Certified workers

When hiring entry-level workers, employers hope to get people who have basic math, reading and comprehension skills.

The Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center's WorkKeys assessment program provides employers with some certainly that an employee has those skills.

A career readiness certificate from the center means that the employee has mastered the skills in a two-week assessment program.

A gold certificate means the employee's skills rank at the highest level.

Other assessment levels are denoted with silver and bronze certificates.

WorkKeys is a national work-force development system that offered the Cape Girardeau center a pilot program.

Since November 2005, 425 students at the center have earned certificates.

This spring, every senior at Central High School will take the assessment test.

Rich Payne, director of the center, says only one other high school in the state does that kind of assessment.

WorkKeys and the career and career and technology center are a combination helping make the region attractive to employers.

And those who have completed the assessment program have a leg up on finding good jobs.