WorkKeys

ACT WorkKeys consists of three elements:

ACT WorkKeys includes twelve workplace skill assessments:

The job analysis component of ACT WorkKeys helps to set benchmarks that correspond with WorkKeys scores, giving the examinee a target score to hit in order to qualify for a job.

Employers use job analysis to determine which skills are required for a job, and the level of each skill needed to perform the job successfully. This helps employees determine the standards for how an applicant must score in a particular WorkKeys skill assessment in order to be qualified for the job.

In the job profiling process, ACT-licensed profilers visit with the client company or organization and determine background information on the job to be profiled and how specifically the job relates to the company. The profiler tours the company and collects materials – such as training manuals, annual reports, company newsletters – that define the company.

The profiler then compiles an initial list of the tasks most relevant to the job being profiled. Subject matter experts – those who know the job best through incumbency or supervising the job – refine the list and rate each task based on two factors: importance of the task to the job and relative time spent on it. The subject matter experts then decide what minimum level of each skill is required to perform the job successfully.

When taking an ACT WorkKeys test, the skill level at which an employee scores corresponds to how prepared he or she is for the job, or how much remedial training an incumbent employee needs.

ACT WorkKeys also offers two job analysis products that can be used without the help of a job profiler. ACT SkillMap, an online service which links job tasks to the skill levels of WorkKeys assessments, is used primarily to identify employees’ training needs. WorkKeys Estimator is a paper-and-pencil system that gives quick estimates of the WorkKeys skill levels needed for a job.

The ACT WorkKeys system also includes computer-based and classroom-based training for individuals that corresponds with ACT WorkKeys exams. There are curricula available for every skill level of each ACT WorkKeys foundational skill exam.

Some ACT WorkKeys exams are available in Spanish and Braille versions in addition to the standard English.

ACT WorkKeys exams are the foundation of the ACT National Career Readiness System, a job skills credentialing system. People can earn an ACT National Career Readiness Certificate by taking three ACT WorkKeys exams: Applied Mathematics, Locating Information, and Reading for Information exams. They are awarded certificates of Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze levels, depending on their test scores. ACT estimates that people scoring at the Bronze level qualify for approximately 35% of the jobs profiled by WorkKeys. A Silver score indicates skills for approximately 65% of those jobs profiled, and a Gold indicates skills for 90% of the jobs.

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