TOMPKINS COUNTY CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATION

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Tompkins County Personnel Office
125 E. Court Street
Ithaca, NY 14850
(607) 274-5526
Tompkins County is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Minorities and women are encouraged to apply.

TITLE: SENIOR TYPIST

EXAM NUMBER: #20180 OPEN COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION

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 2006

DO NOT REMOVE THIS CONTINUOUS RECRUITMENT EXAMINATION ANNOUNCEMENT.

THE USE OF A QUIET HAND HELD CALCULATOR WILL BE PERMITTED FOR THIS EXAM.

LOCATION OF POSITION/VACANCIES:
The eligible list resulting from this examination will be used to fill any appropriate full-time, part-time, and/or temporary vacancies in the title of Senior Typist which may occur during the life of the list in the various County Departments, TC3, the Tompkins County Public Library, and the Towns, Villages, School Districts and Special Districts under Tompkins County's jurisdiction.  There is a continuous recruitment promotional examination being held in conjunction with this open-competitive examination.  Preference in appointment may be given to eligible promotion candidates.

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE CLASS:
This is difficult clerical work involving responsibility for the performance of a number of varied and unrelated clerical tasks which require the exercise of independent judgment and a general understanding of specific law, office rules, procedures, and policies. The performance of these duties requires the full-time or substantial operation of a typewriter, word processor, or personal computer. Employees in this class doing rather varied work may receive detailed instructions at the beginning of each assignment, while those responsible for carrying out steps in a prescribed routine may receive only infrequent general instructions. In either case, unusual problems or situations, not previously encountered, are referred to supervisors or by another step in the clerical process. Immediate supervision may be exercised over the work of one of more clerical assistants. The incumbent will perform all related duties as required.

RESIDENCY:
Candidates must have been legal residents of Tompkins County, one of the six contiguous counties, or Broome County for at least one month immediately preceding the date of application and 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 non-residents on the list.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:
The ability to type at an acceptable rate of speed AND EITHER:

(a) Completion of a one-year Certificate program in Secretarial Science or a closely related field and one year full-time paid (or the equivalent part- time and/or volunteer) of clerical experience, which must have involved typing; OR

(b) Graduation from high school or possession of high school equivalency diploma and two years of full-time paid (or the equivalent part-time and/or volunteer) clerical experience, which must have involved typing; OR

(c) Six years of full-time paid (or the equivalent part-time and/or volunteer) clerical experience, two of which must have involved typing; OR

(d) Any equivalent combination of training and experience as described in (a), (b) and (c) above.

COMPLETE SCOPE OF THE EXAMINATION AND EXPANDED SUBTEST DESCRIPTIONS:

SPELLING:
These questions test for the ability to spell words that are used in written business communications.

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.

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.

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.

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.

THE EXAMINATION:
The examination will consist of a weighted written test for all candidates and qualifying (pass/fail) performance test for all candidates. 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 the 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 the performance tests will be held on a periodic basis. All candidates who file a new application (or update during the filing period) will be notified of the time and place of the examination at least 7 days prior to the test date. The performance tests 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.

THE PERFORMANCE TEST:
Candidates who receive a passing score on the written portion of this examination 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 too only as many candidates as are needed to fill available vacancies.

TYPING TEST:
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 is printed on the computer. 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 at the typing performance test, 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 material. Candidates who fail the performance tests may re-take the entire examination 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:
Candidates who are successful on the written examination AND the qualifying typing performance tests will be interfiled on the existing continuous recruitment eligible list for a period of one year. Eligibles will be ranked by their written test scores first, and in case of tie scores, by date and alphabetically. The eligible will be responsible for his or her choice of employment locations and terms of employment by completing a form at the examination site. The eligible will only be considered for the locations and terms chosen on that form. Locations and terms can be changed at any time during the life of the list simply by notifying Personnel in writing.

