Department Of Labor Testing: Seizing an Opportunity to Increase the Competitiveness of American Industry and to Raise the Earnings of American Workers

Abstract

[Excerpt] The professionalism that the American military recently exhibited in the Persian Gulf is in no small part due to care with which it selects, assigns and trains its soldiers. The military's success in preparing this highly skilled workforce was made possible by decades of research into occupational competency assessment, aptitude test development and validity research. The Department of Labor is also a world leader in the development and validation of employment aptitude tests and there is now an opportunity for this expertise to be implemented in ways that can enhance the nations's competitiveness and improve the standard of living of all of its workers. This paper describes how an Employment Service job referral system can be developed and implemented to achieve these objectives. It is organized into 6 sections.