By Carol Cole-Frowe
The Norman Transcript

This is not your mom's ACT -- the familiar test that determines whether a high school senior is bound for the school of their dreams.

The venerable American College Testing Program has taken its credibility and testing prowess and translated it into a way jobseekers can match their skills with the specific needs of employers.

The programs are WorkKeys and KeyTrain and they are being used to measure skills in potential employees and match them with job profiles of employers.

It sounds complicated, but is actually simple, said Don Wood, executive director of the Norman Economic Development Coalition.

Beth Jones has been working for NEDC for about a year setting up the program with companies, schools and jobseekers. She plans to have the program up and running Feb. 1.

Jones is the NEDC's director of workforce development and a certified ACT WorkKeys job profiler.

Several Norman area companies are working on completing job profiles to begin using the program, including OGE, Stonehouse Marketing, Astellas and Johnson Controls.

Companies get the job profiles for free, courtesy of NEDC and a grant from the state of Oklahoma.

NEDC is developing a Web site, HireMeNorman.com, that will post job openings and the skill levels needed for those positions. A jobseeker that has completed their WorkKeys assessment can tell instantly if they qualify for the opening.

"It's a very credible system," Wood said. He said having this way to help create more economic wealth in Norman -- the NEDC's primary goal -- happens when its residents get better jobs and higher pay.

Companies like the system because it makes it easy to tell if a potential hire is qualified.

"This takes some of the guess work out of the hiring process," Wood said.

The Web site will have an inventory of all workers in the area who are looking for work.

Norman High School will comple WorkKeys assessments on about 350 seniors early next month. Norman North High School is expected to follow next year.

Moore Norman Technology Center also is working on assessing many of their students to go into the program.

Another important element of WorkKeys after a jobseeker gets an assessment is that if the potential employee's skills don't match the job they want, they can work independently on KeyTrain to upgrade their skills.

"Upgrade your skills to match what the company is looking for," Wood said.
Jones said it's also useful for current employees who are looking for upward mobility in their companies. They can use the self-paced KeyTrain to help them move up to the necessary skills.

"It helps them get raises. It helps them get promotions," Jones said.

She said 85 percent of companies say there are three basic skills they look for.

· Reading for information

· Locating information

· Applied mathematics

After jobseekers are assessed, they receive a career-ready certificate or CRC that details what level they are at and what that translates to on the back.

Norman Public Library will be the first library in the state to purchase the KeyTrain system to make it available to the public.

Those wanting to use KeyTrain will get a user ID and password from Jones.

Jones said a byproduct of the WorkKeys system is that some potential employees find they are qualified for better jobs than they thought.

"It builds self esteem and confidence," she said.

And Wood said WorkKeys will help companies interested in Norman be able to access whether the market has the potential employees available for the business to locate in here.

Jones would visit the company to profile the jobs the company would need to fill, paid for by a grant from the state of Oklahoma. They would be able to instantly tell whether the appropriately qualified personnel were available to fill the company's jobs.

"Can you imagine how powerful that would be? ... It's a match made in heaven," Wood said. "It offers everything we need to help recruit new companies to the area."

For a WorkKeys assessment, a KeyTrain user ID and password or for employers wanting to get their jobs profiled for inclusion in the program, contact Beth Jones at 573-1900 or via e-mail at bjones@nedcok.com.

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.