Skill Standards Self-Assessment Checklists Skills at Work Certification
Accreditation

Skill Standards

Skill Standards define what employees should know and be able to do in order to succeed in their occupations.  Four types of skills were developed: Basic skills, Core skills, Operational skills and leadership skills. 

Skill Standards

- Print Executives
- Production Manager
- Production Coordinator
- Print Estimator
- Sales
- Prepress
- Colour Specialist
- Output Specialist
- Bindery
- Finishing
- Press

Profiles

- Print Executives
- Production Manager
- Production Coordinator
- Print Estimator
- Sales
- Prepress
- Colour Specialist
- Output Specialist
- Bindery
- Finishing
- Flexographic Press Operator
- Digital Press Operator
- Lithographics Sheetfed Offset Press Operator
- Lithographics Web Offset Press Operator


Basic skills are essential to all occupations. They include: reading, writing, numerical skills, interactive communication, planning and organizing, problem solving, decision making and computer literacy.
  
Core skills cover those elements that comprise a broad-based knowledge of the industry. For the most part, some core skills will cut across process areas, although some may be more relevant to a particular process area.  Core skills include: teamwork, health and safety, printing processes, workflow process and control, quality assurance and client service.

Operating skills relate to specific operating functions within a process area. A function is defined as a set of related work activities organized in either chronological or operational order that often cut across occupations. In other words, functions are groups of related activities that often cut across job titles. As an example, for the press process area, operating skills include such basic operations as preparing ink and inking systems, monitoring colour quality and performing wash-up.

Leadership skills are specialized strengths used by those tasked with fostering innovation, support and commitment of the broader team. They include: Strategic Visioning; Strategic Thinking and Organizational Awareness; Impact and Influence; Leading and Managing Change; Developing Others; and. Results Management.

In addition to the Skill Standards, profiles of key occupations were also developed that outline what is required of the worker in a specific job, the availability of similar jobs in Canada and the kind of education and personal attributes that best contribute to success in that occupation.

Skill Standards and Occupational Profiles

Print Executives – Skill Standards
It's well known that even natural leaders need focused training to deepen their leadership skills. In businesses and training organizations within the printing industry, those skills are well known and defined the these Skill Standards.
...Read more
back to top
Print Executives – Profile
The Print Executive Skill Standards is a definitive guide for upcoming leaders. Use it to prepare for management or to decide quickly if someone you have your eye on is ready for a senior role in your organization. ...Read more
Production Manager – Skill Standards
Production managers serve as key figures in many sectors of the industry, typically by coordinating operations in a specific production-process area while working closely with other company functions such as marketing & sales, design and scheduling. ...Read more
Production Manager – Profile
Production managers work within one of the most rewarding occupations in a truly dynamic industry. Coordinating the efforts of printing experts in every specialty, production managers act as team quarterbacks, making tactical decisions to ensure the quality of printed products through all phases of the production process. . ...Read more

 
Production Coordinator – Skill Standards
Production coordinators and customer service representatives establish a pace for production. They develop a project timeline, weighing factors such as the intricacy of product designs, the availability of equipment and workers, and the urgency of client requests. They ensure that projects proceed on budget and on schedule. ...Read more

