April 10, 2002
Union booklets help with civil service exams
When Barbara Pedro got a part-time job as an office assistant in the Bronxville schools, she knew she'd have to pass a civil service test to keep the job.
To prepare, she turned to her new union, the Bronxville Teachers Association, and its state affiliate, New York State United Teachers.
NYSUT is making test preparation booklets available to help members prepare for a range of civil service examinations. The booklets are the result of a collaborative effort with the Civil Service Employees Association, who developed the test prep materials. Containing sample questions, they can help members who are taking exams for promotions in their fields. Questions help people to practice. There is no guarantee that the actual test questions, or even topics, will be similar. The booklets also provide important strategies on preparing for the tests.
Anyone who has taken a civil service test knows how hard they can be. Wendy Strassner has been a clerk II for nine years.
"Civil service law can be really tricky and the tests can be really technical," Strassner said. She ordered several of the booklets.
"Three dollars a book was nothing," said Strassner, who with Molly Schaeffer is co-president of the Rush Henrietta Administrative Support Professionals.
Several members used the booklets to prepare for a March civil service test for clerical upgrades. Those members gave high grades to Improving Test-taking Skills and Understanding and Interpreting Written Material. "They all reported the booklets were excellent, more up-to-date and much better than what is available in the library," Strassner said.
Doing well on tests means a salary increase, sometimes 10 percent, in Strassner's union.
NYSUT's Education and Learning Trust offers 10 different types of booklets at $3 each. For order forms, call the Education and Learning Trust at (800) 528-6208 or contact your NYSUT regional office.
- Betsy Sandberg
Sample test for custodial job
Do you have what it takes to be promoted in the janitorial and custodial titles?
Your supervisor comes to you with a complaint that one of the storerooms is very dirty and messy. Of the following, it would be best for you to:
A) explain that your whole staff is terribly overworked, and the storeroom has low priority;
B) tell your supervisor that you will have the storeroom cleaned as soon as possible;
C) tell your supervisor that the person responsible for the storeroom has severe personal problems at the moment;
D) tell your supervisor that it was very clean the last time you checked.
The correct answer is B. Choice A is incorrect because, while it may be a common real-life answer, it's not considered good supervisory exam question behavior. Choice C is incorrect because, while it too may happen in real life, it sounds like you're blaming the employee when you are the one ultimately responsible. You are also divulging personal information when it seems unnecessary. Choice D is incorrect because it is a defensive response, even if it's true. Choice B, simply stating that you'll have the storeroom cleaned as soon as possible, is the best of the four choices given.
From Booklet No. 2 of the Custodial Series for Counties, Municipalities and Non-Teaching School District Personnel
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