York County certified as 'work ready' community

York County is certified as a “work ready” community – good news for employers as well as potential employees, says Sandy Andrews, chair of the local “work ready” committee.

To be certified, a county must reach or exceed goals for the number of people earning a National Career Readiness Certificate through the national Work Keys program, meet a three-year high school graduation standard and have the support of local businesses.

In York County, 5,578 people have earned a career certificate, 3,296 more than required for certification. The county’s graduation rate is 80 percent; a rate of 73.1 percent is required. The state requires support from 110 businesses. So far, 116 York County businesses are supporting the program and some are using it as a hiring tool.

“We will continue to build on these numbers, work towards helping people, that’s what we’re all about,” said Andrews, director of the Rock Hill school district’s adult education programs.

Earning the national career certificate helps potential employees get noticed by employers, Andrews said.

The career exam has three parts: math skills, reading and locating information.

The test measures what a potential employee can do rather than what someone knows, according to the ACT, which developed the test. The ACT also administers a college readiness test, which many colleges and universities use in evaluating potential students.

“The Work Keys exam measures foundation workplace skills and gives an insight into qualifications,” Andrews said.

There are four different levels of passing the Work Keys exam – bronze, silver, gold and platinum, of which platinum the highest level. Statewide, about 30 percent of the people passing the exam earned bronze status, 54 percent silver, 15 percent gold and less than 1 percent platinum. In York County, about 24 percent earned bronze certificates, 52 percent silver, 23 percent gold and less than 1 percent platinum.

A bronze certificate qualifies people for about 30 percent of the possible jobs, while silver qualifies people for 65 percent, gold for 90 percent and platinum for about 99 percent of jobs.

Andrews said Chester and Lancaster counties are also close to becoming certified as “work ready.”

This story was originally published September 16, 2015 at 8:18 PM with the headline "York County certified as 'work ready' community."