Address
Form of workErie County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and committed to workplace diversity.
CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY OR AN ERIE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT* FOR AT LEAST ONE MONTH IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE WRITTEN TEST AND MUST BE LEGAL RESIDENTS OF ERIE COUNTY OR AN ERIE COUNTY SCHOOL DISTRICT* AT THE TIME OF APPOINTMENT. Preference may be given to successful candidates who have been residents of the municipality in which the appointment is to be made for one month preceding the date of the certification of the eligible list and who are residents of the municipality at the time of appointment. Non-residents may be required to become a resident of the appointing municipality if local law so states. * Candidates who reside in a school district which, for civil service purposes is administered by the Erie County Personnel Commissioner, but who are not legal residents of Erie County may apply for examination. However they will be certified for appointment only in the school district in which they are legal residents.
The eligible list resulting from this examination will be used to fill present and future vacancies in Erie County Departments, Towns, Villages, School Districts and Special Districts. In each case, certification may be limited to legal residents of the jurisdiction in which the vacancy exists. The salary range for Erie County Departments is $45,269 - $54,687. *Salaries vary among the other jurisdictions.
A promotion examination will be held at the same time as this examination. The list resulting from the promotion examination will be used first but appointments from this open competitive examination are anticipated. Use of the list may be suspended after it is one year old for any position which it is practical to fill through a new promotion examination.
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.
A Principal Clerk Typistsupervises and participates in specialized clerical work in a County department;
Supervises, instructs and coordinates the work of employees performing typing, filing, or related office clerical work;
Maintains specialized records and prepares reports relating to the activities of the department;
Prepares payrolls and maintains time/attendance and employee personnel folders and ensures confidentiality of such information;
Prepares and types statistical reports and related documents and checks for accuracy;
Assists in preparing budgets and personnel request documents;
Maintains and types simple financial records and accounts relating to departmental budgets and/or expenditures for supplies and equipment;
Requisitions and inventories office supplies and equipment;
Maintains control of purchase orders;
Lays out, oversees and checks for accuracy, the work of subordinate clerical employees;
Develops, tests and assists in the installation of new work methods and procedures;
Utilizes enhanced computer systems and equipment in the completion of assigned clerical tasks.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must meet one of the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:
Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma, including or supplemented by a course in typing* and three years of office clerical experience**.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENT:
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.
Notes:
1. *Information regarding completion of a typing course should be entered in section #10 of the application. Candidates must indicate the typing course completed and the school/institution attended. It is not necessary to provide transcripts or official documentation at the time of application, but verification may be required at a later date. Failure to provide the above information will result in disqualification.
2. Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting full-time experience requirements.
3. **Additional office clerical experience, beyond the three year requirement, may be substituted for high school graduation on a year for year basis; and completion of a post-high school secretarial course, of at least one year duration, may be substituted for one year of the required office clerical experience.
A medical examination may be required before appointment.
VETERANS: PROOF OF SERVICE MUST BE SUBMITTED BEFORE LIST IS ESTABLISHED TO RECEIVE ADDITIONAL POINTS. (See application for more information.)
NOTICES TO APPEAR FOR THE EXAMINATION ARE MAILED APPROXIMATELY ONE WEEK PRIOR TO THE EXAMINATION DATE
NO CELL PHONES ARE PERMITTED AT THE EXAM SITE.
Applications Must Be Postmarked or Hand Delivered By: March 27, 2024
Test guide: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 online at: https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm.
Scopes / Subjects of examination: A test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas:
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.
These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices of planning, organizing and controlling the activities of an office and directing those performing office activities so as to achieve predetermined objectives such as accomplishing office work within reasonable limits of time, effort and cost expenditure. Typical activities may include but will not be restricted to: simplifying and improving procedures, increasing office efficiency, improving the office work environment and controlling office supplies.
