Employment & Training Assistant

An employee in this position is responsible for performing a variety of administrative support tasks such as information gathering, conducting initial interviews with, and verifying eligibility of, participants, and under supervision, counseling, job development, and monitoring of sub-grantees. The work differs from clerical work in that the incumbent is required to apply acquired knowledge of Employment and Training regulations and principles to individual situations and has an independence of judgment not permitted in clerical disciplines. The position is under the direct supervision of a higher-level employment position. Supervision may be exercised over clerical personnel; does related work as required.

Either:
a) Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered two year college with an Associate’s Degree or higher; OR
b) Two (2) years experience in job development, personnel counseling, or placement in an Employment and Training, community action, or similar agency dealing with the employment and training of economically disadvantaged, minority, handicapped, or low income persons, OR
c) An equivalent combination of training and experience as defined by the limits of (a) and (b).
Notes:
1. Degree(s) must be awarded by a college or university accredited by a regional, national, or specialized agency recognized as an accrediting agency by the US Department of Education/US Secretary of Education. If the degree was awarded by an educational institution outside the United States and its territories, the candidate must provide independent verification of equivalency. A list of acceptable companies who provide this service can be found on the internet at http://www.cs.ny.gov/jobseeker/degrees.cfm . Candidates will be required to pay the evaluation fee.
2. Applicants may be approved conditionally to take civil service examinations if the minimum educational requirement is met within twelve
(12) months from the examination date.
3. As proof of satisfactory completion of the minimum educational requirement, conditionally approved candidates are responsible for submitting appropriate documentation within twelve (12) months of taking the exam.
4. Names of conditionally approved candidates will be restricted on the eligible list and will not be certified for appointment(s) until appropriate documentation is received.
5. Verifiable part-time experience will be pro-rated toward meeting full-time experience requirements. The use of Calculators is ALLOWED for this examination.

A written test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and/or abilities in the following areas:
1. ADVISING AND INTERACTING WITH OTHERS - These questions test for the ability to interact with other people in order to gather and present information and to provide assistance and advice in a courteous and professional manner.
2. 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.
3. PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES OF EMPLOYMENT COUNSELING - These questions test for knowledge and understanding of the principles, practices, and techniques of employment counseling. Questions may include such topics as counseling individuals and/or groups on employment-related issues; providing support, advocacy, and accountability; and developing job opportunities throughout the community.
4. INTERVIEWING - These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices employed in obtaining information from individuals through structured conversations. These questions require you to apply the principles, practices, and techniques of effective interviewing to hypothetical interviewing situations. Included are questions that present a problem arising from an interviewing situation, and you must choose the most appropriate course of action to take. 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 on line at: https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm.

There are no residency requirements for this examination. However, preference in appointment may be given to successful candidates who have been residents of Otsego County for at least one month immediately preceding the scheduled date of the written examination.

The eligible list resulting from this examination will be used to fill vacancies as they occur in the Otsego County Department of Social Services under the jurisdiction of the Otsego County Personnel/Civil Service Department.