Administrative Aide

A $12.50 PROCESSING FEE OR WAIVER OF THIS FEE MUST ACCOMPANY YOUR APPLICATION

FEE: There is a $12.50 non-refundable examination fee. When filing an application by mail, include a cashiers check or money order, payable to the Fulton County Treasurer. Do not send cash or a personal check. When filing in person with cash, the exact amount must be submitted. If the fee or fee waiver documentation proof does not accompany the application, the application will be rejected and returned to the applicant. There will be NO REFUNDS to applicants who fail to appear for the exam or fail to meet the minimum qualifications required for admittance to the exam, therefore, applicants are cautioned to review this announcement carefully.

WAIVER OF EXAMINATION FEE FOR UNEMPLOYED AND FOR PUBLIC ASSISTANCE RECIPIENTS: 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 for Medicaid, or receiving Supplemental Security Income payments, or Public Assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families/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. If you can verify eligibility for application fee waiver, complete a “Request for Examination Application Fee Waiver and Certification” form and submit it with your application by the close of business on the Last Filing Date as listed on the Examination Announcement. (The Request for Examination Application Fee Waiver and Certification form can be obtained from the Fulton County Personnel Department, Fort Johnstown Building, 1 E. Montgomery Street, Johnstown, New York 12095, telephone number 518-736-5574.)

APPLICATIONS: Applications are available at the Fulton County Personnel Department or on the Fulton County website www.fultoncountyny.gov. Examination applications must be obtained and filed with the Fulton County Personnel Department. The Department recommends that you do not wait until the last day to file your application. When received in our office after 5:00 PM, on the last filing date, the application will be rejected and returned to the applicant. The correct examination number and title must appear on the application form. EVERY question on the application should be answered and complete in all aspects. Under “Duties” you must describe the nature of the work personally performed by you, with estimated percentages of time spent on each type of work. This department does not acknowledge receipt of applications or take responsibility for non-delivery or postal delay.

Failure to notify this office of a change of address may result in disqualification for examination or certification for appointment following examination.

Any application you may have previously filed will not gain you admittance to this exam and will not be used to obtain additional information. You must refile a separate Application for Examination during the official filing period as set forth in this announcement.

DISQUALIFICATION OF EXAMINATION APPLICATIONS:

When an application for an examination is disapproved by the Director of Personnel, the candidate will be given ten (10) calendar days to appeal this determination. Your appeal must clearly demonstrate that you meet or exceed the minimum qualifications as set forth on the examination announcement. Additional information must be pertinent, detailed and accurate. Your appeal must be in writing, addressed to the Personnel Department, 1 East Montgomery Street, Johnstown NY 12095, and received in this department no later than 5:00pm of the tenth calendar day. If the tenth calendar day falls on a Saturday or Sunday, the candidate will have until 5:00pm that following Monday to submit their appeal.

LOCATION OF POSITIONS/VACANCY: This position exists in the Fulton County Planning Department.
 

PLEASE POST CONSPICUOUSLY AT A HEIGHT REACHABLE BY PEOPLE IN WHEELCHAIRS

AND WITH OTHER MOBILITY IMPAIRMENTS - REMOVE AFTER LAST FILING DATE
 

ELIGIBLE LIST: The eligible list will remain in existence for a period of one (1) year, unless extended by the Director of Personnel to a maximum of four (4) years. When a list has existed for more than one year, it may terminate upon the establishment of a new list. This list will be used to fill this vacancy and any other appropriate full-time or part-time competitive vacancy occurring in an agency under the jurisdiction of the Fulton County Director of Personnel, anytime during the life of the eligible list.

SPECIAL ARRANGEMENTS: May be made if you require a religious accommodation, are a disabled person, or deprived of participation on the scheduled date due to active military service. Specific information must be requested when filing your application.

APPLYING FOR CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS IN MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS WHEN EXAMINATIONS ARE SCHEDULED ON SAME DATE: If you have applied for any other civil service examinations to be given on the same test date for employment with New York State or any other local government jurisdiction excluding New York City, you must make arrangements to take all the examinations at one test site.

If you have applied for both State and local government examinations, you must notify Fulton County of your intent to take both a State and a local government examination. When taking both a State and a local government examination you will be requirement to take all your examinations at a State examination center. You will be advised by letter when and where to report for your examination.

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 weeks before the test date, so they can make arrangements for taking all tests at one site. All examinations for positions in State government will be held at a State examination center. For this examination call (518) 736-5574 or write to the Fulton County Personnel Department, Fort Johnstown Building, 1 E. Montgomery Street, Johnstown, New York 12095.

2024 SALARY: $22.38

RESIDENCY: Candidates must, at the time of examination and at least four (4) months prior thereto, be a resident of Fulton County. 

Preference in appointment from open-competitive lists may be given to candidates who have been residents of the locality in which appointment is to be made for four (4) months prior to the date of the written test. For appointment in some jurisdictions you may be required to become a resident thereof in accordance with law or resolution.

