GENESEE COUNTY HUMAN RESOURCES

COUNTY BUILDING I, BATAVIA, NEW YORK

 ANNOUNCES

 AN OPEN COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR:

SENIOR INTAKE CLERK, O.C., #67-386

SALARY:  $15.20 – 17.59 per hour (2015) Genesee County                                                                                                                  

VACANCY:  The Genesee County Department of Social Services currently has one (1) vacant position.  This examination is also being held to establish an eligible list to fill future vacancies, which may occur during the life of the eligible list.

An eligible may receive only one permanent appointment from this list. Once appointed, there will be a Probationary Period of 8-52 weeks based on performance of duties. During this probationary period the Department Head has the ability to terminate employment, without cause.

CANDIDATES MUST HAVE BEEN LEGAL RESIDENTS OF GENESEE COUNTY FOR AT LEAST TWO (2) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE OF THE WRITTEN EXAMINATION, AND MUST HAVE CONTINUED THEIR RESIDENCY THROUGH THE PERIOD LEADING TO THEIR INITIAL APPOINTMENT. ELIGIBLE RESIENTS OF A CIVIL DIVISION MAY BE GIVEN PREFERENCE IN APPOINTMENT TO VACANCIES IN THEIR AREA OF RESIDENCY.

                    LAST FILING DATE----------MARCH 25, 2015

                                       EXAMINATION DATE----------MAY, 2, 2015

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

Graduation from high school or possession of an appropriate equivalency diploma recognized by the NYS Department of Education, AND:

A.        Possession of an Associate’s Degree in Business Administration,
           Office Technology or a related field, and two (2) years of full
           time, paid clerical experience which included dealing with the
           public on a daily basis, use of phones and typing, [IF CLAIMED
           PLEASE ATTACH A COPY OF YOUR OFFICIAL TRANSCRIP
           (S) AND INDICATE ALL RELEVANT EXPERIENCE ON YOUR
           APPLICATION];

OR:    

B.          Four (4) years of full-time, paid clerical experience which included
             dealing with the public on a daily basis, use of phones and typing,[IF
             CLAIMED, PLEASE INDICATE ALL RELEVANT EXPERIENCE ON
             YOUR APPLICATION];

 OR:

C.         Any equivalent combination of training and/or experience indicating the
            ability to perform the duties of the job, [IF CLAIMED, PLEASE INDICATE
            ALL RELEVANT TRAINING AND EXPERIENCE ON YOUR
            APPLICATION].

A copy of an official transcript is acceptable for the purpose of taking this examination, however, at such time a candidate is offered an appointment, an official sealed transcript with a raised college seal must be on file with Human Resources prior to the appointment.

NOTE: You may file for this examination if you expect to complete the educational requirement June 30, 2015.  If successful on the examination, however, you will not be certified for appointment until you have submitted proof of completion of the educational requirements to the Genesee County Human Resources.

NOTE:  PHOTO ID WILL BE REQUIRED ON THE DAY OF THE EXAMINATION.

CANDIDATES, PLEASE NOTE: It is vital that you submit, with your application, all information necessary to show your qualification for examination.  APPLICATIONS WHICH DO NOT SHOW TRAINING AND/OR EXPERIENCE TO MEET MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS WILL BE DISAPPROVED, AND WE WILL NOT REFER TO OTHER APPLICATIONS ON FILE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

NOTE – FILING FEES: (The acceptance of your application is dependent upon your following these instructions accurately):

A fee of $20.00 is required for each separately-numbered examination for which you apply.  The required fee must accompany your application.  The fee may be submitted in the form of either CASH (if delivered in person), PERSONAL CHECK or MONEY ORDER, (if by mail).  Personal Checks and Money Orders must be payable to the GENESEE COUNTY TREASURER.  Please write the examination number(s) on your personal check or money order.  YOUR APPLICATION FEE WILL NOT BE REFUNDED if you do not meet the requirements for admission to the examination. Compare your qualifications carefully to the requirements stated on the announcement and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified. A waiver of application fee will be allowed if you are receiving unemployment and are primarily responsible for the support of a household.  In addition, a waiver of application fee will be allowed if you are determined eligible for Medicaid, or receiving   Supplemental Security Income payments, or Public Assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Family assistance or Safety Net Assistance), or are certified Job Training Partnership Act/Workforce Investment Act eligible through a State or local social service agency.  All claims for application fee waiver are subject to verification.  In order for us to verify your eligibility for an application fee waiver, you must complete a “Request for Fee Waiver” form and submit it with your application by the close of business on the Last Filing Date as indicated on the Examination Announcement. The “Request for Fee Waiver” form can be obtained at Genesee County Human Resources, 15 Main Street, Batavia, NY 14020 or from our website, www.co.genesee.ny.us.

TYPICAL WORK ACTIVITIES:

Oversees subordinates and resolves issues to ensure the unit is running smoothly and efficiently; Answers questions regarding specific law, office rules and regulations, procedures and policies of the agency;

Attends supervisory staff meetings and relays pertinent information to subordinates;

Trains staff and is available to troubleshoot problems as they arise;

Completes staff evaluations encouraging and reinforcing the expectations of the unit;

Conducts interviews involving the hiring of new staff within the unit;

Acts as a working supervisor, actively assisting with evaluating an applicant's need for emergency assistance,      reviewing application forms and providing various clerical duties of Intake Clerk and Clerk Typist titles, as      needed;

Maintain the working schedule for the unit, approving requested time off;

Oversee the maintenance of copier and printers.

SUBJECT OF EXAMINATION: The written, multiple-choice test will be designed to measure knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in such areas as:

1.         Office Management

2.         Office Record Keeping

3.         Preparing Written Material

4.         Public Contact Principles and Practices

5.         Supervision

6.         Understanding and Interpreting Written Material

CANDIDATES ARE PERMITTED TO USE QUIET, HAND-HELD, SOLAR OR BATTERY POWERED CALCULATORS.  DEVICES WITH TYPEWRITER KEYBOARDS SUCH AS COMPUTERS, SPELL-CHECKERS, PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANTS, ADDRESS BOOKS, LANGUAGE TRANSLATORS, DICTIONARIES AND ANY SIMILAR DEVICES ARE PROHIBITED.

EXPANDED SUB-TEST DESCRIPTION:

Office Management - 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.

Office Record Keeping - These questions test 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. 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.

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.

Public Contact Principles and Practices - These questions test for the ability 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.

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.

Understanding and Interpreting Written Material - These questions test how well you comprehend written material. You will be provided with brief reading selections and will be asked questions about the selections. All the information required to answer the questions will be presented in the selections; you will not be required to have any special knowledge relating to the subject areas of the selections. 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 "How to take a written test" helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at: www.cs.ny.gov/testing/localtestguides.cfm