These questions test your ability to work with office records. 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 numerical data from several sources; maintaining a record system using running balances; or completion of a table summarizing data using totals, subtotals, averages and percents. You should bring with you a hand-held battery- or solar-powered calculator for use on this test. You will not be permitted to use the calculator function of your cell phone.
NOTICE TO CANDIDATES WHO ARE ALSO TAKING ANOTHER CIVIL SERVICE EXAM(S) ON THIS DATE (See Below)
(IF YOU ARE TAKING 2 OR MORE ERIE COUNTY EXAMS ON THIS DATE IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO CALL)
INFORMATION FOR CANDIDATES
HOW TO APPLY: Either online by clicking "Apply" on the top right of the online exam announcement or by printing a paper application from erie.gov, Erie County Application for Examination or Appointment (Download PDF reader), or if you do not have internet access you may pick up an application form at the Erie County Personnel Department, 95 Franklin Street, Room 604, Buffalo, New York 14202. Forms are also available at Buffalo and Erie County Public Libraries and at Town, Village and School District administrative offices.
Completed forms should then be returned to the Erie County Personnel Department. In addition, candidates must request their colleges to send transcripts to the Erie County Personnel Department or attach transcripts to your application. No applications will be evaluated until all the above information, including transcripts, is received.MILITARY STATUS: Active duty military personnel may file an application for this exam. A special military make-up examination will be conducted for any member of the armed forces of the United States who has duly filed a timely application but who was deprived of the opportunity to compete in the scheduled exam due to active military duty. Special conditions apply to these requests and may be reviewed at the Erie County Department of Personnel.
VETERANS: Disabled and non-disabled veterans as defined in Section 85, New York State Civil Service Law, will have 10 and 5 points, respectively added to their earned scores if successful in the OPEN 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.
In conformance with section 85-a of the Civil Service Law, CHILDREN OF FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY 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 a firefighter or police officer killed in the line of duty 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.
SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS: Applicants whose religious beliefs prevent their taking examinations before sundown on Saturday and physically handicapped candidates who require special examination facilities should so inform the Erie County Department of Personnel, by a separately mailed letter at the earliest possible date before the test.
MORE THAN ONE EXAM ON THE SAME DAY: If you have applied for more than one exam on the same day you MUST make arrangements to take ALL of the examinations at ONE examination test site. If you have applied for both STATE and LOCAL government examinations taking place on the same day, you must take all of your examinations at the STATE examination center. If you have applied for both COUNTY and CITY government examinations taking place on the same day, you must take all of your examinations at the COUNTY examination center. You are responsible to notify EACH Civil Service Agency no later than TWO WEEKS before the examination date on which you are taking multiple examinations by submitting a Cross-Filer form; EACH Civil Service Agency has their own Cross-Filer form. The Erie County Cross-Filer form can be found at https://www3.erie.gov/employment/applications. If you are taking multiple exams on the same date with Erie County only, you do not have to file a Cross-Filer form.
Candidates taking more than one exam in DIFFERENT exam series will be allowed the specified length of time for each exam, up to a maximum of eight hours. Example: If you are taking one exam which allows six hours and another exam in a different series which allows four hours, you must complete both tests in eight hours, but no more time can be spent on each exam than the time allotted for that exam. Candidates taking more than one exam in the SAME exam series will be allowed up to the specified length of time for each exam. Example: If you are taking two exams in the same series with a maximum time of five hours for each exam, you can spend no more than five hours to complete both exams.
ADMISSION TO EXAMINATION: Notice to appear for the test will be conditional as review of application for minimum requirements may not be made until after the written test. Call or write this Department if you have not received your notice 3 days before the date of the test. You may not be admitted to the examination room without official notice.
RATINGS REQUIRED: Tests are rated on a scale of 100 with a passing mark at 70. Unless the announcement states otherwise, you must pass the written test and the oral test, if any. Test instructions may further divide the tests into parts and set minimum standards for each part.
TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE: If a subject of the e...