TYPICAL WORK ACTIVITIES (Illustrative but not exhaustive):

Acts as a secretary to the Planning Department by performing a variety of secretarial, clerical and account keeping tasks;

Prepares agendas, meeting notes, correspondence, reports and documents, etc. for the Planning Department, local planning boards and the Fulton County Industrial Development Agency;

Prepares requests for proposals, contracts, addendums, correspondence and reports for all professional services Fulton County seeks;

Prepares and distributes letters, memos, meeting notices, reports, meeting minutes, etc;

Provides information over the phone and to visitors on established policy and procedure and/or refers to appropriate staff;

Schedules and arranges meetings, conferences and similar events;

Reviews, maintains, audits and monitors a variety of financial accounts and records including account ledgers;

Reviews financial documents for accuracy and completeness and posts figures to appropriate accounts; 

Processes purchase orders, invoices and vouchers for departmental and project related expenditures;

Processes and tracks all payments received and makes deposits to appropriate account;

Monitors all accounts using the County’s automated financial system to maintain budgetary control, reviews with the Planning Director and recommends transfers as needed; 

Takes and transcribes dictation of letters, memoranda, reports and other materials;

May serve as the Chief Financial Officer for the Industrial Development Agency;

Monitors employees’ time and attendance using the County’s automated system;

Assists the Planning Director in preparing annual budgets;

Opens, reviews and distributes incoming and outgoing mail;

Performs minor updates to various websites including 44 Lakes and Industrial Development Agency;

Prepares a variety of reports related to the work.

The above examples of duties are intended only as illustrations of the various types of work performed. The omission of specific statements of duties does not exclude them from the position if the work is similar, related or a logical assignment to the position.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must meet the following requirements on or before the last filing date: Graduation from high school, possession of a high school equivalency diploma, or a high school individual education plan diploma, and either:

1. Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with an Associate’s Degree in Accounting, Business Administration, Business Management, Office Administration, Office Management, Secretarial Studies, Office Technology, or related field, and one year of clerical or administrative experience involving the operation of a personal computer; or

2. Three years of clerical or administrative experience involving the operation of a personal computer; or

3. An equivalent combination of training and experience as defined by the limits of (A) and (B) above.

All experience required to meet the minimum qualification section is PAID. 

Part-time experience will be pro-rated as follows:

16-23 hrs/wk….1/2 time 24-31 hrs/wk….3/4 time 32+ hrs/wk….full-time

If qualifying by A or C (education options), a copy or photocopy of your official academic transcript showing courses taken and degree conferred (if a degree is required) must accompany your application. If submitting a photocopy, this office must be able to verify it is an official transcript. Your transcript does not have to be submitted in a sealed envelope from the Registrar’s Office. If your transcript, as previously described, does not accompany your application, your application will be disqualified and you will be given ten (10) days to submit documentation to substantiate your qualifications. If you fail to provide a copy or photocopy of your official transcript within the ten (10) day period, you will not be allowed to participate in the examination.

Your degree and/or college credit must have been awarded by a regionally accredited college or university or one recognized by the NYS Education Department as following acceptable educational practices. If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency from a member company of the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services, Inc. (NACES). You can write to the Examination Information Desk of this Department for a list of NACES members who provide this service. You must pay the required evaluation fee.

SUBJECTS OF EXAMINATION: The written, multiple-choice test will be designed to measure knowledges, skills and/or abilities in the following areas:

1. CUSTOMER SERVICE: These questions test for knowledge of techniques used 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.

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, and 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.

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.

CALCULATOR POLICY: Quiet, hand-held, solar or battery-powered calculators are RECOMMENDED. 

Devices with typewriter keyboards, “Spell Checkers”, “Personal Digital Assistants”, “Address Books”, “Language Translators”, “Dictionaries”, or any similar devices are prohibited.

AT THE EXAM THE USE OF CELLULAR PHONES, BEEPERS, ETC. IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

VETERANS’ CREDITS: Veterans, Disabled Veterans, or candidates currently in the armed forces claiming the additional credit allowed veterans in competitive examination, must apply for such credit while filing their examination application or at any time between the date of the application but prior to the date of the establishment of the resulting eligible list. The time periods, for which veterans’ credit is permitted, are defined in Question 12 on the examination application. To receive additional veterans’ credit you must file a separate Veterans’ Credit Application including acceptable supporting documentation for each examination. Veterans’ Credit is added only to the score of the examination when the candidate’s passing grade is 70 or higher.

CHILDREN AND SIBLINGS OF FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY CREDIT: In conformance with sections 85-a and 85-b of the Civil Service Law, children and siblings of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty shall be entitled to receive an additional ten points in a competitive examination for original appointment in the same municipality in which his or her parent, sister or brother has served. If you are qualified to participate in this examination and are a child or sibling of a firefighter or police officer killed in the line of duty in this municipality, please inform this office of this matter when you submit your application for examination. 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. Children and siblings of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of duty credit is added only to the score of the examination when the candidate's passing grade is 70 or higher.

RATING AND REVIEW: This written examination is being prepared and rated by the New York State Department of Civil Service in accordance with Section 23.2 of the Civil Service Law and Section 7.1 of the State’s Civil Service Rules and Regulations. 

NOTICE TO APPEAR: Approved applicants will receive a Notice to Appear for the written examination providing the location and time. Late arrivals will not be admitted into the exam room under any circumstance. Please contact this office if you have not received a notice to appear for the written examination by April 27, 2024. 

ANY LAST-MINUTE CHANGE OR CANCELLATION WILL BE BROADCAST OVER RADIO STATION WENT (AM 1340) BETWEEN 6 AND 8 AM ON THE DATE OF THE EXAMINATION.

FULTON COUNTY DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE ON THE BASIS OF RACE, CREED, COLOR, NATIONAL ORIGIN, MARITAL STATUS, SEX, RELIGION, AGE OR DISABILITY IN EMPLOYMENT OR THE PROVISIONS OF SERVICES.

ISSUED: 2/23/24