Tioga County, New York

Different positions have different minimum qualifications and a different exam tailored to fit the requirements of that position. The Department of Personnel’s web page provides access to current job vacancies and exam announcements.

No, you do not have to be a resident of Tioga County in order to participate in one of our examinations. However, preference in appointment may be given to eligible candidates who have been residents of the appointing jurisdiction at the time of examination. There are some positions that do require residency. The examination announcement will list any such requirements under the "Residency Requirements" section.

The lists of eligible job candidates established by the Tioga County Department of Personnel are used to fill vacancies in competitive classified titles. These lists are used by the County, as well as local jurisdictions (all towns, villages, school districts, and special districts) throughout Tioga County.

Not all examinations are held on an annual basis. Examinations held for Tioga County are prepared and scheduled by the New York State Civil Service Commission. The Tioga County Department of Personnel requests examinations based on the number of positions, the length of the current eligible list, the age of the list, and the turnover of employees within the title. Eligible lists are valid for a minimum of one year from the date of establishment and can be valid for up to four years at the discretion of the Department of Personnel. Eligible lists cannot be extended beyond four years. The Tioga County Personnel Department does not notify candidates who currently reside on a current or expired eligible list when a new examination for the same title has been announced. It is the candidate’s responsibility to check with the Personnel Department to determine when the next examination will be held and to apply according to the announced deadline dates. To find out if a specific examination is being offered, check on the schedule of upcoming civil service examinations.

Tioga County posts all examination announcements on the County’s web site: Click Here.  Printed copies are also posted in all county and municipal buildings, local school districts, local libraries, and post offices within Tioga County. The Tioga County Application for Examination is available in the Tioga County Department of Personnel, Tioga County Office Building, Room 206, 56 Main Street, Owego, New York 13827 or may be downloaded: Click Here.

There is a $15.00 processing fee for each open-competitive examination; ($25.00 for uniform services examinations). This fee is non-refundable. Send a check or money order payable to the "Tioga County Treasurer". Credit card payment is not accepted. Candidates meeting specific criteria may have the fee waived. Fee waiver forms are available at the Tioga County Department of Personnel. The fee waiver form must be submitted with the Application for Examination.  

The New York State Civil Service Commission prepares the examinations in such a manner that you can participate in more than one examination on the same day. All examinations for which you have been approved must be taken on the same day in the same testing center. Be sure to submit the Multiple Exam Notice Form with your application and indicate that you are filing for more than one examination and at which site you wish to take your examinations.

• You must submit a Multiple Exam Notice Form with your application if you want to request to take one or more test(s) for multiple jurisdictions at one test site (i.e. taking a Broome County test in Tioga County or a Tioga County test in Chemung County).

• If you are applying for both a State and local government examination, you must make arrangements to take all your examinations at the State site by calling 518.457.6470 or 1-877-6470 (press 2, then press 1) no later than two weeks before the test date. A Multiple Exam Notice Form should also be submitted with your application.

 

An application for examination is required in order to apply for an examination. The application must be complete and demonstrate how you meet the minimum qualifications outlined on the examination announcement.  If you are vague or incomplete on your application, you may not be found eligible to take the examination.

If you are found ineligible to take the examination based upon review of your application against the announced minimum qualifications for an examination, you will be mailed a letter approximately 7 days after the filing deadline date. You will then be provided with an opportunity to appeal this decision.

An official transcript is not required unless noted on the announcement. A transcript should be submitted if the minimum qualifications specify the need for a certain number of credits in a certain field.

The Tioga County Department of Personnel typically holds its examinations at a test site in Owego. However, the site for your particular examination will be printed on your admission letter.

Test Guides published by the New York State Department of Civil Service are usually targeted to specific, entry-level occupations such as Police Officer, Correction Officer, and Entry Level Clerical. Test Guides are not provided for every examination. All available study guides can be found by Clicking Here.  If a Test Guide is provided for an examination, information about the guide will appear on the examination announcement. However, when preparing for an examination, the most important document that should carefully be read is the announcement itself. Pay close attention to the "Subjects of Examination" section of the announcement for information on the test type and content of the examination. Candidates should focus their examination preparation upon the information given in the examination announcement. In addition, you can find general information at the New York State Department of Civil Service website. The New York State Department of Civil Service neither provides nor recommends any other study materials. Although some materials may be available through public libraries, public employee unions and private publishers, we can make no comment on the quality or usefulness of such materials.  

