WorkKeys is a job skill assessment system used in the United States. It was created in the late 1980s by ACT, Inc. It is used by businesses to measure workplace skills of employees and job applicants and by schools and colleges to help prepare students for the workplace.
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WorkKeys consists of three elements:
WorkKeys includes twelve workplace skill assessments:
The job analysis component of 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 a 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.
WorkKeys also offers two job analysis products that can be used without the help of a job profiler. 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 WorkKeys system also includes computer-based and classroom-based training for individuals that corresponds with WorkKeys exams. There are curricula available for every skill level of each WorkKeys foundational skill exam.
Some WorkKeys exams are available in Spanish and Braille versions in addition to the standard English.
WorkKeys exams are the foundation of the National Career Readiness System, a job skills credentialing system. People can earn a National Career Readiness Certificates by taking three 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.[1] 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.[1]
Several states, communities, and cities have adopted WorkKeys as part of their economic development or educational initiatives.
Illinois and Michigan have made WorkKeys exams part of their state high school graduation requirements. Starting in 2001, two WorkKeys tests, Applied Mathematics and Reading for Information, became part of the Prairie State Achievement Examination for all 11th graders in Illinois, along with the ACT test. In 2007, the Michigan Department of Education made the WorkKeys Reading for Information and Applied Mathematics exams a part of its Michigan Merit Exam, a mandatory exam for 11th graders that also includes the ACT test.
As of 2006, 14 states were participating in the National Career Readiness System and using WorkKeys as part of that participation.[1] Many states use WorkKeys scores in their economic development initiatives, to demonstrate to business relocation prospects that their residents possess high job skills. These state initiatives include skill credentialing programs that are affiliated with the National Career Readiness Certificate. According to ACT, 38 states were participating in the program as of 2011.[2] The state of Kentucky issues a Kentucky Employability Certificate to adult education participants based on their performance on three WorkKeys assessments: Reading for Information, Applied Math, and Locating Information.[3] North Carolina issues a North Carolina Career Readiness Certificate on the basis of scores on the same three WorkKeys components.[4]
The South Carolina Department of Education requires some career education teachers to validate their competency in basic skills by obtaining specified minimum scores on the WorkKeys assessments of Reading for Information, Applied Mathematics, and Writing.[5]
WorkKeys is used by many business organizations.[6] Companies that have required some or all job applicants to submit WorkKeys scores include: