JOIN Carson City Workforce Training Credential Asserts Employees Know Basic Employment Skills

JOIN, Inc. in Carson City recently launched the National Work Readiness Credential and recently had its pilot class of four JOIN clients pass the assessment and receive the credential.

NWRC is a nationally recognized measure of entry level job preparedness that assesses an individual in four modules: Workplace Reading, Workplace Math, Active Listening and Situational Judgment. The Work Readiness Credential is the first national, portable certification of workforce readiness. JOIN, Inc. in Carson City was the first organization in Nevada to implement the NWRC as part of its workforce training and development services.

“The JOIN clients didn’t just pass the assessment but excelled with high scores on all four modules of the assessment,” said JOIN instructor Augusta Hinton. “NWRC has demonstrated amazing transformations in our JOIN clients.”

The requirements set by the governing National Work Readiness Council established the NWRC as a Pass/Fail Assessment requiring individuals to successfully pass each of the four assessment modules with a minimum score of 70. The JOIN clients in the pilot class had a combined average score on all four modules of 94 with some scoring 100 on module assessments.

“Our pilot class was a huge success. It showed that our skills reviews and the NWRC preparations for our clients paid off for them with increased knowledge and confidence which allowed them to obtain a nationally recognized credential they can use during their job search”, said Augusta Hinton.

The credential is relevant for a wide range of job seekers who want to demonstrate to an employer that they have the skills and knowledge necessary for today’s entry level work requirements. The NWRC training and assessment is an elective and part of the workforce training JOIN offers its clients. Among JOIN’s clients are long-term unemployed individuals, people who were laid off and are changing careers, homemakers who lost their means of support and youth out of school.

JOIN client Xan Beckner participated in the NWRC to help prepare for her job search. “Having worked in the private sector, I was unprepared for the testing required for state jobs”, Beckner said. “Participating in the NWRC training through JOIN helped prepare me for gaining my new job with the state of Nevada”.

The National Work Readiness Credential is based on an employer-defined standard of the critical skills needed by workers in a variety of fields. The assessment was developed with input from businesses, chambers of commerce, labor unions, education and training professionals, and state work-force investment boards in the five founding states: Florida, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Washington. NWRC also had input and support from the District of Columbia, U.S Chamber of Commerce and Junior Achievement Worldwide.

“Employers really do care if job applicants have this credential”, said Carson City JOIN manager Lynda Gotelli. “The credential streamlines the hiring process and helps employers improve productivity and minimize turnover. It gives them access to individuals who show they can complete accurate and high-quality work, learn on the job and work as part of a team”.

JOIN is currently forming the next NWRC class for its clients. To learn more about JOIN, Inc. and its workforce training and eligibility, call (775) 283-0125.

JOIN, Inc. is a private, 501c3 nonprofit workforce training organization that receives funding provided by Nevadaworks through a competitive grant under the Workforce Investment Act. JOIN is an Equal Opportunity Employer/ Program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.