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

Residence Requirements:

THERE ARE NO RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION IN THIS EXAMINATION. Preference in certification may be given to candidates who have been a resident of the jurisdiction in which the appointment is to be made for one month preceding the date of the eligible list certification and who are residents of the jurisdiction at the time of appointment. Non-residents may be required to become a resident of the appointing municipality if local law so states. At present there is one vacancy at Erie 1 BOCES with a starting salary of $35.50 per hour. *Salaries at other municipalities or agencies may vary.

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.

Examples of Duties:

A Senior Microcomputer Decision Support Specialist performs complex specialized work in the design development and implementation of custom software solutions in a suburban school district; 

Analyzes requests for custom software solutions and defines requirements; Provides high level application support and training to school district personnel;

Coordinates support issues between districts and vendors;

Directs staff in the development of custom web pages, reports and other support issues; Supervises staff in the development and maintenance of documentation of custom solutions, software upgrades, and server maintenance issues;

Studies and evaluates new software releases and makes recommendations to districts concerning upgrades and updates;

Tests and documents new software features and trains team members in their use;

Assists superior in implementation tracking and assignment of tasks to subordinates;

Reviews data conversion requirements and works with programmers to develop and optimize conversion procedures.

Qualifications:

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

A) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered four (4) year college or university with a Bachelor’s degree and three (3) years of data processing experience in vendor supplied operating systems software programming and/or maintenance; or:

B) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered two (2) or four (4) year college or university with an Associate’s degree in Data Processing, Computer Science, Business Administration, or related field, and five (5) years of data processing experience in vendor supplied operating systems software programming and/or maintenance; or:

C) Graduation from high school or possession of a highs school equivalency diploma and seven (7) years of data processing experience, at least three (3) years of which involved computer programming with at least two (2) years in vendor supplied operating systems software programming and/or maintenance;

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

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.

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.

Data processing concepts and terminology
These questions are designed to test for knowledge of computer characteristics and operations that is relevant for computer programming and analysis. They may cover, but not necessarily be confined to, basic terminology of data processing, data entry, data access, and data communications; basic characteristics of storage media and data bases; types of data processing (e.g., time-sharing), the functions of operating systems, and hierarchies of computer memory.

Principles of providing user support
These questions test for knowledge and skill in working in a user support situation. They cover such subjects as how to communicate effectively with users requesting help; how to deal with different types of situations; troubleshooting techniques; and how to gather, organize and make available technical information needed to provide support.

Training users of computers
These questions test for knowledge of techniques for using computers and approaches to training others to use them. They cover such subjects as use of computer hardware, software and
applications; preparing and evaluating instruction materials; determining the level of trainees' knowledge and the use of computers to provide instruction and feedback. The questions on training depend upon good judgment and practical experience rather than knowledge of abstract principles

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.