EXAMINATION OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

CASEWORKER
EXAM
#DEC-07-17 (OC)  

                                            APPLICATIONS ACCEPTED CONTINUOUSLY  

A NON-REFUNDABLE PROCESSING FEE MUST ACCOMPANY EACH APPLICATION
$15.00
MONEY ORDER ONLY -- PAYABLE TO ONEIDA COUNTY

Click Here for Required Fees and General Information

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EXAM DATES:
  THIS EXAM WILL BE SCHEDULED PERIODICALLY.  CANDIDATES WITH APPROVED APPLICATIONS FOR THIS EXAM WILL BE NOTIFIED BY MAIL OF THE NEXT SCHEDULED EXAM DATE. 

STARTING SALARY/RANGE:          $28,950 Oneida County Government           (2007)

VACANCIES:  The eligible list established as a result of this examination, will be used to fill this vacancy and any other appropriate vacancies which may occur in this title under the jurisdiction of the Oneida County Commissioner of Personnel.

RESIDENCE REQUIREMENT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE EXAMINATION:   NONE

When preference in certification is given to residents of a municipality pursuant to subdivision 4-a of Section 23 of the Civil Service Law, an eligible must have been a resident of such municipality for at least one month prior to the date of certification in order to be included in a certification as a resident of such municipality and must be a resident of such municipality at the time of appointment.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Either:

(A)       Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree, including or supplemented by at least twelve (12) credit hours in social work, sociology, psychology, or childhood development; OR

(B)       Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree AND one (1) year of experience in social casework* with a public or private agency.

*NOTE:  Social casework is defined to mean experience which shall have involved a one-to-one interaction with a client in order to actively facilitate the identification of client needs and goals through the interview process, as well as, the development of a service plan (i.e., identification and coordination of services available in the agency or the community to meet these needs and goals).

SUBSTITUTION:  Three (3) credit hours in the areas listed in (A) above may be substituted for one (1) month of Social Casework experience.

SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS:   Possession of a valid New York State driver’s license at time of application.  License must remain valid throughout appointment, to meet the transportation requirements of the job.

NOTE:       1.   Applicants must meet the minimum qualifications on or before the date of the examination.

                 2.   Further verification may be requested from candidates to verify their academic qualifications.

                 3.   Candidates MUST submit a copy of transcripts with application if qualifying under (A) above.

DUTIES: Responsible to provide social work services for individuals and/or their families, including children, to assist them with their economic, emotional, social and environmental difficulties.  Does related work as required.

SUBJECTS OF EXAMINATION:  There will be a PC-administered test which you must pass in order to be considered for appointment.  The test will be administered on a personal computer (PC).  Candidates need no prior knowledge of computers in order to take the test.  The test uses a simple point-and-click system that is thoroughly explained through an animated instruction program.  Candidates will be given a sample test on which to practice before the actual test begins. 

PC-administered test:  This test is designed to test for knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in such areas as:

1.          Establishing and Maintaining Effective Helping Relationships in a Social Casework Setting –These questions test for an understanding of the factors contributing to the development and maintenance of productive client-worker relationships.  You will be provided with descriptions of specific client-worker interactions and asked to select the appropriate responses.  The questions cover such topics as confidentiality, time management, professional ethics and referral techniques.

2.          Interviewing (Caseworker) –These questions test for an understanding of the principles and 
             techniques of interviewing and  their
application to specific client-worker situations.  You will be 
             provided with a series of concrete interviewing situations for which you will be required to select an 
             appropriate course of action based on an analysis of the situation, the application of the information 
             provided and the ramifications of various interviewing principles and strategies.  You will also be 
             asked questions about the interviewing process and various interviewing techniques.  

3.          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 and then asked to choose from four suggestions the order for the sentences.

CALCULATORS ARE PERMITTED:  Unless specifically prohibited, candidates are permitted to use QUIET, hand-held, solar- or battery-powered calculators ONLY.  Devices with typewriter keyboards, such as cell phones, computers or devices which can be hooked up to a computer, spell-checkers, personal digital assistants, address books, language translators, dictionaries and any similar devices are PROHIBITED.

NOTE:  Candidates who file for Caseworker examinations with more than one civil service agency will be required to use the score received in this examination subject to the following terms and conditions:

                1)  A candidate is permitted to take a Caseworker examination prepared by the NYS Department   
    of Civil Service
only once during each of the following defined periods:  January 1- June 30 or July 1-      December 31.

    2)    A candidate who applies and is approved for more than one Caseworker examination during the  
  same six-month
period (January 1-June 30 or July 1-December 31) is required to use the score 
  resulting from a single test administration for all examinations held during the same six-month 
  period.

                   3)  The candidate must inform the civil service agency if he/she has previously taken a Caseworker 
   examination in any other civil service agency and provide the location and date the examination was 
   taken.

                   4)  A candidate must pay application fees for each examination requiring such fees.

                   5)  A candidate’s placement on resultant eligible list(s) and duration of eligibility for appointment will be 
  determined by the civil service agency conducting the examination(s).

NOTE:  A “Guide to Taking the Examination for Caseworker Series” is available on the New York State Department of Civil Service web site: http://www.cs.state.ny.us/testing/localtestguides.cfm or at the Oneida County Department of Personnel’s Office, Oneida County Office Building , third floor.  You may also call (315) 798-5726 or write the Oneida County Department of Personnel, 800 Park Avenue , Utica , NY 13501 , to request a copy. 

INSTRUCTIONS FOR APPLYING FOR MULTIPLE CIVIL SERVICE EXAMS SCHEDULED 
ON THE SAME DATE

If you have applied for other civil service exams in another jurisdiction (state, county, city) scheduled on the same date, YOU must make arrangements to take all the exams at one test site.

Please contact the Oneida County Department of Personnel at 315-798-5726 AND submit a completed CROSS-FILER NOTIFICATION form to our office at least two weeks prior to the test date.

If you have applied for a State exam, YOU MUST also make arrangements to take all exam titles at the State Exam site by calling 518-457-7022 two weeks prior to the test date.           


ONEIDA COUNTY EXAM ANNOUNCEMENTS CAN BE ACCESSED 
ON OUR WEBSITE:
www.ocgov.net .

** ONEIDA COUNTY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER **



Issued:
  05/31/07

Paulette Z. Nickerson, LMSW
Commissioner of Personnel

Oneida County Personnel Department
Oneida County Office Building
800 Park Avenue
Utica, New York  13501
(315) 798-5726
(315) 798-6490 Fax
Email: personnel@ocgov.net

© 2003 Oneida County, New York, USA