**********************Application Fee Waiver**********************

Employees of Erie County CSEA collective bargaining unit shall have all fees associated with County provided promotional civil service examinations waived.

********************Amendment Issued 3-1-19 ********************
See changes under Residence Requirements

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. The salary range for Erie County Departments is $30,609 - $37,111 annually; ******DELETE except for the Erie County Department of Probation where the salary range will be higher ($34,412 - $42,576 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.  

The duration of all promotional eligible lists is four years from date of establishment unless otherwise indicated  The eligible list resulting from this examination will not supersede Eligible List #31-255, held on September 9, 2017.

Examples of Duties:

A Senior Clerk Typist  types accounting and financial statements, payrolls, statistical tabulations and data, form letters, memoranda, vouchers, reports, requisitions and other materials;

Reviews accounts, reports and other documents for completeness, accuracy and conformity with established procedures;

Indexes and files documents and correspondence;

Searches, locates, and records papers and documents;

Assembles a variety of data from office records for incorporation into various reports;

Prepares payrolls and maintains time cards;

Composes and types routine correspondence;

Assists in proofreading prepared documents;

Answers telephone, email or written correspondences, gives routine information to the public and makes appointments for superior;

Operates an adding machine, calculator or other office machines;

Ability to prepare and revise excel spreadsheets;

General database processing and data entry;

Prepare mail merges, coordinate e-mail blasts and e-newsletters to send out;

Transcribes material from Dictaphone cylinders and belts;

Collects and maintains records of fees collected by department;

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

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, including or supplemented by a course in typing, and one year of office clerical experience.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:

Under current New York State Law, candidates seeking employment with school districts in New York State will be required to undergo fingerprinting and a criminal history background check prior to appointment. A processing fee may be required.

Applicants for designated positions in the Department of Social Services that may have access to federal tax information to perform his/her job duties shall be subject to a suitability background check investigation, including FBI fingerprinting, local law enforcement check, and verification check of citizenship/residency. A criminal record does not necessarily disqualify applicants from employment, rather an individualized determination will be made. The cost of the background check will be assumed by the Department of Social Services.

Notes:

1. Completion of a post high school secretarial course, which included typing and had a duration of at least one school year, may be substituted for the required experience. Additional office clerical experience which included typing, may be substituted for the required experience. Additional office clerical experience which included typing, beyond the one 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 the experience requirements.

The New York State Department of Civil Service is making a copy of A Guide to the Written Test for the Senior Stenographer/Senior Typist Series available on its web site at www.cs.state.ny.us/testing/localtestguides.cfm.  In addition, a copy of this test guide can also be obtained at our local civil service office.  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, NY  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 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 confidentiality; using office equipment; and making procedural decisions and recommendations which contribute to a well-managed office.

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.

(The eligible list resulting from this examination will supersede Eligible List #31-255, held on September 9, 2017.)

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 $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.