Employment Counselor PROMOTIONAL

Modified: August 17, 2018 8:34am

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

Employment Counselor PROMOTIONAL

#77-647 - 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 THE ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SERVICES. The eligible list resulting from this examination will be used to fill current and future vacancies within the Erie County Department of Social Services.

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 Employment Counselor involves counseling Social Services applicants and recipients regarding their employability and placing them in private employment, training programs, or work relief projects;

Counsels client concerning educational background, skills, physical capacities and attitudes for the determining of employment possibilities and the need for educational or vocational training; 

Ascertains qualifications of applicants and compares with requirements of available positions; referring clients having the necessary qualifications to prospective employers; 

Refers clients to appropriate training programs and serves as liaison to training providers; 

Counsels clients to obtain and continue in suitable employment by discussing with them the correction of personal habits and attitudes that may affect their work and goal setting; 

Counsels client in overcoming barriers to employment; 

Determines specific areas for concentration of effects to develop placement possibilities, personally engaging in interview with prospective employers; 

Establishes and maintains contact with major industrial employers for the purpose of developing placement sources; 

Advises caseworker of persons who have not complied with placement procedures and works with caseworker regarding a specific adjustment problem which client may have; 

Conducts correspondence and prepares reports; 

Serves as department consultant on employment; 

Maintains placement files; 

Evaluates training programs and client's progress; 

Evaluates non-compliance sanctions relating to employability; 

Verifies eligibility to participate in various employment programs; 

May facilitate classroom training of work seeking clients in all aspects related to a job search and subsequent retention of that newly found employment.

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 immediately preceding the date of the written test in a job grade 6, 7 or 8 position and in addition the following requirements:

Graduation from a recognized college or university with a Bachelor's degree, and one (1) year of satisfactory full time paid experience in either educational or vocational guidance or employment interviewing, employment counseling or employment placement work; and either: 

A) One (1) additional year of satisfactory experience as described above; or: 

B) Satisfactory completion of 30 graduate semester hours with specialization in guidance or counseling; or: 

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

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT: 

Possession of a New York State Driver's License at time of appointment.

Notes:

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

2. 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. Advising and interacting with others

These questions test for the ability to interact with other people in order to gather and present information and to provide assistance and advice in a courteous and professional manner.

2. Interviewing

These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices employed in obtaining information from individuals through structured conversations. These questions require you to apply the principles, practices, and techniques of effective interviewing to hypothetical interviewing situations. Included are questions that present a problem arising from an interviewing situation, and you must choose the most appropriate course of action to take.

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. Principles and practices of employment counseling

These questions test for knowledge and understanding of the principles, practices, and techniques of employment counseling. Questions may include such topics as counseling individuals and/or groups on employment-related issues; providing support, advocacy, and accountability; and developing job opportunities throughout the community. 

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES: Unless otherwise noted, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculators. 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.