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 currently one vacancy in the Department of Mental Health.

Examples of Duties:

A Senior Clerk Typist-Spanish Speaking  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 paper 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 typewritten and printed material; answers telephone, gives routine information to the public and makes appointments for superior; operates an adding machine, calculator or other office machines; transcribes material from Dictaphone cylinders and belts; collects and maintains records of fees collected by department; may operate an alpha-numeric keyboard to transcribe data to either punch cards, tapes, magnetic discs or directly to a computer.

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates must meet the following requirements on or before the 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 LANGUAGE REQUIREMENT:  Successful candidates must demonstrate ability to converse fluently in Spanish as spoken in the Buffalo Metropolitan area. 

Notes:

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 stenography and typing, beyond the one year requirement, may be substituted for high school on a year for year basis; 2.  Candidates must clearly indicate on their application that they have successfully completed a course in typing.  Indicate the institution in which these courses were completed.  Failure to provide this information will result in disqualification; 3.  Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting the experience requirements.

A copy of a Guide To Taking The Examination For The Senior Stenographer/Senior Typist Series may be viewed and/or downloaded at the New York State Civil Service web site located at http://www.cs.state.ny.us/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:

This examination will consist of two parts: 1. A weighted written test; and 2. A qualifying Spanish language oral test.

THE qualifying Spanish language oral test is designed to evaluate the candidates’ proficiency in the Spanish language, at the level appropriate for the position(s) being filled.  Only a sufficient number of candidates needed to fill the present vacancy will be called to take part in this qualifying portion of the examination.  As additional vacancies occur, other candidates who were successful on the written portion of the examination will be invited to take the qualifying oral test.  Candidates must pass both parts of this examination in order to be eligible for appointment.  A level 2 proficiency in the Spanish language is required to pass this qualifying test.

The written test is designed to evaluate knowledge,skills and /or abilities in the following areas:

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.

**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.