************Amended 8.19.2021********************
See change under the section Qualifications.

*-*-*-*Erie County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and committed to workplace diversity.*-*-*-*

**********************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 COMMUNITY COLLEGE AND ERIE ONE BOCES.  There are two present vacancies at Erie ONE BOCES and also one vacancy at Erie Community College.  Successful candidates will be eligible for appointment *ONLY* in the municipality/Department in which they were employed at the time of the written test.  

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 Principal Personnel Clerk supervises and participates in a variety of personnel duties, including the preparation and maintenance of personnel records and the processing of personnel forms;

Processes or oversees the processing of personnel transactions with the department, such as appointments, promotions, transfers, reinstatement, leaves with and without pay, resignations, salary changes, increments and longevities, probation reports; prepares and maintains departmental employee records, included those listed below:

Supervises and trains lower level clerical staff related to personnel matters;

Oversees the process by which all department appointments, promotions, transfers, and reinstatements are made;

Analyzes operating problems related to personnel issues, assembles pertinent facts, develops alternative recommendations that aids in the final decision and presents these data in oral and/or written manner;

Works with Senior Staff in establishing and revising interdepartmental policies, practices and procedures related to personnel work;

Facilitates the planning and implementation of new initiatives and systems;

Assigns and reviews the work of subordinates for accuracy, effectiveness and correctness; Works cooperatively with the County Personnel Office interpreting and applying personnel and New York State Civil Service Rules; Canvasses Civil Service eligible lists;

Acts as information clerk where a general knowledge of personnel and benefit questions are needed;

Publicizes all Civil Service announcements and postings;

Processes Health Benefits transactions including COBRA;

Processes Worker's Compensation claims;

Processes unemployment benefits claims;

Works cooperatively with other department personnel and other County Departments (including, but not limited to Labor Relations, Department of Law and Personnel Department) interpreting and applying rules and polices relating to the Health Benefits Worker’s Compensation Benefits, Unemployment Benefits, Safety and other Human Resources Programs;

Prepares Federal and State mandated reports related to personnel matters at schedules periods throughout the year;

Operates an alpha-numeric keyboard and microcomputer to transcribe data directly to the computer and retrieve relevant
data as required;

Prepares relevant data for collective bargaining negotiations;

Attends collective bargaining negotiations as required;

Attends meetings on personnel and payroll topics as required;

Interprets Union contract provisions related to personnel matters and prepares reports as required;

Interviews applicants for various positions;

Prepares and submits various departmental reports including vacancy reports on a regular basis in a timely matter;

Carries out special assignments.

Qualifications:

QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE FOR TAKING THE TEST FOR ERIE COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE: 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 the position of Job Grade 6 or 7 plus the following:

A) Completion of 60 semester credit hours at a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with coursework in Business, Human Resources, or a related field; four (4) years of office experience including three (3) years in personnel clerical work; or

B) Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and six (6) years of office experience, including five (5) years in personnel clerical work; or

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

************Amended 8.19.2021********************

QUALIFYING EXPERIENCE FOR TAKING THE TEST FOR ERIE ONE BOCES: 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 the position of Personnel Clerk ***or a lower-level clerical position.***

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.

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 'General Guide to Written Tests' helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at:https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm.

Subjects of Examination:

Scopes / Subjects of examination: A test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas.

Customer service
These questions test for knowledge of techniques used to interact with other people, to gather and present information, and to provide assistance, advice and effective customer service in a courteous and professional manner. Questions will cover such topics as understanding and responding to people with diverse needs, perspectives, personalities, and levels of familiarity with agency operations, as well as acting in a way that both serves the public and reflects well on your agency.

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.

Understanding and interpreting written material
These questions test for the ability to understand and interpret written material. You will be presented with brief reading passages and will be asked questions about the passages. You should base your answers to the questions only on what is presented in the passages and not on what you may happen to know about the topic.

Personnel principles and practices
These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices used in performing procedures and in addressing issues that are part of the personnel function in a governmental agency, and in responding to general questions about the personnel function.

Supervision
These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices employed in planning, organizing, and controlling the activities of a work unit toward predetermined objectives. The concepts covered, usually in a situational question format, include such topics as assigning and reviewing work; evaluating performance; maintaining work standards; motivating and developing subordinates; implementing procedural change; increasing efficiency; and dealing with problems of absenteeism, morale, and discipline.

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 PROMOTIONAL 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 $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.