Update and Manage Categories, Skills, and Specialties

As an administrative user, you can update and manage the lists of categories, skills, and specialties in Bullhorn ATS. These lists help you classify jobs, records, and candidates, ensuring consistent data and accurate search results.

Common Scenarios for Managing Categories and Skills

This article can help you if you need to:

Add a new industry or job type to your list of categories.
Edit the name of an existing category.
Add new skills or specialties to a category.
Find out why a category, skill, or specialty is no longer available.
Manage your list of skills, which are tied to specific jobs or competencies.

Understanding Categories, Skills, and Specialties

Before you begin, it’s helpful to know what each term means and how they relate to each other.

Category: A high-level grouping of related job occupations or industries (e.g., “Education” or “Healthcare”). A single category can contain multiple specialties and skills.

Adding a category to a record does not automatically add all of its related skills.
Skill: A specific competency, qualification, or proficiency required for a job. Skills can include technical abilities, languages, credentials, or application knowledge. Skills must be linked to at least one category.

Adding a skill to a record does not automatically add its category or other related skills.
Specialty: A specific job title or role associated with a category (e.g., "Classroom Teaching" or "School/College Administration" within the "Education" category).

Add a New Category, Skill, or Specialty

Follow these steps to add a new item to your lists, such as adding a new industry or job type.

From your Bullhorn Menu select Admin > Categories.
- S-Release: From your Tools menu, select Categories.
Select Add Category at the top of the page.
Enter the Name for your new category.
To add a skill, click the Skills field and select from the existing list. If the skill you need isn't listed, type it into the Additional Skills box.
Click Save.

The new category is now available for use on records.

Edit an Existing Category

From your Bullhorn Menu select Admin > Categories.
- S-Release: From your Tools menu, select Categories.
Click the name of the category you want to edit.
Update the Name field as needed.

Changing a category's name automatically updates all records where that category is selected. Be careful to avoid changes that could lead to incorrect data on your records.
Add or remove Skills or Additional Skills as needed.
Add or remove Additional Specialties as needed.
Click Save to apply your changes.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues while managing categories, skills, or specialties, this section can help you resolve them.

If you can't find a category that existed previously: A category may have been accidentally disabled. A Bullhorn support representative with administrator access can help you restore it.
If you added a new category, but it isn’t showing up in search results: A re-index may be required to make the new category searchable. Contact Bullhorn support to request a re-index.

FAQs

Q: Why can't I find a skill I just added to a category?

A: Skills must be explicitly added to a record; they don't automatically populate just because the related category is selected.

Q: What's the difference between a skill and a specialty?

A: Skills are specific competencies (e.g., "SQL," "Public Speaking"), while specialties are specific job titles or roles (e.g., "Database Administrator," "Corporate Trainer").

Q: Can I delete a category I no longer use?

A: You cannot permanently delete a category, but it can be disabled so it no longer appears as an option.