"Special arrangements" refer to requests for examination assistance with regard to scheduling or specialized testing needs. Tioga County has an alternate test date policy: Click Here, to address certain situations.   Candidates who meet the alternate test date criteria should provide the appropriate documentation with the exam application. Those candidates who require specialized assistance should submit the appropriate documentation detailing the assistance needed.

Admission notices are mailed to candidates approximately seven to ten calendar days prior to the exam date. If you do not receive an admission notice three days prior to the examination, you should call 607-687-8207.  It is the candidate's responsibility to call prior to the exam date.

It is very rare for an examination to be cancelled for any reason. Examinations will be held as scheduled unless otherwise communicated by the Tioga County department of Personnel.

Some exam questions are open to review on the Saturday after the test is held. This is called "pre-rate review" and you must request this review at the test site when you finish your examination. You will be able to see the questions and the tentative answers, but not your answer sheet. This is the forum in which to challenge what you may consider to be an inappropriate question and/or answer. After you receive your score, you may request a computational review, in which you will be able to review a copy of your answer sheet and the final answer key, but not the test questions.  

The New York State Civil Service Commission scores examinations. While timeframes may vary, it usually takes 2 - 4 months for the State to finalize test scores. Test results are then sent to the Tioga County Personnel Department who establishes the eligible list and notifies the candidates of their test score and list rank. Eligible lists are established approximately 1 - 4 weeks after the examination scores have been received by the State.

In accordance with New York State Law, veterans of the armed forces, as defined by New York State, are entitled to additional points to be added to a passing score.  Definitions of who is recognized as a veteran may be found under Veteran’s Information: Click Here.

Civil Service Law requires that due consideration be given to seniority for candidates who are permanent employees of the participating appointing authority. Seniority points are added to passing scores only. One point is credited for each creditable five-year period or fraction thereof.

All candidates at the highest score are immediately eligible for consideration for appointment. Candidates at lower scores can be considered only when there are fewer than 3 candidates at higher scores. Any candidate's eligibility for appointment depends not only on his or her rank (all eligibles who received the same score are equally ranked) but also how many other candidates are tied at that and higher level ranks. In Tioga County, tying scores are ranked according to the ascending order of candidates’ last four digits of their social security number.

In accordance with the New York State Civil Service Law, an eligible list must remain in existence for one year from the date of its establishment or until there are no candidates left who are willing to accept appointment, whichever occurs first. The Department of Personnel may extend "the life" of the list beyond one year to a maximum of four years. At the time of establishment of the new list, a decision is made on whether or not to allow the existing list (over one year of age) to continue or to replace it with the new list. When the "old" list is continued, the new list "supplements" the old list until a predetermined date. The old list is used first. A new examination for a title may be requested and held at any time during the life of an existing eligible list. It is the candidate’s responsibility from an existing list to keep abreast of the examination schedule and to apply for and participate in a new examination.

The probationary period is a time when new employees must prove themselves capable of doing the job for which they were hired. The probationary term for an open-competitive examination is not less than eight (8) weeks, nor more than fifty-two (52) weeks. The probationary term for a promotional examination is not less than twelve (12) weeks, nor more than twenty-six (26) weeks. There are some positions, such as Deputy Sheriffs and Police Officers for which the probationary period is not less than eight weeks (8), nor more than seventy-eight (78) weeks. For competitive classed titles, the probationary period begins once a person has been appointed from an eligible list to a permanent position.

A provisional appointment is a temporary appointment to a competitive class position for which no eligible list currently exists or for which an eligible list exists with fewer than three candidates who are willing to accept the position being offered. Provisional appointees have no status or protection rights under Civil Service. To become permanent, the employee who is provisionally appointed must take the next examination for the position in question. The appointment to the position is then made from among the three highest scoring candidates who indicate their willingness to accept the position. The provisional appointee must be among the top three interested candidates to be appointed.

The Tioga County Department of Personnel will not accept any change of address information if it has not been provided on a Candidate Change of Information Form. Candidates are responsible for notifying this Department of a change of address.  Do not depend on the postal service to forward your mail in sufficient time to respond to a canvass letter for a position.