**********************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 ERIE COUNTY EMPLOYEES.   There is one anticipated vacancy the Erie County Department of Environment & Planning with an annual salary range of $36,731 - $46,411. This test will be used to fill current and future vacancies in Erie County departments.  Note: Applicants are eligible for appointment only in the department where they are employed at the time of the written test. 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 Clerk performing advanced and responsible sub-professional level administrative duties in either a large administrative unit, or small department of County Government;

A) Any incumbent will be assigned all or most of the following activities:

Assists in departmental clerical workload including typing, word processing and filing;

Composes letters to outside agencies and other parties, compiles statistics of departmental activities;

Supervises and assists in departmental purchasing activities and supply requisitioning;

Posts receipts, disbursements and appropriate journals and/or files; records stock items and expedites emergency order;

Assists in preparation of departmental and agency budgets, financial reports, State applications; maintains records of agency budget and personnel change approvals and administers control records;

Confers with higher ranking employees, often at administrative levels, and participates in discussions about personnel, payroll, purchasing and administrative policies and matters;

Maintains liaison between the department or administrative unit and other departmental divisions, other County departments and/or units of government, vendors, contract representatives, etc;

Maintains departmental personnel records and coordinates position control with the Personnel Department;

Operates a personal computer for word processing, graphs and spreadsheet applications.

B) In addition, depending on organizational structure, an incumbent may be assigned the following and related activities:

Assists in departmental bookkeeping, financial and cost accounting functions;

Assigns and schedules secretarial, stenographic and clerical duties to provide necessary clerical support for professional, administrative and other staff, and performs follow-up activity to insure timely and satisfactory completion of assignments made;

Assigns and supervises the typing of reports, lectures, examinations, and notices;

Assists, as needed, with accounts payable data entry and input;

Interviews applicants for employment, arranges physical examinations, fingerprinting and similar personnel duties;

Verifies the time cards and reports for employees;

Maintains files on current employees and vacancies to be filled;

Keep detailed grant summary report and assist in the implementation of grants within the College;

Track enrollment and work with Recruitment office to address recruitment issues;

Assist with College assessment reports; accreditation reports and compliance reviews, program reviews, and Operational

Plan and Strategic Plan assessment;

Gather and disseminate information and/or reports to appropriate departments and offices;

Facilitate small-scale events and prepare print materials for those events;

Prepare agenda items for meetings of Board of Trustees.

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 24 months immediately preceding the date of the written test in the position of  Job Grade IV, V or VI. 

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
Applicants must be eligible for appointment as a Notary Public at time of provisional appointment and must be a Notary Public at time of permanent appointment when assigned to the Erie County Department Of Environment And Planning.

As required by law or statute, subject to medical examination including tuberculin (TB) test, at time of appointment and throughout period of employment when assigned to Youth Services.

Notes:

None.

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. Office management
These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices of planning, organizing and controlling the activities of an office and directing those performing office activities so as to achieve predetermined objectives such as accomplishing office work within reasonable limits of time, effort and cost expenditure. Typical activities may include but will not be restricted to: simplifying and improving procedures, increasing office efficiency, improving the office work environment and controlling office supplies.

2. Office record keeping
These questions test your ability to perform common office record keeping tasks. The test consists of two or more sets of questions, each set concerning a different problem. Typical record keeping problems might involve the organization or collation of data from several sources; scheduling; maintaining a record system using running balances; or completion of a table summarizing data using totals, subtotals, averages and percents. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

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.