The job analysis component of WorkKeys helps to set benchmarks that correspond with WorkKeys scores, giving the examinee a target score to hit in order to qualify for a job.
Employers use job analysis to determine which skills are required for a job, and the level of each skill needed to perform the job successfully. This helps employees determine the standards for how an applicant must score in a particular WorkKeys skill assessment in order to be qualified for the job.
The job analysis element validates the use of WorkKeys foundational skills assessments for hiring, complying with legal standards set by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In the job profiling process, ACT-licensed profilers visit with the client company or organization and determine background information on the job to be profiled and how specifically the job relates to the company. The profiler tours the company and collects materials – such as training manuals, annual reports, company newsletters – that define the company.
The profiler then compiles an initial list of the tasks most relevant to the job being profiled. Subject matter experts – those who know the job best through incumbency or supervising the job – refine the list and rate each task based on two factors: importance of the task to the job and relative time spent on it. The subject matter experts then decide what minimum level of each skill is required to perform the job successfully.
When taking a WorkKeys test, the skill level at which an employee scores corresponds to how prepared he or she is for the job, or how much remedial training an incumbent employee needs.
WorkKeys also offers two job analysis products that can be used without the help of a job profiler:
* SkillMap, an online service which links job tasks to the skill levels of WorkKeys assessments, used primarily to identify employees’ training needs
* WorkKeys Estimator, a paper-and-pencil system which gives quick estimates of the WorkKeys skill levels needed for a job