Residence Requirements:

A written test will be held to fill vacancies as they occur in the above title in Erie County Departments, Towns, Villages,School Districts and Special Districts. There is one vacancy at the Erie County Health Department and  the salary range for Erie County Departments is $29,935 - $36,876 annually.  *Salaries vary among jurisdictions. Successful candidates will be considered for appointment only in the jurisdiction in which they were employed at the time of the written test.  In each case, certification may be limited to legal residents of the jurisdiction in which the vacancy exists. 

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:

A Senior Clerk Stenographer takes and transcribes dictation of more than routine difficulty, including legal and medical reports;

Takes and transcribes telegrams, memoranda, reports, etc.;

Takes and transcribes minutes of departmental group meetings;

Answers telephone and greets callers in person to furnish information authorized as available from department records;

Makes appointments for supervisor, maintains schedules, compiles reports and data and maintains files;

Performs general clerical work in an office involving the tabulation of figures, filing, completion of forms, etc.;

Types forms, form letters, and standardized reports from rough draft or according to established procedures;

Maintains personnel and payroll records and post attendance;

Composes simple original letters for signature of supervisor;

Operates an alpha-numeric keyboard to transcribe data directly to a computer;

Assigns work to and supervise clerical employees;

Maintains records of petty cash fund;

Utilizes enhanced computer systems and equipment in the completion of assigned clerical tasks.

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 preceeding the date of the written test in a lower level clerical position (Job Group I, II or III) and, in addition, must meet one of the following requirements on or before that date of the written test:   

Graduation from a standard senior high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and one year of office clerical experience which included stenography and typing.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT:

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:

1. Completion of post high school secretarial course(s) which included stenography and typing may be substituted for the required experience. Additional office clerical experience, which included stenography and typing, beyond the one (1) year requirement may be substituted for high school on a year-for-year basis.

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

A copy of A Guide to the Written Test For The Senior Stenographer/Senior Typist Series may be viewed and/or downloaded at the New York State Civil Service web site located at https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.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 CountyPersonnel Department,95 Franklin Street,Buffalo,New York 14202 or by picking one up in person at Room 604.

Subjects of Examination:

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

1. SPELLING:  These questions test for the ability to spell words that are used in written business communications.
2. GRAMMAR, USAGE, PUNCTUATION:   The grammar and usage questions test for the ability to apply the basic rules of grammar and usage.  The punctuation questions test for a knowledge of the correct placement of punctuation marks in sentences.
3. KEYBOARDING PRACTICES:   These questions test for a knowledge of preferred practices in such areas as letter format, capitalization, hyphenation, plurals, possessives, word division, word and figure style for numbers, and common proofreading marks. In addition, you will be given a passage to proofread and asked questions about how to correct the errors in the passage.
4. OFFICE RECORD KEEPING:  These questions evaluate 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.
5. OFFICE PRACTICES:  These questions test for a knowledge of generally agreed-upon practices governing the handling of situations which stenographers, typists, and secretaries encounter in their work, as well as a knowledge of efficient and effective methods used to accomplish office tasks. The questions will cover such topics as planning work flow; setting priorities; dealing effectively with staff, visitors. and callers; filing and retrieving information; safeguarding

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

**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.