Dinah King with Georgia Power has taken the reins of the Effingham County Georgia Work Ready Program as the communities Business Champion.

 

Work Ready is helping Georgia’s communities design economic development strategies to attract new business and preserve the health of their existing economic base. This voluntary initiative shows a community’s commitment to life-long education and improving high school graduation rates, important factors for driving businesses to an area. To accomplish this, it takes our community leaders coming together with those in education, business and industry sectors to help their communities reach their goals.

 

The Work Ready assessment is administered by ACT’s nationally accredited WorkKeys® system and measures both core skills and work habits.

Core skills assessments measure skills in applied mathematics, reading for information and locating information, three skills that are highly important to the majority of jobs in the workplace. The work habits assessment measures work-related attitudes and behaviors in areas that are trainable and coachable, such as carefulness, cooperation, discipline and drive.

 

Three simple steps to earning your Work Ready Certificate:

 

• Choose a location: Select your county from the Get Started list on the right to find your nearest assessment center. Call the number provided to schedule your free Work Ready assessment.

 

• Prepare: Review support and instructional materials, along with sample questions, available at no cost to you (see links to right).

 

• Take the assessment: Allot approximately four hours to complete the full assessment and bring a non-graphing calculator for the applied mathematics section. You will receive a copy of your scores at the end of the session; your actual Work Ready Certificate will arrive by mail. Work with your test administrator if you need assistance in assessment-taking computer basics. 

 

Work Ready Certificates are awarded based on the lowest level earned in any of the three core assessment areas, though individual scores in one or more sections may be higher.

 

Bronze indicates a minimum score of three in all three core areas

 

Silver indicates a minimum score of four in all three areas

 

Gold indicates a minimum score of five in all three areas

 

Platinum, offered only in Georgia, indicates a minimum score of six in all three core areas. The state, along with the rest of the nation, is facing an unprecedented economic crisis. To help our citizens get back on their feet, the state has launched Be Work Ready. 

 

Be Work Ready is helping unemployed citizens jump start their job search, gain confidence and a competitive advantage in the marketplace. It provides a financial incentive for unemployed Georgians who earn a Work Ready Certificate — or those who have earned a Work Ready Certificate since Sept. 1, 2008 — and another for those who improve their skill level through free, online training.

 

Be Work Ready incentive packages are now being processed weekly. Since July 6, over 1500 Georgians have received a pre-paid incentive for earning their Work Ready Certificate. Over 3,250 Georgian Certificate holders who were unemployed have found a job over the last six months.