TITLE:   ACCOUNT CLERK/TYPIST

EXAM NUMBER:   #20140

SALARY:   THE RATE OF PAY VARIES BY LOCATION WITHIN OUR JURISDICTION.

APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED CONTINUOUSLY

EXAMINATIONS ARE SCHEDULED AND HELD PERIODICALLY

THE ISSUE DATE OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS:   JANUARY 2008

DO NOT REMOVE THIS CONTINUOUS RECRUITMENT EXAMINATION ANNOUNCEMENT.

THE USE OF A QUIET HAND HELD CALCULATOR IS PROHIBITED.

LOCATION OF POSITIONS/VACANCIES:
The eligible list resulting from this continuous recruitment examination may be used to fill all full-time and part-time vacancies (and may be used to fill temporary vacancies) in the titles of Account Clerk, and Account Clerk Typist that occur in any of the various County departments, TC-3, the Tompkins County Public Library, and the Towns, Villages, School Districts, and Special Districts within Tompkins County's jurisdiction.

RESIDENCY:
Candidates must have been legal residents of Tompkins County or one of the six contiguous counties for at least one month immediately preceding the date of application and must maintain residency throughout the life of the eligible list.  The eligible list will be established in accordance with the final earned numerical ratings of passing candidates regardless of residence.  A municipality or district may exercise its right under section 23-4-a. of Civil Service Law to request a certification of eligible candidates who have been residents of that municipality or district for at least one month prior to appointment.  After the names of residents have been exhausted, Tompkins County must then certify the names of nonresidents on the list.

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS:
This work is primarily of a routine nature and involves the application of standardized account-keeping practices in maintaining and checking financial accounts and records.  Account Clerks usually work under general supervision on standard assignments in accordance with defined procedures.  Account Clerk Typist positions differ from that of Account Clerk in that the work involves the use of a typewriter and/or word processor a substantial portion of the time in performing these duties.  Supervisors are available for consultation and unusual problems and to give detailed instructions on all new or difficult assignments.  The work is reviewed by immediate observation, by checking completed work, by periodic or spot-checks, by cross checking or by another step in the account-keeping process.  The incumbent will perform all related duties as required.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  EITHER:
(a)      Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma AND one year of full-time       paid (or the equivalent part-time and/or volunteer) clerical experience; OR

(b)      Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma, including or supplemented    by coursework in accounting or bookkeeping; OR

(c)      Two years of clerical experience that must have included at least six months of experience in financial record       keeping; OR

(d)      Any equivalent combination of training and experience as defined within the limits of (a), (b), and (c) above.

NOTE:   The ability to type at an acceptable rate of speed is essential to qualify as an Account Clerk Typist.

COMPLETE SCOPE OF THE EXAMINATION AND EXPANDED SUBTEST DESCRIPTIONS:

CLERICAL OPERATIONS WITH LETTERS AND NUMBERS:
These questions test your skills and abilities in clerical operations involving alphabetizing, comparing, checking and counting.  The questions require you to follow the specific directions given for each question which may involve alphabetizing, comparing, checking and counting given groups of letters and/or numbers.

ARITHMETIC COMPUTATION WITHOUT CALCULATORS:
These questions test your ability to do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Questions may also involve fractions, decimals, averages, and percents.  You may NOT use a calculator or any other type of calculating device to answer these questions or any other questions in the written test.

ARITHMETIC REASONING:
These questions test your ability to solve an arithmetic problem presented in sentence or short paragraph form.  You must read the problem, understand the situation presented, decide what must be done to solve it, and apply the appropriate arithmetic operations(s) in the appropriate order in order to determine the correct solution.  Knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division is necessary.  Questions may also involve the use of percents, decimals and fractions.

THE EXAMINATION:
The examination will consist of a weighted written test for all candidates and a qualifying (pass/fail) typing performance test for those wishing to be considered for Account Clerk Typist. Only those candidates who pass the written portion of the examination will be permitted to take the performance tests.   This examination is announced, and will be rated, in accordance with Section 23-2 of the Civil Service Law.  The provisions of the New York State Civil Service Law, Rules, and Regulations dealing with rating of examinations will apply to this examination.  The Commissioner of Personnel reserves the right to suspend this periodic examination process at any time.

