Posted Date
7/05/2023
Description
EXAM DATE: Examinations will be held as necessary.
We reserve the right to impose deadlines for each examination. Applications received after that deadline will be considered for the next exam for this title.
APPLICATION DEADLINE: Applications for this exam will be accepted on a continuous basis.
Salary Range : $35,937 - $44,926 – City of Rochester
$30,012 - $42,000 – Rochester Housing Authority
The eligible list resulting from this exam will be used to fill vacancies at the City of Rochester or at the Rochester Housing Authority.
There is no residency requirement for participation in examinations. Residency in the City of Rochester at time of appointment, or within one year from appointment, is a requirement for all new hires to the City of Rochester, per the Residency Requirement Administrative Policy, except for positions specifically exempt under State law or cooperatively governed with Monroe County. Continuous residency is required throughout employment. This is a clerical position which involves the performance of a wide variety of activities within well-defined procedures. Individuals assigned to this class are given detailed oral and/or written instructions for new or more complex assignments. Some of the work will be performed in Spanish. The duties are carried out under direct supervision, which is usually received in the form of review of completed assignments, another step in the clerical process and/or supervisory observation. Employees of this class may be required to exercise some independent judgment in performing assigned duties. Supervision is not a responsibility of this position, but Rochester Housing Authority employees may be expected to lead subordinate clerical employees in the performance of their duties. Performs related work as required.Checks items being filed for completeness;
Checks items, data or names in files for accuracy;
Prepares and types correspondence on matters where policies and procedures are well defined;
Creates and modifies documents using word processing software and personal computer;
Enters data and runs reports, using database management software and personal computer;
Greets individual visitors and refers them to the proper persons;
Places calls and provides information over the phone in English and Spanish;
Transfers information from one file or other record to another by hand;
Files, shelves or stores items (such as folders, books or other items) in accordance with file codes or classification symbols;
Performs Spanish-English and English-Spanish translations. High School diploma or Equivalent PLUS
I. Associates degree in business management, secretarial science, office technology or closely related field;
OR
II. Two (2) years of full-time experience (or its part time equivalent) performing general clerical activities which included entering data into a personal computer. The examination will be administered in two separate parts: a written test and a Spanish language oral proficiency test. The oral proficiency test will be given at a later date to those candidates who have passed the written portion. The score on the written test will determine the final ranking score. Candidates must successfully complete the written test and the Spanish Language Oral Proficiency test and achieve an overall minimum score of 70% in order to be placed on the eligible list.
Part 1 - The written test is designed to evaluate knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in the following areas
1. Spelling -These questions test for the ability to spell words that are used in written business communications.
2. 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 knowledge of the correct placement of punctuation marks in sentences.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
Use of calculators is ALLOWED for this exam. 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.
The New York State Department of Civil Service has published a test guide intended for candidate preparation use for this examination. This test guide contains important test-related information as well as sample test questions similar to the questions used in the written test. The New York State Department of Civil Service is making a copy of this test guide and other related information available on its website at: http://www.cs.state.ny.us/testing/localtestguides.cfm . Scroll down and click on: Senior Stenographer/Senior Typist Series (this is the test guide that is used for the Clerk III/Typing/Bilingual written exam). In addition, a copy of this test guide can be obtained at the Department of Human Resource Management office at City Hall, 30 Church Street, Room 103-A, Rochester, NY. Or you can call this office at (585) 428-7115 for more information on how to obtain a copy of this guide.
Part 2 - The Spanish Language Oral Proficiency Test is designed to evaluate the candidate's oral proficiency in the Spanish language at the level appropriate for the title being tested. The language oral proficiency test will be rated on a pass/fail basis. A level 1 proficiency in the Spanish language is required to pass the qualifying oral proficiency test for this title. This is equivalent to having a limited oral language proficiency with unsophisticated but understandable simple conversation.
SPANISH LANGUAGE ORAL PROFICIENCY TEST WAIVER: The City of Rochester will waive further bilingual component testing for candidates who have successfully completed a required language oral proficiency level with the City of Rochester or other Civil Service agency within New York State. Candidates must request a waiver of the Spanish Language Oral Proficiency Test at a level determined by New York State Department of Civil Service. Candidates must submit a request for waiver with their application by the final filing date for the examination as stated on the Exam Announcement. The request for waiver must include the date, title, Civil Service agency, and the level for which the Spanish Language Oral Proficiency Test was administered. The Department of Human Resource Management/Examination Administration unit will verify this information with the New York State Department of Civil Service or New York State Civil Service agency. Candidates will receive written notice regarding this verification. The Department of Human Resource Management/Examination Administration will also keep a record of each successful candidate's name, level of proficiency achieved date(s) of oral proficiency test(s). Candidates who successfully perform at the targeted level, will also be granted waiver status for lower proficiency levels, if any.
RATING: This examination will be rated in accordance with Section 23.2 of the Civil Service Law. The provision of the NYS Civil Service Rules and Regulations dealing with the rating of examinations will apply to this exam.
MULTIPLE EXAMINATIONS SCHEDULED FOR THE SAME DAY: If you have applied for more than one exam on the same day you must make arrangements to take all the examinations at one test site. If you have applied to take a written test announced by either one or several local jurisdictions (county, town, city) scheduled to be held on the same test date as this written test, you must notify each of the local jurisdictions no later than two (2) weeks before the test date, so they can make arrangements for taking all tests at one test site. All examinations for positions in State government will be held at a State examination center. To access the City of Rochester's Cross-Filer and other Employment Forms, please copy the following into your browser: http://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589935785, You will be advised by letter when and where to report for your examinations.
GENERAL INFORMATION:
Eligible Lists: Eligible lists contain the names of applicants who have received a passing score on the examination. Lists will be established in rank order, with the highest score being #1. In the case of tied scores, all persons at that score are considered equal. Candidates must be one of the top three candidates to be reachable for appointment. Promotional eligible lists are limited to present employees of the City and take precedence over open-competitive lists. All eligible lists are established for at least one year and may be extended for up to four years.
Preferred List Applicants: Any employee whose name appears on a preferred list, and who submits an application by the deadline, may participate in a promotion examination, if qualified at time of layoff.
Salary35,937.00 - 44,926.00 Annual