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Financial Services Skills Standards

Because of the importance of skill standards today to educators, employers, and students who desire jobs after graduation from high school, the Division of Career & Technical Education in conjunction with bankers from the Kentucky Bankers Association are working together to develop a system to certify that students have attained the necessary skills for employment. 

The first step in developing this system is the development of skill standards that describe the necessary occupational, academic, and employability skills needed to enter the banking industry. Mastery of these standards would signal to employers that the students are employable and ready to begin employment within the industry. Certified students would be ready to be trained in specific skills by employers or enter training programs. Certified students may also wish to continue their training in a more specialized training such as a general banking diploma. 

In order to insure that students in fact have attained the necessary skills identified, students are assessed on the standards. The assessment system includes two components:

1. Multiple-choice test specifically testing the mastery of the skill standards; and Problem-based scenarios to test students’ problem-solving and decision-making skills related to their occupational standards.
   
   
2. Students who pass each component of the assessment system at a specified percentage previously set will receive a Financial Services Skill Standards Certificate to provide to employers communicating mastery of the standards. 

In the most successful workplaces the only constant is change. Jobs that were previously simple now require high performance work processes and enhanced skills in order to compete globally. Because skill standards reflect these changing workplace realities, they are a key device for helping applicants and employees enjoy career opportunities and achieve higher standards of living and economic security.

The following are recommended courses that a student would need to receive a career major in Financial Services:

• Keyboarding Applications
• Computer Applications
• Accounting I
• Financial Services I*
• Financial Services II*

* Courses specifically designed for the banking industry 

Skill standards provide a common vocabulary to enhance communication between:

Employers and Job Seekers – to specify the knowledge skills, aptitude, and attitudes required for recruitment, hiring, and retention in a company or within an industry.

Employers and Schools or Job Training Programs – to encourage the alignment of school curricula with industry requirements, to update educational objectives as workplace demands change, and to ensure a better return on public and private education and training investments.

Employers or Job Seekers and Schools or Job Training Programs – to help employees and job seekers make sound decisions about their own education and training needs in a changing marketplace.

If your school is interested in this program, please contact the Division of Career & Technical Education, Kentucky Department of Education, (502) 564-3775.