Can a human variant take proficiency in initiative?

Question

I was making a human (variant) character, and I didn't knew what skill proficiency I could give them. I was wondering if I could give them proficiency in initiative.

Since the Jack Of All Trades bard feature allows them to add half of their proficiency bonus to initiative, could a variant human take proficiency in initiative?

Answer 1

You cannot do this. Initiative is not a skill; Jack of All Trades just applies to all ability checks.

The section on "Skills" lists out all the skills:

Strength

• Athletics

Dexterity

• Acrobatics
• Sleight of Hand
• Stealth

Intelligence

• Arcana
• History
• Investigation
• Nature
• Religion

Wisdom

• Animal Handling
• Insight
• Medicine
• Perception
• Survival

Charisma

• Deception
• Intimidation
• Performance
• Persuasion

Note that nowhere in this list is "initiative" listed as a skill. Instead, the "Initiative" section states:

When combat starts, every participant makes a Dexterity check to determine their place in the initiative order.

Rolling for initiative is a raw Dexterity check, with no associated skill. The Bard's Jack of All Trades feature states:

Starting at 2nd level, you can add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any ability check you make that doesn’t already include your proficiency bonus.

This feature applies to any and all ability checks, not just ones that are associated with skills, which is why it can benefit initiative rolls despite them not being a "skill check".

This means that you could not select initiative as one of your proficiencies because initiative is not itself a skill.

Answer 2

No. Initiative is an ability check, but not a skill.

The Bard's Jack of all Trades feature states:

Starting at 2nd level, you can add half your proficiency bonus, rounded down, to any ability check you make that doesn’t already include your proficiency bonus.

Initiative is an ability check, so Jack of All Trades applies; however, it is not a skill (see the Skills section in the PHB/basic rules for a complete list of skills) that you can choose to gain proficiency in.