National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC)

National Career Readiness Certificate

The ACT WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificate (ACT WorkKeys NCRC®) is an assessment-based credential issued at four levels; Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze. The NCRC measures and certifies the essential work skills needed for success in jobs across industries and occupations. With an NCRC, you can:

  • Build confidence that your skills meet the needs of employers
  • Show prospective employers concrete proof of the skills you have
  • Apply real-world use to coursework from the classroom
  • Determine skill improvement and training needs
  • Improve the opportunities for career changes and advancement
  • Earn college credit at many institutions and reach academic goals more quickly 

Case Study

Finding Work Fast

When Ohio’s economy struggled, hundreds of manufacturing employees lost their jobs—with no documentation of the skill levels they had developed. State workforce and social service agencies, along with union organizations, tuned to the National Career Readiness Certificate to help the displaced workers verify their skill levels and find employment.

 

Earn Your NCRC

Requirements

A National Career Readiness Certificate is earned by achieving a Level Score of 3 or better on all three WorkKeys assessments::

  • Applied Math
  • Workplace Documents
  • Graphic Literacy

They are also available in Spanish.

  • Evaluación de Matemáticas Aplicadas 
  • Evaluación de Localización de Información
  • Evaluación de Comprensión de Lectura

Examinees that complete the Spanish-language versions of the assessments are eligible for an ACT National Career Readiness Certificate en Español.

 

Registration

WorkKeys Assessments are taken at any ACT-licensed test center nationwide. Please keep in mind that testing sites throughout the country may vary in the assessment delivery method – online or paper-and-pencil. Please contact your test site directly if you have any questions about what to bring on test day.

Match Criteria

You don't have to register for all three assessments that make up the ACT WorkKeys NCRC at the same time, but to make sure all scores are matched to you it’s important to provide the exact same information for each one. If you take the assessments on different days, the following five demographic elements must be the same for each assessment registration:

  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Month of birth
  • Day of birth
  • Examinee ID

 

Locations

Find a test center offering WorkKeys Assessments near you.

 

Put Your NCRC to Work

You’ve earned it, now use it.Did you achieve a Level Score of 3 or better on all three WorkKeys assessments? If so, congratulations! You’ve earned your NCRC.

Sharing Your Certificate

Put your NCRC to use by sharing your achievement with potential or current employers. To protect your privacy, ACT does not release any information until you have authorized it. In order for employers to verify your NCRC, you must:

  • Create a free MyWorkKeys.com account.*
  • Make your certificate public.
  • Place your NCRC achievement details on your resume or job application.
  • Add information about your NCRC on your resume or job application to enable employers and human resources managers to verify that you have earned the certificate and possess the work skills needed for success.

There are two ways to get your certificate:

  1. Your assessment provider pays for and provides the certificate to you.
  2. Your assessment provider does not provide the NCRC to you, so you create a free account on MyWorkKeys.com,* gaining access to your score transcripts and your NCRC achievement details.

*NOTE: It is possible a MyWorkKeys.com account was already created for you. If so, you may have received a physical certificate or an email that contains the information you need to access your MyWorkKeys.com account. Please see Accessing Your Pre-Created Account Quick Start Guide (PDF)