 
Production Coordinator – Profile
Customer Service Representatives and Production Coordinators act as the customers’ advocates by representing the best interests of both the customers and the company and managing their jobs from order entry to the finished product. ...Read more
Print Estimator – Skill Standards
The Estimating standards have already become valuable tools for growing the sector’s workforce. Specifically, secondary and post-secondary institutions can adapt technical training programs to meet industry needs, and students can guarantee their skills are recognized across the country. ...Read more
Print Estimator – Profile
Every print job is unique and exciting. Print estimating allows you to use your material & equipment knowledge, problem solving and decision making skills to determine the job’s cost and production methods. ...Read more
Sales – Skill Standards
 Sales representatives contact potential buyers, build relationships with existing clients, and ensure Canadian companies are top of mind for anyone in need of print or graphic design services. This guide details the skill standards for prepress—and describes the specific knowledge and skills people need to succeed in the occupation. ...Read More
Sales – Profile
Sales representatives communicate, create and maintain relationships with potential and current customers. They represent the interests of the company in dealing with the customer. ...Read more
Prepress – Skill Standards
Prepress operators can proofread and mark-up client materials, resize and retouch images, layout and arrange pages, separate and screen varnishes and inks, and even impose plates with only a keyboard, mouse, monitor and a suite of advanced software. This technical guide details the skill standards for prepress—and describes the specific knowledge and skills people need to succeed in the occupation. ...Read more
Prepress – Profile
Before a single word or image hits the page, prepress operators must prepare materials for production. These methodical, detail-oriented workers use hi-tech software to change clients’ concepts into printable digital files.
...Read more
Colour Specialists – Skill Standards
Printers, scanners, monitors, printing presses and digital cameras all measure and generate colour differently. Highly educated experts are therefore needed to define colours according to the specific technical specifications of each device and ensure accurate colour reproduction.
...Read more
Colour Specialists – Profile
While colour in printing used to be thought of as a luxury, it's now an expected must-have. By combining only four inks - cyan, magenta, yellow and black, colour specialists can reproduce millions of colours seen by the human eye.
...Read more
Output Specialists – Skill Standards
Output specialists oversee many steps within the production cycle. They have the opportunity to address and fix a range of problems to ensure error-free print. As stewards of quality control, output specialists are uniquely able to help firms cut costs and thrive in a highly competitive global industry. ...Read more
Output Specialists – Profile
Output specialists play a key role in the print production cycle. They are the last set of eyes on a job before the plates or cylinders are handed off to the pressroom.
. ..Read More
Bindery – Skill Standards
Embracing the mantra ‘faster, cheaper, better’, the printing industry has revolutionized the ancient craft of bookbinding. Papers saturated with 12 colours of ink are handled according to strict quality-control guidelines and equipment on the production floor —to create flawless publications. ...Read more
Bindery – Profile
Bindery operators hold the printing industry together—literally. Without them, books, newspapers, magazines and pamphlets would simply fall apart. Bindery operators hold loose sheets of printed paper together using the latest equipment and a ton of staples, stitches, glues and coils. The job is hands-on, fast-paced and rewarding.
...Read more
Finishing – Skill Standards
Finishing operators combine artistic flair with traditional techniques and modern machinery to cut, fold, emboss, deboss, laminate, perforate and add foil to printed materials. Amongst the gamut of capabilities, finishing operators use heat and pressure to add a polyester, nylon or polypropylene film that protects the final product. ...Read more
Finishing– Profile
Next time you walk by a movie poster, buy tickets to see a favourite band, or fill out a ballot to win free stuff, look closely at the paper. See the crisp corners? Notice the shiny surface? These features are the work of finishing operators who know all the tricks to making posters, concert tickets, ballots and other printed materials stronger and more attractive. ...Read more
Press – Skill Standards
This guide will introduce you to the skill standards developed for the press process area and how they can be used. These standards describe specific knowledge, and skills required to succeed specifically as a press operator.
..Read more
Flexograpic Press Operator– Profile
Ever wonder how they print words and pictures on plastic bottles or tin cans? Flexographic (‘FLEXO’) press operators work fast, using quick-drying inks to produce high-quality materials at up to 600 metres per minute on a truly astonishing range of materials.....Read more
Digital Press Operator– Profile
Digital press operators work with some of the most advanced printing equipment to produce materials that Canadian companies, government departments and other organizations use every day to get business done.
...Read more
Lithographics Sheetfed Offset Press Operator– Profile
Sheetfed offset is used more often than any other printing technology in Canada—producing everything from flyers, brochures and books to posters, magazines, annual reports and other printed media. In other words, it’s always in demand. ...Read more
Lithographic Web Offset Press Operator– Profile
Today’s web presses are used to produce a wide range of high-quality materials: magazines, newspapers, retail catalogues, phone books and other printed media that require mass distribution. ...Read more

All Occupational Profiles are available in one complete pdf. Click here to download.

To order print copies of the National Skill Documents or Occupation Profiles, please contact [email protected]