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WorkKeys
and the Career Readiness Certificate

The abilities to find information, understand written rules and instructions, compare options, and solve problems are essential assets for any worker, regardless of career. But how do you walk into a job or promotion interview fully confident you have these skills?

That's where WorkKeys and the Oklahoma Career Readiness Certificate come in. The WorkKeys assessment measures skills seen as critical for job success, and the Career Readiness Certificate proves you have them.

Companies across the United States use WorkKeys and Career Readiness Certificates in their hiring and promotion decisions for all kinds of occupations, skilled or professional, at any level of education.

Three 3s Certify You’re Career Ready

Score at least a 3 (out of a possible 6 or 7) on three multiple-choice tests, and you receive a nationally recognized Career Readiness Certificate. The tests cover:

Locating Information - in diagrams, tables, gauges and other graphic displays;
Reading for Information - understanding memos, directions, regulations and other workplace materials; and
Applied mathematics - using math to solve work-related problems.

The top score is 6 on the Locating Information test and 7 for Applied Mathematics and Reading for Information. If your score is at least 3 on all three tests, you get Bronze Career Readiness Certificate. Three 4s earn you Silver, three 5s score you Gold and three 6s send you to the head of the class with a Platinum certificate.

Oklahoma Careers

Obviously, a Career Readiness Certificate (CRC) alone won't qualify you to be a welder, a teacher or most any other career choice. But WorkKeys’ can show that you have the fundamental skills to build on. And while a minimum Bronze certificate meets expectations for a number of Oklahoma careers, the most in-demand careers call for just a little more. This Oklahoma WorkKeys Skills Requirements table shows the WorkKeys scores expected for 35 high-demand Oklahoma careers, along with wage and other information.

Dozens of Oklahoma employers, including restaurants, hospitals, manufacturers, and retailers, use Career Readiness Certificates in their hiring and other personnel decisions. In addition, many Oklahoma counties, cities and regions are using the Career Readiness Certificate to qualify as Certified Work Ready Communities, a business recruitment credential showing that they have a solid base of Work Ready workers.

The Assessments

ACT, the same company that gives the ACT college entrance exam, designed the WorkKeys program. But rather than trying to predict college success, WorkKeys predicts job success. It matches your skills against a tested database of skills needed for more than 16,000 jobs, so it can really help point you toward jobs and careers you’ll be good at. If your scores are short of those for your target career, it shows what you need to work on.

With WorkKeys and a Work Readiness Certificate, you get:

Confidence that your skills meet the needs of employers in Oklahoma and across the country.
A clear road map for skill improvement and training and education needs.
Improved opportunities for career changes and advancement.

You can take WorkKeys assessments at many Workforce Oklahoma offices, Oklahoma CareerTech centers, high schools, Oklahoma Adult Learning Centers, and, in some cases, at work. Each assessment has 33-38 multiple-choice questions and takes 45-55 minutes. Most are given online, but they may also be done with pencil and paper. The assessments are also given in Spanish.

To help you prepare, some test sites offer the highly effective KeyTrain online training system for WorkKeys skills. ACT also offers practice tests that you can buy online for $4.50 each. And the ACT website has a foundation skill page with links to sample questions for each test and detailed descriptions of the skills tested.

Need more information? Check out the WorkKeys website or contact Susan Kuzmic, skuzm@okcareertech.org, 405-809-3582.

WorkKeys Assessments and Skills

Assessment	What it measures
Reading for Information	The skill people use when they read and use written text in order to do a job. The written texts include memos, letters, directions, signs, notices, bulletins, policies, and regulations.
Applied Mathematics	The skill people use when they apply mathematical reasoning, critical thinking, and problem-solving techniques to work-related problems. The test questions require the examinee to set up and solve the types of problems and do the types of calculations that actually occur in the workplace. This test is designed to be taken with a calculator.
Locating Information	The skill people use when they work with workplace graphics. Examinees are asked to find information in a graphic or insert information into a graphic. They also must compare, summarize, and analyze information found in related graphics.