Administrative Assistant

Exam No. 64-990

EXAM FILING FEE: $15.00
LAST DAY FOR FILING: Applications must be received no later than close of business April 10, 2023.
VACANCY: This examination is being held to fill present and future vacancies in Lewis County Departments.
SALARY: $18.13 hr. – $21.25 hr.

DUTIES: Involves the responsibility for performing highly complex duties and administrative support tasks
to further the overall work in the department where assigned. Incumbents typically serve as a personal
assistant to the head of a department or major division relieving them of administrative and business detail and
resolving day-to-day operational problems.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must meet the following requirement on or before the last day
for filing: Either:
A) Graduation from a regionally accredited college or university or one accredited by the New York State Board
of Regents to grant degrees with an associate’s degree and one (1) year of clerical, administrative or office
experience which involved the operation of a computer for word-processing, database applications, and
maintaining electronic records and reports; or
B) Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and three (3) years of
experience as defined in (A); or
C) An equivalent combination of training and experience as defined by the limits of (A) and (B).
COPY OF COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS MUST ACCOMPANY COMPLETED APPLICATION

NOTE: Experience as a bank teller or store cashier shall not be considered clerical experience.

ADDITIONAL NOTE: Successful completion of coursework in business, offices studies, or closely related field
at a regionally accredited college or university, or one accredited by the New York State Board of Regents to
grant degrees, may be substituted for the required experience with three semester credit hours of related
coursework as indicated above being equivalent to three months of experience.

SUBJECT OF EXAMINATION: A test designed to evaluation knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in the following
areas:

1. Operations with Letters and Numbers: These questions test for skills and abilities in operations involving
   alphabetizing, comparing, checking and counting. The questions require you to follow the specific directions
   given for each question which may involve alphabetizing, comparing, checking and counting given groups of
   letters and/or numbers.
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. Understanding and interpreting written material: These questions test for the ability to understand and
   interpret written material. You will be presented with brief reading passages and will be asked questions
   about the passages. You should base your answers to the questions only on what is presented in the
   passages and not on what you may happen to know about the topic.
4. 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.
5. Working with office records: 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.

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.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

APPLICATIONS: Unless otherwise indicated on this announcement, the candidate will complete one
“Application for Examination or Employment” for each exam he/she wishes to take. No copies will be accepted.
Applicants must answer every question on the application form and make sure that the application is complete
in all respects. Incomplete applications will be disapproved. All statements made by candidates are subject
to verification. POST-MARKED APPLICATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

FILING FEE: The fee must accompany the application. Applicants whose forms are not accompanied by the
appropriate fee or whose personal checks are returned for insufficient funds will not be considered as
candidates. Payment must be in the form of check or money order made payable to the Lewis County
Treasurer. Refunds of fees will not be issued to applicants who are disqualified for failure to apply by the last
day for filing, not meeting the minimum qualifications, or a candidate’s failure to appear for testing on the
scheduled test date.

WORK EXPERIENCE: Unless otherwise noted, experience credited towards meeting the minimum
qualifications must be full-time paid work experience. Part-time paid work experience will be accepted based
on its full-time equivalent.

APPLICATION FEE WAIVER: A waiver of application fee will be allowed if you are unemployed and primarily
responsible for the support of a household. In addition, a waiver of application fee will be allowed if you are
determined eligible Medicaid, or receiving Supplemental Security Income payments, or Public Assistance
(Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Family Assistance, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 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.
If you can verify eligibility for application fee waiver, complete a “Request for Application Fee Waiver and
Certification” form and submit it with your application by the close of business on the application deadline as
listed on the examination announcement. Fee waiver forms are available at the Lewis County Civil Service
office or online at www.lewiscounty.org.

TIME AND PLACE OF EXAM: Accepted candidates will be notified when and where to appear for an exam. No
one will be admitted to an exam without the official admittance notice.

RESIDENCY: New York State Residence is not required for most positions. However, you must be eligible for
employment in the United States. An appointing authority may exercise its rights under Section 23-4a of Civil
Service Law to give preference to legal residents of their jurisdiction.

VETERAN CREDITS: If you are a War-Time Veteran, or if you are currently in the United States Armed Forces,
you may be eligible to have extra credits added to your passing exam score. However, it is your responsibility
to submit the appropriate Veterans’ Credit form(s) on or before the date of the examination. Forms are
available in the Civil Service office or online at: www.lewiscounty.org. In addition to the Veterans’ Credit Form,
you must include a copy of your discharge papers (DD-214). The time periods for which veterans’ credit is
permitted are listed on the Veterans’ Credit Application.

ADDITIONAL CREDIT ALLOWED CHILDREN OF FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN THE LINE
OF DUTY: 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 10 points in a competitive exam for
original appointment in the same municipality in which his or her parent has served. If you are qualified to
participate in this exam and are a child of a firefighter or a police officer killed in the line of duty killed in this
municipality, please inform this office of this matter when you submit your application for exam. 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.

ELIGIBLE LISTS: Eligible lists will be established in the order of final rating for successful candidates and will
be established for a minimum period of one (1) year and a maximum of four (4) years. Appointment from an
eligible list must be made from the top 3 candidates willing to accept appointment.

SABBATH OBSERVERS/DISABLED CANDIDATES/MILITARY MEMBERS: Applicants whose religious beliefs
or military service prevent their taking exams on the scheduled date and disabled candidates who require
special accommodations to take the test should indicate the need for special arrangements on their
application.

MULTIPLE EXAMINATIONS SCHEDULED FOR THE SAME DAY: 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 the written test, you must notify each of the local jurisdictions no later than two 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. The Cross-Filer form is available at the Lewis
County Civil Service or online at www.lewiscounty.org.

CALCULATORS: Unless otherwise notified, candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand-held solar or battery
powered calculators. Devices with typewriter keyboards, Spellcheckers, Personal Digital Assistants, Address
Books, Language Translators, Dictionaries, or any other similar devices are PROHIBITED.

CELL PHONES or ELECTRONIC/COMMUNICATION DEVICES AT THE TEST SITE: Do not bring cell phones,
beepers, headphones, or any electronic or other communication devices to the test site. The use of such
devices at the test site in the test room, hallways, restrooms, building, grounds, or other areas could result in
your disqualification.

CHANGE OF ADDRESS: If you move, it is your responsibility to notify the Civil Service Office of your new
address. The Civil Service Office makes no attempt to find candidates who have moved. Failure to notify the
Civil Service Office could result in being passed over for appointment.

BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION: Appointees from an eligible list are required to undergo a criminal history
background investigation, which may include a fingerprint check to determine suitability for appointment.
Failure to meet the standards for the background investigation may result in disqualification.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENT FOR APPOINTMENT IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS: Per Chapter 180 of the Laws of 2000,
and by regulations of the Commissioner of Education, to be employed in a position designation by a school
district as involving direct contact with students, a clearance for employment from the State Education
Department is required.

This examination is prepared and rated by the New York State Department of Civil Service in accordance with
Section 23-3 of the Civil Service Law. The provisions of the New York State Civil Service Rules and
Regulations, which deal with the rating of examinations, will apply. Federal and State law prohibits
discrimination because of race, color, religion, sex, age, handicap or national origin.

APPLICATIONS AND FURTHER INFORMATION CAN BE OBTAINED AT THE LEWIS COUNTY CIVIL SERVICE
OFFICE, 7660 N. STATE STREET, LOWVILLE, NY 13367. PHONE (315) 376-5349.

LEWIS COUNTY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.