has good knowledge and good skill, but haven't master any technique.
Proficient : Has good knowledge and has skill enough to know one technique.
Expert : Has a very good knowledge and knows about more than one technique.
Master : Is a reference on the subject, very deep knowledge and dominates the subject.

As you can see, there is gaps on such skill levels.

Question : Is there any other words that can be placed - or replaced - to have more layers between these levels and encompass more of them on my list?

You need to define the levels that you think are missing before anyone can suggest names for them. — , Apr 29 '19 at 12:35
There are many terms for beginners and many terms for experts, and not many in between, and there is no universally understood ranking of such terms. You can take an existing ranking system and adapt it, or choose terms and define them yourself. Yes, this means in your system, a tenderfoot might be more advanced than a greenhorn and in another system the opposite, but there is no right and wrong about such things. After all, title escalation has led to a proliferation of dubious wizards, black belts, gurus, rockstars, jedis, and ninjas in recent years. — choster, Apr 29 '19 at 15:09
Related: 1. Noun for “person with intermediate skill” 2. List of expertise levels from beginner to expert and 3. Word for a person who learned something in the past, but is now back down to beginner level? — Mari-Lou A, Apr 29 '19 at 15:26

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 29 '19 at 15:12

1

You could use "Novice", "Apprentice", and "Journeyman" in your list. For example:

Novice: Don't know anything about it nor have any skill on it.
Amateur : Just know about it, but does not have any skill on it.
Apprentice : Has some knowledge but no skill on it.
Journeyman : Has some knowledge and have a basic skill on it.
Practitioner: Has good knowledge and good skill, but haven't master any technique.
Proficient : Has good knowledge and has skill enough to know one technique.
Expert : Has a very good knowledge and knows about more than one technique.
Master : Is a reference on the subject, very deep knowledge and dominates the subject.

answered Apr 29 '19 at 15:12

Jeremy

111

1

The problem with using "amateur" is that it's often used as a term to mean an non-professional and it's entirely possible for such non-professionals to be very skillful indeed. – KillingTime Apr 29 '19 at 16:00
This is true. It can also be used as a noun defined as "A person who is contemptibly inept at a particular activity.", or as an adjective "Done in an inept or unskilful way." Both of these definitions come from the Oxford English Dictionary, and are the reasons I used it here. – Jeremy May 01 '19 at 11:44

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 29 '19 at 15:16

You might want to consider just using Level 0, Level 1, etc. as you have so many levels. The titles become fairly meaningless with this level of granularity.

Or use fewer levels. For example, one organisation I work for uses (something like) the following:

None: no experience or real understanding of the technology
Low: reasonable understanding of the technology, limited experience
Medium: good level of technical knowledge and experience
High: deep technical knowledge of the technology, applications and the market

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 29 '19 at 17:13

I suggest you label your various levels more uniformly, whether as nouns or adjectives, as you did with your three highest levels, all of which are adjectives:

proficient worker
expert worker
master worker

As for some suggestions for your "missing" categories, here are some possibilities, all of which are nouns, except for those with modifying adjectives:

Level 1:

novitiate
apprentice
newbie
novice
initiate
trainee
rookie
neophyte
probie, or probationer

Level 2:

apprentice
learner
advanced beginner
semiskilled worker
amateur
competent worker

Level 3:

very competent worker
intermediate-ability worker
seasoned worker
accomplished worker
journeyman
tradesman
craftsman

Skill Levels - Nomeclature

3 Answers3