There
is great concern in the private sector about the gap that
exists between the skills required in today's workplace and
those exhibited by potential and incumbent employees. Businesses
have trouble finding and hiring people who have basic employability
skills and who are therefore trainable for specific jobs.
There is also a crisis in terms of the aging of the current workforce, particularly in the skilled trades, and the lack of potential replacement workers. Sustainability and perhaps even survival is now of vital importance in many industries due to this crisis.
The Career Readiness Certificate is a portable skills credential,
assuring employers that a job applicant actually has the basic
skills they seek.
Employers
know that the costs of hiring, training, and retention significantly
affect their bottom line. For an employer who may be contemplating
moving his/her business to a new state or expanding an existing
company, the skill level of the available workforce is often
a deciding factor. Hiring for entry-level positions is particularly
difficult because the applicant often has little or no work
history, and presents with only a brief resume and an educational
credential such as a high school diploma or a two- or four-
year degree. While these credentials are beneficial they do
not always give a clear indication of the skills that the
applicant possesses.
Experts
know that by 2020, more than 90% of all jobs will require
skill levels beyond those gained in high school. Also, by that date, there will be a shortage of 3 million workers with associate's degrees or higher and a shortage of 5 million workers with technical credentials.
The majority of workers now need training and education at the post-secondary
level. In the United States, most training is done on the
job, and all indications are that this situation will not
change in the coming decades. What employers need therefore,
are employees who are trainable, and who can benefit from
the many opportunities afforded them for skill enhancement.
Over
the last twenty years, employers have become disillusioned
with both the trainability of high school
and college graduates, and with their associated work
ethic. The second issue and its solution are, for
the most part, societal concerns, and they are almost impossible
to legally assess and certify. The trainability issue though
is one that many states have embraced and are addressing through
the development of a portable skills credential based on WorkKeys®
assessments, a product of ACT, Inc®.
More
than 15,000 job profiles have been completed using WorkKeys®
assessments , and results are shown in the ACT, Inc. occupational
profile national database. Examination of this database reveals
that three WorkKeys® assessments, Reading For Information,
Applied Mathematics, and Locating Information are used in
more than 85% of the profiles conducted across all industry
sectors and all occupations. Consequently, these three assessments
were chosen to form the basis of the Career Readiness Certificate.
Career Readiness Certificate
Levels
Skill
Area |
Bronze |
Silver |
Gold |
Reading
for Information |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Applied
Mathematics |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Locating
Information |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Further
examination reveals that these levels form the basis for employment
in approximately 33% (Bronze), 65% (Silver), and 85% (Gold)
of the careers profiled in the database.
There
are now more than 48 states and organizations issuing the
Career Readiness Certificate. As of September 2014, it
is estimated that more than 4,000,000 certificates have been
issued nationwide.
Visit
the Consortium
page of this site for details.
The
CRC has evolved significantly since its inception in 2003.
It is now the basis for certifying WorkReady Communities in
OK and GA; it is the foundation credential for many CRC+ programs
(e.g. VA) that address the needs of specific industry sector
jobs; it is the basic credential for the new stackable manufacturing
skills credentials announced by NAM in July 2011; and it is
now being used as an exit credential (optional and required)
for high school students in many states.
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