Ready for Work

On Episode 12 of Ready for Work, we seek to debunk some common myths of skills-based hiring with a Top Ten List of Workforce Mythblasters. We’ll cover some common misconceptions that employers, educators, and communities might have about skills-based hiring. We’ll also hear from leading employers on how they use ACT Workforce Solutions and the ACT® WorkKeys® system to help overcome these challenge...

This bonus episode of Ready for Work includes information on the 2019 ACT Workforce Summit in Charlotte, NC, October 28-30. We chat with some of the presenters to give a sneak peek at the conference content. This episode wraps up with feedback from attendees of last year's summit.

Work-based or “on-the-job” learning through apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs benefits learners from all education and socioeconomic levels and put them on a fast track to high-wage, nationally portable careers. In this episode of “Ready for Work," we talk to leaders in postsecondary education and business about the use of work-based learning programs at the community level and t...

Work Ready Communities from ACT helps local areas align their resources and leadership for a competitive workforce that meets employer needs and generates regional prosperity. Today on Ready for Work, we’re covering the journey to become a Work Ready Community.

Dr. Jeff McCord has unique insight following a decades-long career of straddling the worlds of business and education. After 20 years in the private sector working for Fortune 300 companies and then as Vice President at Northeast State Community College in Tennessee, he has seen a pressing need for educators and business leaders to communicate in order to improve workforce development at the regio...

Guest Sherrell Dorsey, founder of The Plug Newsletter and BLKTECH Interactive, shares strategies to make diversity and inclusion initiatives intentional – from employment and culture in an organization to holistic and systematic change.

Guest Tina Manus took her experience as an educator and researcher to apply experiential problem-solving and interactive community building to build work readiness skills for individuals facing reentry from corrections. The research, now referred to as the “Empowered Reentry Project,” was a 10-day program organized as a participatory action research project for nine returning citizens. The pilot p...

Guest Joe Sarubbi from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council shares why and how IREC created an interactive career map for the solar energy and climate control industries. Such tools can demonstrate career paths and the extent of opportunity within an industry. This episode builds upon the conversation about career pathways and stackable credentials from Episode 5 with Neil Reddy, CEO of the Man...

Guest Neil Reddy, CEO of the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC), shares how MSSC blazed the trail and created the gold standard for manufacturing skills. From career pathways to stackable credentials, the future of manufacturing is bright. [Show Notes] Born out of the National Skill Standards Act of 1994, MSSC set out to create industry standards to develop certifications across multiple...

Guest Ed Morrison applies the approach of “Strategic Doing” to workforce and economic development. Applying this newer model of strategic planning opens the door to solve complex challenges through productive collaboration.  [Show Notes]   [Bonus Content] Founder of the Agile Strategy Lab at Purdue University, Ed developed a new discipline called Strategic Doing to shift from old strategy approach...

One technical college in Wisconsin is blazing a new trail by offering college credit for core courses using prior learning assessment (PLA) – credits typically reserved for electives. Awarding PLA credit beyond electives has yielded unforeseen results for individuals and the institution. Guest Lynette Livingston, Executive Dean of Business, Arts, Sciences, and Academic Initiatives at Chippewa Vall...

Tune in to see the impact that credentials have on education and workforce and economic development. Learn how The Competency Project is on a mission to use underlying competency as currency in education and in the labor market. The episode provides tools that can be used to level the playing field, make better use of workforce data, and make one-to-one comparisons. Credentials are a way for indiv...

Dig deep into the role that economic development plays in the workforce ecosystem. In this episode, Will Coppage from the Washington County Economic Alliance shares how his community continues to overcome the challenges of being a rural county by taking a regional approach.

We all have a stake in making our country more competitive. Closing the skills gap and driving economic growth starts at the grassroots level. Episode Zero delivers what to expect from the Ready for Work podcast. Plus, meet the host, Jasen Jones from the Work Ready Communities team at ACT.