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Frequently Asked Questions

Please see our career seekers FAQ for more detail about using your account and earning and ordering The Certificate.

• Why is The Certificate based on the Applied Mathematics, Reading for Information, and Locating Information skills?
• Which businesses will accept a career readiness certificate?
• What makes the National Career Readiness Certificate unique?
• Why should employers accept the National Career Readiness Certificate?
• How do career seekers qualify for a certificate?
• For how long can the National Career Readiness Certificate be verified by employers?

Why is The Certificate based on the Applied Mathematics, Reading for Information, and Locating Information skills?

ACT has profiled more than 16,000 individual jobs across the country to determine the skills and skill levels needed to succeed in them. According to our findings, three skills are highly important to most jobs:

• Reading for Information—comprehending work-related reading materials, from memos and bulletins to policy manuals and governmental regulations.
• Applied Mathematics—applying mathematical reasoning to work-related problems.
• Locating Information—using information from such materials as diagrams, floor plans, tables, forms, graphs, and charts.

A solid foundation of these three skills is essential for a well-qualified workforce.

A recent American Management Association survey found that 38 percent of job applicants taking employer-administered tests lacked the reading and math skills needed in the jobs for which they applied.

Information retrieval and problem-solving skills—what the Locating Information test measures—are highly relevant in our information-based business culture.

Which businesses will accept a career readiness certificate?

ACT will be partnering with affiliated states to let businesses know about the National Career Readiness Certificate, what it signifies, and how it can be used to find skilled workers. Thousands of companies are already accepting The Certificate from statewide or regional WorkKeys-powered certificate programs.

What makes the National Career Readiness Certificate unique?

The Certificate is based on well-established WorkKeys tests that are documented as making a difference for employers. WorkKeys has been in use for nearly two decades and is already widely accepted by thousands of companies all over the world.

The National Career Readiness Certificate is a proven, successful system. National Career Readiness Certificates have been used for more than two years at the state- and community-wide levels.

Also, WorkKeys exams are compliant with Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regulations.

Because WorkKeys tests assess essential foundational skills, they are applicable to and necessary for virtually every job. "Soft skills" are important, but essential foundational skills such as reading, math, and locating information are the bedrock of essential skills for just about every job.

Why should employers accept the National Career Readiness Certificate?

The Certificate is a portable credential that shows employers anywhere in the United States that career seekers have attained a certain level of workplace employability skills in Reading for Information, Applied Mathematics, and Locating Information. These workplace skills are highly important to the majority of jobs in the workplace.

How do career seekers qualify for a certificate?

To qualify for a National Career Readiness Certificate, career seekers take the WorkKeys Applied Mathematics, Reading for Information, and Locating Information assessments. Certificates are awarded in the four categories listed below:

• Bronze Level signifies an individual has scored at least a Level 3 on each of the three assessments and has the necessary foundational skills for 35% of the jobs listed in the WorkKeys Occupational Profile Database.
• Silver Level signifies an individual has scored at least a Level 4 on each of the three assessments and has the necessary foundational skills for 65% of the jobs listed in the WorkKeys Occupational Profile Database.
• Gold Level signifies an individual has scored at least a Level 5 on each of the three assessments and has the necessary foundational skills for 90% of the jobs in the WorkKeys Occupational Profile Database.
• Platinum Level signifies an individual has scored at least a level 6 in each of the three assessments and has the necessary foundational skills for 99% percent of the jobs in the WorkKeys Occupational Profile Database.

For how long can the National Career Readiness Certificate be verified by employers?

The Certificate can be verified by employers for up to five years from the date of the last test taken.