DATES AND TIMES OF THE EXAMINATION:
The written examination and performance tests will be held on a periodic basis.  All candidates will be notified of the time and place of the examination at least 7 days prior to the test date.  The performance test will be scheduled by appointment following the scoring of the written examination. 

WRITTEN EXAMINATION RE-TEST POLICY:
Candidates who fail the written examination, or wish to retake the written test to improve their score, may do so upon submission of a new application.  However, a six-month waiting period must elapse before re-testing is allowed.

PERFORMANCE TEST:
Candidates who receive a passing score on the written test must also qualify on the typing performance test.  You must pass both the written test and performance test to be considered for appointment. Because the performance test is qualifying (pass/fail), if you pass the performance test your final score for the exam will be the score that you achieve on the written test. Candidates may be invited to the performance test in the order of the scores they achieve on the written test. The County reserves the right to give the performance test to only as many candidates as are needed to fill available vacancies.

The performance test is a test of keying speed and accuracy. It utilizes a standard keyboard and is given on a computer. The computer program requires no prior knowledge of software. A written description of the simple software will be provided at the test site. The test is five minutes long and is preceded by a three-minute practice session. The text passage will be shown on the computer screen. You enter (“key” or “type”) as much of that passage as you can during the time available.

To pass the test you must enter the text at a rate of at least 35 words per minute with at least 96% accuracy.  For example, if you enter the text at 35 words per minute, the maximum allowable number of errors is eight. (Note: A word is defined as five characters. The rating formula divides the total number of characters entered by five to determine the number of words entered.

PERFORMANCE TEST RE-TEST POLICY:
After the initial two attempts, a third and final attempt may be allowed if it is determined by the Commissioner that it would be in the best interest of the service.  No candidate will ever be allowed to test twice using the same performance test materials.  Candidates who fail the performance tests must re-take the entire examination and may only do so upon submission of a new application.  However, a six month waiting period must elapse before re-testing is allowed.

PERFORMANCE TEST WAIVER POLICY: 

(a)   IF YOU ARE NOT CURRENTLY A CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEE, a qualifying typing and/or stenography performance test may be waived only if you have already passed a civil service performance test equal to (or greater than) 35 words per minute for typing and/or 80 words per minute for stenography. Candidates must have passed the performance test within ONE YEAR of Tompkins County's written examination. The performance test must have been administered by: Tompkins County Personnel, the New York State Division of Employment, the New York State Department of Civil Service or any local municipal civil service agency within the State of New York. Candidates requesting a waiver must provide verification of their eligibility. The supporting documentation must contain the candidate's name, social security number, date of test, form used, rate of speed, and error rate.

(b) IF YOU ARE CURRENTLY EMPLOYED BY TOMPKINS COUNTY, ANY AGENCY UNDER OUR JURISDICTION OR ANY OTHER CIVIL SERVICE AGENCY WITHIN THE STATE OF NEW YORK, and you currently hold permanent or contingent permanent competitive class status in a title which required a performance test equal to (or greater than) 35 words per minute for typing and/or 80 words per minute for stenography, the appropriate performance test(s) may be waived. Any candidate who is not employed by Tompkins County, or one of the agencies under our jurisdiction, must present a copy of their civil service roster card to verify permanent or contingent permanent competitive class status in a title that required performance testing. Tompkins County subscribes to the theory that candidates maintain their typing and/or stenography skills by using them on a daily basis and feel that this negates the need for continued testing.

THE ELIGIBLE LIST:
A single eligible list will be established as a result of this examination.  Candidates who are successful on the written examination only will be considered for Account Clerk positions.  Candidates who are successful on both the written examination and typing performance test will be eligible for both Account Clerk and Account Clerk Typist positions.  Candidate names are inter-filed on the continuous recruitment eligible list for one year.  Eligible candidates will be ranked according to their written test score relative to the other candidates on the list first and (in the case of tie scores) by date of test and alphabetical order.  To eliminate the continual canvassing of the list, you will have the opportunity to choose employment locations and terms of employment by completing a "Pre-Canvass" form at the examination site.  You will be considered only for the locations and terms chosen on that form.  You are in no way locked into those locations and terms.  They can be changed at any time during your life on the list simply by notifying the Personnel Department in writing.