Preparing for a Civil Service Test is not unlike any other test preparation. You review available material; perhaps you have specific experience and training that can be leveraged; or maybe attend a study group or study with friends who are taking the same test. NYS Department of Civil Service has some tips on general preparation for Civil Service Exams
However, because of the specific nature of the job, you may not find the appropriate or relevant study material in your local library or in your area bookstore – if you’re lucky enough to still have a retail bookstore in your neighborhood.
It’s also extremely important to find out what the test is about as well as the format of the test. In many cases the test is a multiple-choice exam. But, I’ve taken several tests over the years and they’ve been in different formats: exams that evaluated my education and experience only, multiple choice, essay (yes-essay), practical exams that tested my technical ability, and oral exams where I had to explain details on system operations and disaster recovery scenarios.
Here are a couple of examples:
For the test of Administrative Engineer, it’s an Education & Experience test. Based on the requirement that the incumbent is a required to be a registered NYS Professional Engineer:
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HOW TO QUALIFY: You may be given the test before we verify your qualifications. You are responsible for determining whether or not you meet the qualification requirements for this examination prior to submitting your application. If you are marked “Not Qualified,” your application fee will not be refunded and you will not receive a score.
License and Experience Requirements: By the last day of the Application Period you must have: A valid New York State License as a Professional Engineer; and Six (6) years of full-time satisfactory experience in civil engineering work, mechanical engineering work, electrical engineering work, chemical engineering work, environmental engineering work, or plan examining work, at least two (2) years of which must have been in an executive, managerial, or administrative capacity. This Professional Engineer license must be maintained for the duration of your employment. A current registration as a Professional Engineer must be maintained as a condition of employment. (emphasis added…)
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Being the Professional Engineering exam is a very rigorous exam, it would seem reasonable that no city-generated test would be needed to validate the skills of the Registered Professional Engineer .
But for Stockworker, there is no federal, state, or city registered professional status, so an exam must be prepared and administered by the city:
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The test may include questions requiring the use of any of the following abilities:
Written Comprehension: The ability to understand written sentences and paragraphs. Example: A Stock Worker may use this ability when reading a receiving report.
Written Expression: The ability to use English words or sentences in writing so that others will understand.
Example: A Stock Worker may use this ability when completing a daily log sheet.
Number Facility: The degree to which adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing can be done quickly and correctly. This can be steps in other operations like finding percentages. Example: A Stock Worker may use this ability when calculating the measurement of materials to be placed on a pallet.
Information Ordering: The ability to follow correctly a rule or set of rules or actions in a certain order. The rule or set of rules used must be given. The things or actions to be put in order can include numbers, letters,words, pictures, procedures, sentences and mathematical or logical operations. Example: A Stock Worker may use this ability when receiving stock orders (i.e., checking goods against purchasing documents before updating inventory records).
Spatial Orientation: The ability to tell where you are in relation to the location of some object or to tell where the object is in relation to you. Example: A Stock Worker may use this ability when looking to pick items for an order from shelves and other areas in the warehouse.
Matching: The degree to which one can compare letters, numbers, objects, pictures or patterns accurately. It includes the ability to detect errors, make the appropriate corrections, and recognize similarities in stock materials. Example: A Stock Worker may use this ability when comparing information from a bar code to an item number.
Certain questions may need to be answered on the basis of documents or other information supplied to candidates on the date of the multiple-choice exam.
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There are several companies that do provide study guides for Civil Service Exams; here are some guides for certain titles. There’s even a bookstore in NYC where you can shop for a study guide. Sometimes the union representing a particular title will provide study material or host training sessions for members
One company is providing on-line interactive and/or video practice testing. I’ve contacted TestPrep-Online and their interactive training material seems pretty good. I’ve looked around and haven’t found too many others. Some focus on uniformed exams (police and firefighter), and others seem to have strange links and performance issues…
I’ve been told that the actual test questions on the city exams are copyrighted, so the study guides might not review the exact questions that were presented on exams, but they would probably be close.
Here’s an excerpt from NYS:
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DCAS’ Computer-based Testing & Applications Centers.
The centers will be open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM:
Manhattan Brooklyn
2 Lafayette Street 210 Joralemon Street
17th Floor 4th Floor
New York, NY 10007 Brooklyn, NY 11201
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Many of my co-workers and city-employed acquaintances have taken multiple-choice DCAS exams at one of their locations via computer and had mixed commentary. One reported that you couldn’t easily go back and forth between questions. For example, if you answered question 19 and went to question 20, you couldn’t go back later to change question 19 if you wanted to. I’m not sure if it was the way the test was designed or if he was not familiar with the computer operation. Another person who took a different test found that they could go back and forth between questions. One good thing was that you got your results immediately and didn’t have to wait for it to arrive in snail mail.
Once you have material to work from, nothing else to be said except putting your nose to the grindstone and study up… Attend classes if you can, find out details on previous exams from people working in the specific job if possible, or just gather as much information as you can and burn the midnight oil like I did. My good friend tells complainers about how he studied in the basement by the oil burner after his kids and wife went to bed. There’s no easier explanation – but the reward of earning your spot on the list and, hopefully, a permanent job is worth it.
Questions and Comments welcomed below.
Cat Image Courtesy of Gratisography.com. Buy the man a coffee!
