Residence Requirements:

 An examination will be held to fill vacancies as they occur in the above title in Erie County Departments, Towns, Villages, School District and Special Districts.  The salary listed above pertains to Erie County Departments.  Salaries vary among municipalities and districts.

RESIDENCE REQUIREMENTS:  CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY FOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE WRITTEN TEST AND MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY AT THE TIME OF APPOINTMENT*.  There is one vacancy at the Erie County Sheriff's Office.   

Successful candidates will be placed on the eligible list for Erie County.  When certification is made to towns, villages or school districts, it may be limited to candidates who were legal residents of that municipality for one month immediately preceding the date of the written test and are legal residents of the same municipality or district at the time of certification.

*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 this examination.  However, they will be certified for appointment only in the school district in which they are legal residents.

Examples of Duties:

A Data Entry Operator transcribes, enters and verifies data from source documents directly to a computer (CRT); sets up data entry transcribing equipment by manipulating keys to call special programs and formats; performs routine coding incidental to the mechanical recording of data; operates data entry equipment to enter, verify, search, modify and update modes; where appropriate, verifies for correctness data transcribed as displayed on optical scanner screen, (CRT); cleans and maintains external moving parts of machine; replaces ribbons; performs related clerical work; operates related office and electronic data processing equipment.

Qualifications:

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

A.  Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma, and one year of experience in the operation of data entry equipment; or

B.  Completion of a six month course in the operation of data entry equipment and six months of experience in the operation of data entry equipment; or

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

Notes:

NOTE:  Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting the experience requirements

A copy of A Guide to the Written Test For The Entry-Level Clerical/Steno/Typist Series may be viewed and/or downloaded at the New York State Civil Service web site located at http://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/localtestguides.cfm.  If you do not have Internet access, 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,New York 14202 or by picking one up in person at Room 604.

Subjects of Examination:

SUBJECT OF EXAMINATION:  The written test is designed to test for knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in such areas as:

1. SPELLING – These questions are designed to test the candidate’s ability to spell words that office employees might encounter in their daily work.
2. RECORDKEEPING – These questions are designed to test a candidate’s ability to perform common 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.
3. CLERICAL OPERATIONS, WITH LETTERS AND NUMBERS – These questions are designed to test a candidate’s visual perception and basic clerical accuracy in working with alphanumeric characters.  The candidate is required to read, compare, check, reorder, and count letters and numbers following specific directions for each question.  Knowledge of the alphabet and the ability to count are required.

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES:  Use of a quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculator is recommended.  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.

**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.