Residence Requirements:

SALARY VARIES

RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS: CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY OR AN ERIE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT* FOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE WRITTEN TEST AND MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY OR AN ERIE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT* AT THE TIME OF APPOINTMENT. Preference may be given to successful candidates who have been residents of the municipality in which the appointment is to be made for one month preceding the date of the certification of the eligible list and who are residents of the municipality at the time of appointment. Non-residents may be required to become a resident of the appointing municipality if local law so states. * Candidates who reside in a school district which, for civil service purposes is administered by the Erie County Personnel Commissioner, but who are not legal residents of Erie County may apply for examination. However they will be certified for appointment only in the school district in which they are legal residents.

A promotion examination will be held at the same time as this examination. The list resulting from the promotion examination will be used first but appointments from this open competitive examination are anticipated. Use of the list may be suspended after it is one year old for any position which it is practical to fill through a new promotion examination.  

The eligible list resulting from this examination will supersede Eligible List #42-125, held on April 18, 2015.

The eligible list resulting from this examination will also be used to fill present and future vacancies in Erie County Departments, Towns, Villages, School Districts and Special Districts. In each case, certification may be limited to legal residents of the jurisdiction in which the vacancy exists. The salary range for Erie County Departments is $26,749 - $32,983 annually.  Salaries vary among the other jurisdictions.

Examples of Duties:

An Account Clerk-Typist performs specialized clerical tasks and keyboarding in connection with the maintenance of financial account and records;

Prepares and keyboards vouchers, purchase orders and requisitions;

Maintains registers of simple account distributions according to standard procedures; posts by hand or machine, transactions, charge accounts or entries necessary for the balancing of accounts;

Inspects, examines or credits simple accounts according to departmental procedures for accuracy and conformance;

Balances accounts by adding machine or Microsoft Business Office Suite and reconciles totals against individual accounts;

Reconciles bank statements and makes deposits, maintains related files on requisitions, orders, vouchers and amounts;

Prepares and keyboards related reports for transmittal to other departments;

Operates an alpha-numeric keyboard to transcribe data directly to a computer;

Receives cash and check payments tendered in person and by mail;

May assist in the maintenance of payroll records; Utilizes enhanced computer systems and equipment in the completion of assigned clerical tasks.

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must meet the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:

A.    Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York state registered two year college or university with an Associate's degree in Accounting supplemented by a course in keyboarding or computer business applications; or:

B.     Completion of a minimum of 60 semester credit hours at a regionally accredited or New York state registered two or four year college or university which included sixteen semester credit hours in Accounting, supplemented by a course in keyboarding or computer business applications; or:

C.     Graduation from high school supplemented by a course in keyboarding, or computer business applications, and one year of experience maintaining financial records and accounts or:

D.     Five years of office experience, one year of which involved keyboarding or computer business applications and the maintenance of financial records and accounts; or:

E.      An equivalent combination of training and experience as defined by the limits of (A) and (D).

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT:

Under current New York State Law, candidates seeking employment with school districts in New York State will be required to undergo fingerprinting and a criminal history background check prior to appointment.  A processing fee may be required.

Notes:

NOTES: 1. Information regarding completion of a keyboarding course should be entered in section #10 of the application.  Candidates must indicate the keyboarding course completed and the school/institution attended.  It is not necessary to provide transcripts or official documentation at the time of application, but verification may be required at a later date.  Failure to provide the above information will result in disqualification.  2.  Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting the experience requirements. 3. Your degree and/or col1ege credit must have been awarded by a regionally accredited college or university or one recognized by the New York State Education Department as following acceptable educational practices. A grade of "D" or better is necessary for a course to be credited as successfully completed. If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside of the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency. You can write to this Department for a list of acceptable companies providing this service; you must pay the required evaluation fee.

The New York State Department of Civil Service is making a copy of A Guide to the Written Test for the Entry-Level Account / Audit Clerical Series available on its web site at www.cs.state.ny.us/testing/localtestguides.cfm. In addition, a copy of this test guide can also be obtained at our local civil service office. You may obtain a copy by sending a stamped, self-addressed envelope (size required to accommodate the guide – manila 10" x 13") to the Erie County Personnel Department, 95 Franklin Street, Buffalo, NY 14202 or by picking one up in person at Room 604.

Subjects of Examination:

SUBJECTS OF EXAMINATION: A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas:

1.      CLERICAL OPERATIONS WITH LETTERS AND NUMBERS: These questions test for skills and abilities in clerical operations with letters and numbers. The operations may involve alphabetizing, comparing, checking, and/or counting given groups of letters and/or numbers

2.      ARITHMETIC COMPUTATION WITHOUT CALCULATORS: These questions test for the ability to do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Questions may also involve fractions, decimals, averages, and percents. Note: You will not be allowed to use a calculator, or any other type of calculating device, to answer these questions or any other questions on this written test.

3.      ARITHMETIC REASONING: These questions test for the ability to solve arithmetic problems which are presented in sentence or short paragraph form. Knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division is necessary. Questions may also involve the use of percents, decimals, and fractions.

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES: Use of calculators is prohibited for this examination. Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", "Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited. Cell phones are prohibited. You may not bring books or other reference materials.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A $15.00 filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.