ACT WorkKeys Profiling

ACT WorkKeys Job Profiling for K-12 Educators | Community Colleges | Adult Education | Employers | Job-Seekers

Job Profiling: Matching Skills to Jobs 

Just ask any business leader: skill shortages are an expensive, time-wasting barrier to effective hiring and training. How can employers determine which individuals are the best fit for highly skilled positions, or which workers are the top candidates to receive job-specific training? 

With ACT WorkKeys Job Profiling:

  • Employers can identify skills and skill levels current and prospective employees need to be successful on the job. 
  • Individuals can compare their skill levels to those needed for jobs. 
  • Trainers and trainees can make appropriate decisions about jobs, identify strengths, and set training goals.  
Nearly 75 percent of businesses use job profiling—the process of analyzing the skills needed for job tasks—in their recruiting and hiring practices, according to a recent study by Society for Human Resource Management and ACT.  

Benefits of Job Profiling

Job profiling brings the specifics of a job into focus. WorkKeys Job Profiling links job tasks with ACT® WorkKeys® Assessments to pinpoint benchmarks for hiring, recruiting, advancement, and training.

WorkKeys Job Profiling takes a focus-group approach, using input from employees to ensure customized job analysis. Focus groups are led by ACT-Authorized Job Profilers who have completed an intensive training program conducted by ACT where they have gained an in-depth understanding of the WorkKeys Skills and Skill Levels.
 

WorkKeys Job Profiling provides users with:

A detailed, customized task list—the first step in developing a comprehensive job description, training materials, performance appraisal instruments, and other human resources tools. 

A customized content validity report—your report contains detailed rationale linking job tasks to WorkKeys skill levels. 

Useful information for hiring, promotion, and training—Job profiling establishes content validity for the WorkKeys Assessments, so you can feel confident using them to make selection, advancement, and training decisions. 

Employee support—Employees actively participate in the job profiling process, increasing the likelihood for buy-in and goodwill. 

Additional Types of Profiles

Occupational Profiles
Identify the skill levels required for an occupation across jobs, companies, or industries. Occupational profiles can be used to set instructional standards and develop curricula designed to help students meet the skill requirements for occupation.

Curriculum Profiles
Identify the skill levels required for entrance into a program of study and for program completion. 

Curriculum Alignments
Facilitate objective discussions between employers and educators to identify courses of action that can be taken to update curriculum to meet employer needs. The results from a curriculum profile and a job or occupational profile are the foundation of a curriculum alignment. 

Become an ACT Authorized Profiler

The WorkKeys Profiling Training program teaches you the process for collecting information and determining the skills and skill levels necessary for job performance. 

WorkKeys Estimator

WorkKeys Estimator is a step-by-step process used to estimate the WorkKeys skill and skill level requirements needed for entry into and effective performance in training programs, career and technical education programs, apprenticeship programs, and jobs at small employers as defined by the Uniform Guidelines for Employee Selection Procedures. The process can be completed individually or in a group setting.  

How Businesses are Using WorkKeys Profiling

 

Defining Career Pathways with WorkKeys Tools – A Testimony on the Value of WorkKeys Profiling

The WorkKeys family of products and services delivers a comprehensive suite of tools to align employer needs with learner outcomes/capabilities.  As the job analysis component of the suite, WorkKeys profiling provides job information the employer needs by defining the requirements that employees/job applicants/learners need to know to give them a realistic preview of employer expectations.  Long-time WorkKeys Profiler Lisa Hawk shares her thoughts below:

As I reflect back on the almost 20 years that I've been a profiler, the thing that stands out the most is how I am constantly amazed at just how hard things really are in jobs that we just make assumptions about. Simple things that we take for granted like watching something come down an assembly line at the speed of light, waiting for a physician to write an electronic order so you can then do your part of the larger picture and knowing that a person's life could depend on you doing your part, or understanding where the food in your grocery store originated from and how vital documenting point of origin is in the larger food supply.  I am amazed and humbled every time I do a profile-- regardless of the industry sector. This morning as I was driving through downtown Winston-Salem and was aggravated because an 18 wheeler truck had 2 lanes of traffic blocked- but while I was waiting for the driver to get the truck in the covered space (and being awed that they didn't take out an entire building)--  I remembered the profile I did of CDL drivers and how insanely challenging it was for them to back trucks up into an impossible space.

So, my take-aways: Doing the (profiling) training was the best thing I've ever done in my career because it has opened doors for me I would have never imagined. Not only do I get an opportunity to learn about everything you could possibly imagine, and things that you couldn't imagine - I also use that knowledge to secure grant funds, apprenticeship opportunities, and be heavily involved with local, state, and national economic development opportunities. That improves quality of life for my community, state, and nation. Plus, if I'm ever on Jeopardy- I stand a good chance of winning because I know things no one else does. 

Lisa Hawk, Director of Corporate Training and Business Development at Forsyth Technical Community College, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. 

Lisa Hawk
Director of Corporate Training and Business Development

 

Better Hiring with Profiling –
Reynold’s American Inc.

“Being trained as an ACT WorkKeys job profiler has helped Reynolds American Inc. better incorporate WorkKeys in our hiring, promotion, and training practices. We were also able to successfully align the pre-hire assessment capabilities at all five of our manufacturing locations.” 

Barbara R. Carter, Talent Acquisition Partner – Regulatory, Reynolds American, Inc. 

Barbara R. Carter
Talent Acquisition Partner 

Registration deadline for the next Virtual WorkKeys Profiling training workshop is April 19, 2024. 

For a limited time, the fee to participate in the Virtual WorkKeys Profiling training program is discounted at 50% off the regular price for qualified applications.

Contact ACT at jpanswers@act.org or 319-337-1724 for more information.

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