The Career Readiness Certificate – An Idea Whose Time Has Come

by Barbara Bolin, Director, Career Readiness Certificate Consortium

The future of manufacturing in America lies in entrepreneurial thinking that creates new kinds of products demanded by our high-tech world.

For America to maintain its tremendous capability for innovation, adaptability and entrepreneurship that first made us a world leader, we need a well-prepared, highly skilled workforce that embraces lifelong learning. Unfortunately, our education system is finding it hard to produce these types of workers and professionals. Even highly educated scientists and engineers sometimes are not successful in the modern workplace that demands good communication skills, teamwork and innovative thinking.

The importance of gauging work readiness

Employers know that the cost of hiring, training, and retaining good workers significantly affects their bottom line. For an employer who may be contemplating moving a 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 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. They also do not indicate whether the holder is trainable for a work environment that will continue to change quickly.

Experts predict that by 2010, more than 80 percent of all jobs will require skill levels beyond those gained in high school. Almost all workers will need training and education at the post-secondary level, yet 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 by their employers.

Over the last 20 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. The trainability issue, though, is one that many states have set out to address through the Career Readiness Certificate.

How the Career Readiness Certificate works

In 2003, six states (Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Maryland, Tennessee and West Virginia) plus the District of Columbia agreed that a portable credential that indicated attainment of criterion-referenced workplace literacy skills would be beneficial to the regional economy that spans these states. They then formed a voluntary group, the Career Readiness Certificate Consortium, in order to support and assist each other with the deployment of the credential.

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