WorkKeys^®

The WorkKeys^® system provides employers, schools, students, and community organizations with a common language for building a higher-skilled, higher-paid workforce.

Using WorkKeys . . .

Employers can identify and develop workers for a wide range of skilled jobs, both professional and technical
Students and workers can document and advance their employability skills
Educators can tailor instructional programs to help students acquire the skills employers need.

The WorkKeys system uses job profiling combined with WorkKeys assessments, instructional guidance, and reporting to help students and workers identify their strengths and weaknesses as they pursue their education and career goals. This enables them to make appropriate decisions about jobs.

What skills does WorkKeys measure?

WorkKeys assessments measure nine foundational workplace skills:

Applied Mathematics
Applied Technology
Business Writing
Listening
Locating Information

Observation
Reading for Information
Teamwork
Writing

WorkKeys also measures personal skills:

Performance — a job applicant's tendency toward unsafe behaviors and attitudes toward work
Talent — characteristics such as dependability, assertiveness, and emotional stability
Fit — the interests and values that determine the fit between a candidate and occupations in an organization

What kinds of jobs are profiled?

WorkKeys is used for white-collar professional jobs as well as jobs on the shop floor.

More than 14,000 unique job titles, ranging from accountant to automotive technician and from welder to webmaster, have been profiled.

WorkKeys is also the foundation of the ACT National Career Readiness Certificate, a nationally recognized credential for job seekers.

What companies are using WorkKeys?

Thousands of companies across the United States and worldwide have experienced the benefits of WorkKeys in a broad range of high technology, manufacturing, service, and retail environments. WorkKeys has been used in virtually every industry.

Review these examples of WorkKeys case studies to see how companies have used WorkKeys.

What benefits have companies that use WorkKeys experienced?

Companies that use the WorkKeys system to assess their incoming and current workforce typically achieve substantial benefits, including:

Improved employee selection and advancement procedures
Reduced overtime
Reduced turnover
Increased productivity
Fewer legal challenges over hiring processes
Higher employee morale

For specific examples, see WorkKeys case studies.

Why should students, parents, and educators care about these tests?

All students enter the workforce eventually—whether they get a job right out of high school, work part-time while continuing their education, or go through extensive postsecondary training.

WorkKeys stresses skills development important for virtually every type of employment. In fact, the fastest growing segments of the WorkKeys job analyses are being done for professional, technical, and managerial jobs that require at least a bachelor's degree.