Administrative Assistant-Social Services

Modified: August 17, 2018 8:43am

COUNTY OF ERIE - DEPARTMENT OF PERSONNEL
invites applications for the position of:

Administrative Assistant-Social Services

#70-692 - Promotional (for current employees only)

Salary: $41,034 - $53,100 Annually
Opening Date: August 17, 2018
Closing Date: September 12, 2018
Application fee: None

**********************Application Fee Waiver**********************

Employees of Erie County CSEA collective bargaining unit shall have all fees associated with County provided promotional civil service examinations waived.

Residence Requirements:

THIS EXAMINATION IS OPEN TO ALL QUALIFIED EMPLOYEES OF ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES.   The eligible list resulting from this examination will be used to fill future vacancies. 

The eligible list resulting from this examination will not supersede currently existing promotional eligible lists for this title, if any.  The duration of all promotional eligible lists is four years from date of establishment unless otherwise indicated.

Examples of Duties:

An Administrative Assistant-Social Services performs administrative and clerical tasks as they relate to the Social Services Division of Erie County;

Assists clerically in the operation of Social Services;

Communicates with New York State and federal agencies;

Assists in the coordination of work with other departments;

Assigns and supervises the work of assigned subordinate staff;

Supervises and participates in preparing and maintaining records;

Manages data collection, analysis and reporting, including 1099 vendors;

Composes routine letters and correspondence; schedules meetings and appointments;

Supervises and assists in department purchasing activities including supply requisitioning, costs and delivery of supplies and equipment;

Assists in compiling department statistics, annual budget and necessary supportive data;

May analyze work flow processes and recommend improvements to higher level supervision.

 

Qualifications:

QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE FOR TAKING THE TEST:  Candidates must be permanently employed in the competitive class and must be serving and have served continuously on a permanent or contingent permanent basis in the competitive class for 12 months in a clerical position as a Job Group 6-8 plus the following:

A. Graduation from a regionally accredited NYS registered college or university with a Bachelors degree, and two years experience in accounting, public administration, personnel administration, financial management, or related field. One year of supervisory* experience; or

B. Graduation from high school, or possession of a high school equivalency diploma, and six years of experience as defined above. One year of supervisory* experience; or 

C. An equivalent combination of training and experience as defined by the limits of (A) & (B).

Notes:

1. *A supervisory position is defined as a position in which supervision was a major responsibility of the job. Occasional or partial supervision of work crew is not acceptable supervisory experience.

2. Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting full-time experience requirements.

3. Your degree and/or college 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.

Notice to Candidates: Transcripts will now be accepted by the Department of Personnel ONLY at time of application.
All subsequent transcripts must be submitted at time of interview.

Examination date:

October 13, 2018

Applications Must Be Postmarked or Hand Delivered By:

September 12, 2018

The New York State Department of Civil Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However,candidates may find information in the publication "How to take a written test" helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at: https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm

 

Subjects of Examination:

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

1. Evaluating conclusions in light of known facts

These questions will consist of a set of factual statements and a conclusion. You must decide if the conclusion is proved by the facts, disproved by the facts or if the facts are not sufficient to prove or disprove the conclusion. The questions will not be specific to a particular field.

2. Preparing written material

These questions test for the ability to present information clearly and accurately, and to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you will be given information in two or three sentences followed by four restatements of the information. You must then choose the best version. For other questions, you will be given paragraphs with their sentences out of order. You must then choose, from four suggestions, the best order for the sentences.

3. Supervision

These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices employed in planning, organizing, and controlling the activities of a work unit toward predetermined objectives. The concepts covered, usually in a situational question format, include such topics as assigning and reviewing work; evaluating performance; maintaining work standards; motivating and developing subordinates; implementing procedural change; increasing efficiency; and dealing with problems of absenteeism, morale, and discipline.

4. Understanding and interpreting tabular material

These questions test your ability to understand, analyze, and use the internal logic of data presented in tabular form. You may be asked to perform tasks such as completing tables, drawing conclusions from them, analyzing data trends or interrelationships, and revising or combining data sets. The concepts of rate, ratio, and proportion are tested. Mathematical operations are simple, and computational speed is not a major factor in the test. You should bring with you a hand-held battery- or solar-powered calculator for use on this test. You will not be permitted to use the calculator function of your cell phone.

5. Understanding and interpreting written material

These questions test for the ability to understand and interpret written material. You will be presented with brief reading passages and will be asked questions about the passages. You should base your answers to the questions only on what is presented in the passages and not on what you may happen to know about the topic. 

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES:  It is recommended that candidates use a quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculator.  Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", “Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited.  You may not bring books or other reference materials.

INFORMATION FOR PROMOTION CANDIDATES

Unless otherwise indicated, the eligible list resulting from this examination will have a duration of four years and will not supersede existing promotional lists, if any.

RATINGS REQUIRED:  Test is rated on a scale of 100 with a passing mark at 70.  Test instructions may further divide the tests into parts and set minimum standards for each part.

Points will be added to scores of candidates who achieve a passing mark as follows: Seniority:  For each year of service in the classified service:

Less than 1 year……………………..................…0 points

1 year up to 6 years…………….…........................1 point

Over 6 years up to 11 years.....………......….........2 points

Over 11 years up to 16 years….…........….........…3 points

Over 16 years up to 21 years………..................…4 points

Over 21 years………………………..................…5 points

VETERANS:  Disabled and non-disabled veterans as defined in Section 85, New York State Civil Service Law, will have 5 and 2.5 points, respectively added to their earned scores if successful in the examination.  You must claim these credits when you file application but you have an option to waive them any time prior to appointment.  If you have already used these credits for a permanent position in NYS, you may not claim them again.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A None 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.