National Career Readiness Certificate

Make yourself stand out from other job applicants

The National Career Readiness Certificate (CRC) is an assessment-based credential developed by ACT Inc. (the same organization that developed the SAT, GRE, GMAT, etc) to help employees gain skills and to help employers make better decisions during the hiring process.

Issued at four levels, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum, it measures and certifies the essential work skills needed for success in jobs across industries and occupations.

This is a portable, national credential that promotes career development and skill attainment for the individual and confirms to employers that an individual possesses basic workplace skills in the following areas: Workplace Documents, Applied Math, and Graphic Literacy.

The CRC is widely used by employers, educators, workforce developers, and others with a stake in the success of the economy. More than 2.8 million CRCs have been issued nationwide since the credential was introduced in 2006.

CRC Workshop

Anyone interested in getting CRC certified, can attend a workshop by signing up by clicking the button to the left. At this workshop you receive a login and password to access online study materials to help you prepare for the CRC Exam. You can access these study materials anywhere and anytime as long as you have access to the internet.

CRC Exam

Once you have attended the workshop, you will be eligible to take the CRC exam by signing up by clicking the button to the left. Typically, scores are higher if students take the workshop first, so We HIGHLY recommend that you attend the workshop before taking the exam. The cost to take the CRC Exam is $45 ($15 per assessment). If for some reason you did not meet the requirement for your education program or employer, you may retest each section for $10.00 each.

Employers and job seekers can look up the ACT Work Keys scores needed by job title to identify the skill levels needed for a variety of occupations.

Carteret Community College is part of the nationwide effort to help Carteret County become a Work Ready Community (WRC) which empowers states, regions and counties with data, process and tools that drive economic growth. Participants are leveraging the Career Readiness Certificate (CRC) to measure and close the skills gap — and building common frameworks that link, align and match their workforce development efforts.

What are the benefits for an individual?

• CRC increases your chances for employment and promotion.
• CRC focuses on employment-related competencies needed in any career.
• CRC provides training to help you obtain certification.
• CRC is a portable credential recognized by employers.
• CRC builds confidence that skills meet the needs of local employers.

What are the benefits for employers?

• CRC increases your bottom line through your employees.
• CRC simplifies hiring by streamlining the application process.
• CRC reduces turnover, overtime, and waste while increasing morale.
• CRC takes the guesswork out of your selection decisions.
• CRC establishes legal defensibility in your selection process.
• CRC assists you to meet ISO 9000 standards and ensure quality business practices.
• CRC gets the most efficiency from your training practices.
• CRC improves the effectiveness of your training dollars.

What are the benefits for the community?

• CRC encourages businesses to stay in the community.
• CRC keeps employers from moving entry-level jobs to other cities, states or countries.
• CRC increases the tax base through more profitable business partners.
• CRC decreases unemployment rates.
• CRC improves the quality of life for community residents.
• CRC encourages new businesses to locate to the community.

For more information, please contact Kevin Daniels at [email protected] or (252) 222-6116.