Job Seekers, Employers Share Information via New WorkKeys Website

The new website allows a certificate holder to search for jobs, order a copy of the certificate, and share information with employers. Employers can verify the worker's certificate and will soon be able to search a pool of qualified applicants.

Once job seekers who have earned a certificate have created a secure account on the site, they can:

• View scores for all the WorkKeys assessments they have taken during the past five years. ACT uses a match criterion that searches for and identifies all WorkKeys testing for candidates.
• View information about the certificates for which they qualify based on their WorkKeys scores. Each certificate is associated with a specific certificate number and date of expiration. The WorkKeys foundational skills assessment scores are valid for five years.
• Register online to take additional WorkKeys assessments at secure test sites and access information about training to improve their skills.
• Obtain a certificate number, which allows them to print a confirmation screen that lists the certificate number, expiration date, certificate level, and a unique URL they can provide to employers for verification of the certificate number. The unique URL will take an employer to a similar confirmation page that validates the worker's certificate level and number.
• Purchase up to five certificates or five seals for each certificate they earn. Seals for programs meeting national standards are available and can be placed on state-level and regional-level Career Readiness Certificates.

The website will add a talent bank and a job bank in early 2007. The talent bank will allow workers to post their credentials online and search job postings in a national job database. The job bank will enable employers who accept the certificate to post job opportunities and search for qualified workers.

The three levels of the certificate are based on WorkKeys scores in the core skill areas of Reading for Information, Locating Information, and Applied Mathematics. The levels are Bronze, Silver, and Gold, which are the same designations used by most states that issue certificates. Workers with higher skill levels qualify for more jobs.

Ten states—Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Virginia—currently have state certificate programs in place and have already issued more than 50,000 certificates. In addition, 12 states have affiliated with the National Career Readiness Certificate—including Alabama, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.