Residence Requirements:

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 Department of Social Services.

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.

Examples of Duties:

A Junior Employment Counselor counsels Social Services applicants and recipients regarding his/her employability; 

Conducts individual and group interviews to ascertain barriers to participation in job search or other required work activities;

Reviews documents available in the agency’s files to verify employability status;

Reviews documents in agency files to verify client's eligibility and/or to determine the additional action necessary to verify eligibility for services;

Informs client about the range of assistance offered by the agency, community partners, and available resources;

Serves as a liaison between Comprehensive Employment Divisions and SNAP, Temporary Assistance, Day Care; Services;

Refers clients to appropriate work compliance activities to maintain eligibility;

Monitors compliance with work activities;

Maintains case records;

Prepares client notices for processing sanctions or case closings;

Enters data into local and State systems;

Prepares statistical data and reports;

Appear at administrative or judicial proceedings, when required, to explain case decisions.

Qualifications:

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

Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with an Associate’s degree or equivalent college credits, and one (1) year of experience involving reviewing, evaluating, documenting, and determining of eligibility for employment programs, or employment interviewing, or educational or vocational counseling.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:
Eligibility for a New York State Driver's license at the time of application; and
Possession a New York State Driver's License at the time of appointment and throughout period of employment.

Notes:

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.

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: www.cs.ny.gov/testing/localtestguides.cfm

Subjects of Examination:

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

1. Educating and interacting with the public

These questions test for knowledge of techniques used to interact effectively with individuals and/or community groups, to educate or inform them about topics of concern, to publicize or clarify agency programs or policies, to negotiate conflicts or resolve complaints, and to represent one's agency or program in a manner in keeping with good public relations practices. Questions may also cover interacting with others in cooperative efforts of public outreach or service.

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 principles, practices, and techniques of employment counseling in individual and group settings. Questions may cover such topics as assessing customers' job-related skills and abilities; matching customers with appropriate training and employment opportunities; matching customers with special incentive programs; assisting customers to develop job search skills and career plans; working with customers and employers to develop appropriate job opportunities; utilizing public employment service programs; applying department policies and program knowledge to counseling and working with special applicant groups; and establishing, maintaining, and terminating the customer-counselor relationship.

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.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A $20.00 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.