Articles
HCC Spring Branch VAST students earn nationally recognized employability certificates
Apr 27, 2023
Congratulations to the HCC Spring Branch VAST students that earned their very own WorkKeys National Career Readiness Certificates (NCRC).
The NCRC is a nationally recognized employability credential developed by ACT (formerly known as American College Testing) that validates a person’s workplace skills. It is a credential that immediately tells an employer that someone has the necessary foundational skills to perform the functions of a job and is also a great indicator of trainability.
Students in the VAST Program took 3 assessments that led to this certification:
• Workplace Documents
• Applied Math
• Graphic Literacy
These assessments test a person’s ability to read and understand workplace documents, perform work-related math, and to find and use information presented in graphic form, such as charts, tables, graphs, and blueprints.
Awarded at four levels (Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum), the US Department of Labor recognizes the NCRC as a portable, stackable, industry-recognized certification. It is used in all 50 states. According to research conducted by ACT, the skills certified by the NCRC are critical to 90 percent of occupations. Having a NCRC gives an individual a distinct advantage over other applicants when applying for jobs.
The WorkKeys Department would like to thank Dr. Desmond Lewis, Dean Annie Tsui, and Sue Moraska for their help in coordinating this effort, as well as Dina Webster, Lisa Abercia, and Alyse Gurka for recognizing the importance of credentialing their students.
The VAST students that earned a NCRC in this pilot will have the opportunity to improve upon their scores and achieve higher levels of the certificate once they go through the WorkKeys NCRC curriculum later this year.
Congratulations, and best of luck to the all the VAST students on this wonderful achievement!
For more information, please contact:
713.718.5766