Students often receive assessment results and immediately ask: “What do these scores mean for me?”
The ACT WorkKeys Skills-Based Career Navigation Toolkit has been updated and is designed to help answer that question by connecting workplace skills with career exploration and next steps. As a Counselor Outreach team, we’re particularly excited about the new WorkKeys Career Navigation Canvas because it gives counselors a simple, practical way to help students turn their WorkKeys results into meaningful career conversations and next steps. It’s straightforward, easy to use, and, quite simply, useful.
From WorkKeys Scores to Career Possibilities
The free Canvas provides a simple, four-step process that helps students use their WorkKeys results to:
- Understand their skills and identify strengths and opportunities for growth.
- Explore career options using the ACT Occupational Profile Website to compare their skills with those associated with different occupations.
- Compare possibilities based on skill fit, interests, training requirements, and growth potential.
- Create a next-step plan for skill development, training, credentials, or employment.
One important message runs throughout the Canvas: WorkKeys results reflect a student's current workplace skills, not their intelligence or long-term potential.
If a student is below the median skill level associated with a career of interest, that doesn't necessarily mean the career isn't for them. Instead, it can help identify where additional skill development could expand their opportunities.
A Practical Tool for Counselors
Counselors can use the Canvas during individual advising, career-readiness lessons, CTE programs, or conversations about internships, apprenticeships, postsecondary education, and employment.
It helps shift the conversation from “Here are your scores” to “Here are some possibilities. What could your next step be?”
One more idea from our Counselor Outreach team: If the WorkKeys Career Navigation Canvas gets you thinking about how you can use WorkKeys more intentionally with students, consider earning the WorkKeys Career Guide Credential. We’re continuing to learn too, so you may even find some of us in class with you.
Ultimately, the goal is simple: helping students move from “What do these scores mean for me?” to “Here’s what I can do next.”