FURTHER INFORMATION AND INSTRUCTIONS

1. Falsification of any part of the "Application for Employment" will result in disqualification.
2. Accepted candidates will be notified when and where to appear for the examination. If you do not receive your notice to appear at least three days before the date of the written examination, call Tompkins County Personnel at 274-5526). If an application is disapproved, due notice will be sent. This department does not make formal acknowledgment of the receipt of an application or take responsibility for non-delivery or postal delay.
3. Applicants must answer every question on the application form and make sure that the application is complete in all respects. Incomplete applications will be disapproved.
4. ACTIVE MILITARY PERSONNEL, VETERANS OR DISABLED VETERANS desiring to claim additional credit will request theVeteransCredits application form, at any time between the date of application for examination(s)and the date of the establishment of the resulting eligible list. You must meet the requirements set by NYS for these credits and they may be used only once. YOU MAY NOT CLAIM ADDITIONAL CREDITS AFTER THE ELIGIBLE LIST HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED. IT IS THE CANDIDATE'S RESPONSIBILITY TO REQUEST THE VETERANS CREDIT APPLICATION FORMS AND TO SUBMIT THESE FORMS AND ANY SUPPORTING PAPERWORK BEFORE THE ELIGIBLE LIST IS ESTABLISHED.
5. Tompkins County's written examinations are prepared and rated by the New York State Department of Civil Service in accordance with Section 23-2 of Civil Service Law. The provisions of the New York State Civil Service Rules and Regulations, which deal with the rating and review of the examinations apply.
6. The duration of the eligible lists may be fixed for a minimum of one and a maximum of four years and may be extended beyond four years if there has been a restriction against the filling of vacancies in that title.
7. The candidates must complete a separate "Application for Employment" for each open-competitive and/or promotional examination that the candidate is eligible to take.
8. All experience required meeting the acceptable training and experience is full-time experience. (Part-time experience will be credited on a prorated basis).
9. Appointment from an eligible list must be made from the top three candidates willing to accept the appointment.
10. Tompkins County is an Equal Opportunity Employer. As part of its efforts to provide employment opportunities to the physically handicapped, Tompkins County Civil Service has adopted a rule permitting the employment of qualified physically handicapped persons without competitive examination (pursuant to Section 55 of Civil Service Law). If you meet the minimum qualifications for this position and wish to know more about this rule, please contact the Tompkins County Personnel Office.
11. Unless otherwise notified, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand-held, and 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.
12. APPLYING FOR CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS IN MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS WHEN EXAMINATIONS ARE SCHEDULED ON THE SAME DATE: If you have applied for any other civil service examinations for employment with New York State or any other local government jurisdiction, you must make arrangements to take all of the examinations at one test site. If you have applied for both State and Local government examinations, you must make arrangements to take all of your examinations at the State examination center by calling (518) 457-7022 no later than two weeks before the test date. If you have applied only for multiple local government examinations, you must write to each civil service agency to make arrangements. You must make your request for these arrangements no later than the final filing date of the examination. You must notify all local government civil service agencies with whom you have filed an application of where you wish to sit for your examination(s). For further information call (607) 274-5526.
13. FOR RELIGIOUS ACCOMMODATION AND HANDICAPPED PERSONS: If special arrangements for testing are required, please indicate this on your application.
14. ALL CANDIATES FOR EMPLOYMENT FOR POSITIONS IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS AND BOCES GOVERNED BY TOMPKINS COUNTY CIVIL SERVICE MAY HAVE THE FOLLOWING SPECIAL REQUIREMENT.
PER CHAPETER 180 OF THE LAWS OF 2000, AND BY REGULATIONS OF THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION, TO BE EMPLOYED IN A POSITION DESIGNATED BY A SCHOOL DISTRICT OR BOCES AS INVOLVING DIRECT CONTACT WITH STUDENTS, A CLEARANCE FOR EMPLOYMENT FROM THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT IS REQUIRED.
15. "In conformance with section 85-a of the Civil Service Law, children of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duties shall be entitled to receive an additional
ten points in a competitive examination for original appointment in the same municipality in which his or her parent has served. If you are qualified to participate in this examination and are a child of firefighter or police officer killed in the line of duties in this municipality, please inform this office of this matter when you submit your application for examination. A candidate claiming such credit has a minimum of two months from the application deadline to provide the necessary documentation to verify additional credit eligibility. "However, no credit may be added after the eligible list has been established."
16. BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: Applicants may be required to undergo a State and national criminal history background investigation, which will include a fingerprint check, to determine suitability for appointment. Failure to meet the standards for the background investigation may result in disqualification.

TOMPKINS COUNTY PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT
125 EAST COURT STREET
ITHACA, NY 14850