The Tama Library will be partnering with Iowa Workforce Development by offering testing for a National Career Readiness Certificate. The testing normally costs $50 but is being offered free.

You must be signed up for the testing session – the deadline is Dec. 16 and the testing will be Thursday, Dec. 18 from 4-8 p.m. at the Tama Library. There are three tests and the tests take three hours to complete and they will be on-line tests.

Here is some more information: The National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC)is a national, portable, foundation work skills certification designed and maintained by ACT, Inc. Iowa adopted this credentialing system in 2008 creating an opportunity for individuals to obtain an applied skills certificate through several Community Colleges and Iowa Workforce Development Centers.

The certificate was created to assist employers in recruiting new employees, discover training needs, and/or promote incumbent workers based on a series of three WorkKeys assessments that make up the NCRC Reading for Information, Locating Information and Applied Mathematics.

These three foundation skills are critical in over 90 percent of all occupations. Iowa’s NCRC can help an employer hire the best suited individuals, discover what critical training needs may be needed, and can be used as a means of promoting incumbent workers. This credential is noted as an essential component in transitioning workers from declining to emerging occupations.

ACT has profiled over 16,000 different occupations and determined the level of the three foundational skills for each occupation that share the same identification number as outlined in the O*Net (Occupational Information Network) database. The levels associated with the completed certificates and occupations are Level 3-Bronze, Level 4-Silver, Level 5-gold and Level 6-Platinum.

More information on Iowa’s National Career Readiness Certificate, please contact:

Arturo Sanchez,

Workforce Advisor

Iowa Works

(641) 844-6981

arturo.sanchez@iwd.iowa.gov

Please stop by the Library to sign up and pick up your application form or contact Arturo Sanchez,

Workforce Advisor at Iowa Works. His phone number is: (641) 844-6981 or you can email him at: arturo.sanchez@iwd.iowa.gov