Nice-to-have requirement
A skill that shortens ramp-up and that a strong hire can learn on the job, such as a specific library or a second language.
What it tells you about a developer
Matching many nice-to-haves shortens onboarding and signals the candidate already works in a similar environment. Use them to widen a shortlist.
Nice-to-haves frequently appear under the required heading in job descriptions. Specific libraries, internal tooling styles, and secondary languages nearly always belong in this category. Treating them as gates shrinks the candidate pool while hire quality stays the same.