WorkKeys
workplace skill assessment tests
ACT WorkKeys consists of three elements:
Job skill assessments, which are designed to measure foundational and personal skills as they apply to the workplace
Job analysis, which pinpoints or estimates skill benchmarks for specific job positions that individuals must meet through testing
Skill training, which helps individuals boost their scores
Skill assessments
ACT WorkKeys includes eight workplace skill assessments:
Three core assessments used to earn the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC):
WorkKeys Applied Math (formerly Applied Mathematics) – applying mathematical reasoning to work-related problems
WorkKeys Workplace Documents (formerly Reading for Information) – comprehending work-related reading materials such as memos, bulletins, policy manuals, and governmental regulations
WorkKeys Graphic Literacy (formerly Locating Information) – using information from sources such as diagrams, floor plans, tables, forms, graphs, and charts
Additional assessments available:
Applied Technology – understanding technical principles as they apply to the workplace
Business Writing – composing clear, well-developed messages relating to on-the-job situations
Fit – how interests and values correspond to a particular career
Talent – includes dependability, assertiveness, and emotional stability
Workplace Observation – paying attention to details in instructions and demonstrations
Job analysis
The job analysis component of ACT WorkKeys, known as Job Profiling, 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 profiling to determine which skills are required for a job, and the level of each skill needed to perform the job successfully. This helps employers 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.
The examinee's score on an ACT WorkKeys test corresponds to their preparedness or the level of remedial training needed.
ACT WorkKeys also offers two job analysis products that can be used without the help of a job profiler.
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