Category: Civil Service

Here is a summary of the subjects of examination for the 2022 holding of the ITS exams.  I have compared the latest announcements against 2020’s announcements and verified that nothing appears to be different, so please use the 2020 document that I’ve re-linked below.

THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL DOCUMENT FROM CIVIL SERVICE.
THE ANNOUNCEMENTS AT CS.NY.GOV ARE THE ONLY OFFICIAL SOURCE OF INFORMATION.

Hi everyone, I got notification yesterday about the upper level IT exams from Civil Service. I’m going to be setting up some livestreams for anyone interested, so please check back here or on the Toner Tutoring YouTube page for details!

Continue reading “Upper Level IT Exams Announced” →

The New York State Department of Civil Service has announced the IT Series examination for Information Technology Specialist 3. Applications must be submitted or postmarked by February 16, 2022. NOTE: If you previously applied for the April 25, 2020 exam which was postponed you do NOT need to reapply. Per Civil Service, additional information will be sent to previous applicants via email.

When filing your online application, be aware there is no technical assistance on weekends, or after 5 PM on weekdays.

Also, please note that as of December 1, 2021, there is a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination/testing policy for in-person examinations. You can read more about that policy on the Civil Service website.

A summary of some of the announcement information follows, but remember to check the Civil Service website for official announcements and information. A direct link to the announcement is here, but it will be archived at some point and that link will stop working.

Continue reading “2022 IT Exam Announcements (G23 Only)” →

From: Department of Civil Service Updates NYSCivilService@public.govdelivery.com Date: April 6, 2020 at 4:27:02 PM EDT To: Subject: State Examinations Scheduled on April 25 and April 26, 2020 Will Be Postponed Reply-To: NYSCivilService@public.govdelivery.com Please be advised that all State civil service examinations scheduled for April 25 and April 26, 2020 have been postponed.   Examinations are being rescheduled and approved candidates will be notified of an alternate test date and provided with an admission notice at that time.   Questions regarding State civil service examinations should be directed to the New York State Department of Civil Service at 518-457-2487 in the Albany area or toll free at 1-877-697-5627 for the rest of the state.   Note: This notification does not apply to civil service examinations administered by local governments. To check the status of a local civil service examinations, please contact your local civil service agency.   For additional information, visit www.cs.ny.gov.

Here is a summary of the subjects of examination for the 2020 holding of the ITS exams.  I have compared the latest announcements against 2017’s announcements and the major change is that “Writing Skills for Managers” is now gone and we’re back to “Preparing reports and official documents” instead.  Guess they didn’t like that one. 

THIS IS NOT AN OFFICIAL DOCUMENT FROM CIVIL SERVICE.
THE ANNOUNCEMENTS AT CS.NY.GOV ARE THE ONLY OFFICIAL SOURCE OF INFORMATION.

I just got a notice that the Upper Level ITS skill set questionnaire is open 1/1/2020 through midnight 1/31/2020.  If you are currently on the G23+ lists, please make sure to update your questionnaire and don’t wait until the last minute!  I know that I always run into password issues because I have 4 million ny.gov ids so it takes me a while to get into the site.  If that happens to you at 10:30 PM on the last day, you’ll probably be a sad panda.

You need to make sure your questionnaire is up-to-date in order to maximize your opportunities for promotion with the selective certification process.

The questionnaire can be found at https://www.cs.ny.gov/instrument/it_upperlevel/

IT exams have been added to the Civil Service Tentative Examination Schedule. According to the tentative schedule, announcement issue date will be February 7, 2020. Application deadline will be March 11, 2020. The scheduled exam date is April 25, 2020.

Information Technology Specialist 3
Information Technology Specialist 3 (Data Communications)
Information Technology Specialist 3 (Database)
Information Technology Specialist 3 (Programming)
Information Technology Specialist 3 (Systems Programming)
Information Technology Specialist 4
Information Technology Specialist 4 (Data Communications)
Information Technology Specialist 4 (Database)
Information Technology Specialist 4 (Operations)
Information Technology Specialist 4 (Systems Programming)
Manager Information Technology Services 1
Manager Information Technology Services 1 (Data Communications)
Manager Information Technology Services 1 (Database)
Manager Information Technology Services 1 (Operations)
Manager Information Technology Services 1 (System Programming)
Manager Information Technology Services 1 (Technical)
Manager Information Technology Services 2
Manager Information Technology Services 2 (Technical)
Assistant Director Information Technology Services 1
Assistant Director Information Technology Services 2
Assistant Director Information Technology Technical Services 1
Director Information Technology Services 1
Director Information Technology Services 2
Director Information Technology Services 3

For more information, see:
https://www.cs.ny.gov/announ/tentative_schedule_prom.cfm

The current exam lists say the end date is 03/07/2022.  Do I have to take the tests in 2020 to stay active on the lists?  

YES!  Once the new list is established, the old list will expire even if the end date has not yet been reached.  The new lists will probably be established a few months after the test date.

For people who do not know, here is what happens for the review process:

• On test day, at the test site, your room monitor reads a statement before the test. The information provided includes directions regarding Civil Service review.
• For certain tests, you are able to attend a review session where specific questions are available to review.
• The front of your test booklet describes which questions, if any, are available for review.
• When you are done with your test, you need to ask the room monitor for a sheet to sign up for review. You will fill out the bottom part of the sheet and return that to the room monitor. The top part of the sheet contains information about the review.
• If you already took your test, but didn’t remember to ask the monitor for a sheet to sign up for review, you can’t attend the review.

On review day (I guess it’s usually the week after the exam?), you will get a copy of the reviewable questions and the answers that Civil Service believes to be correct.
You can bring reference materials (but not cell phones/pagers/computers/etc).
You can write appeals regarding questions but have to cite reference for why you believe the question or answer is not good.

— Sarah