New York State Department of Civil Service Announces Examinations Open to All Qualified Individuals

Tax Technician Trainee 1

Appointees who work in the five boroughs of New York City or in Nassau, Suffolk, Rockland, or Westchester Counties will receive an additional $3,026 annual downstate adjustment.

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Minimum Qualifications

On or before April 18, 2009, you must have:

Either 1. successfully completed 60 semester credit hours of college-level study which included a minimum of 12 semester credit hours in accounting and/or auditing. HOWEVER, you may apply for this examination if you expect to complete both the 60 credit hours and the accounting/auditing course requirements by June 30, 2009. You MUST submit with your application a list of all accounting/auditing courses (include courses you expect to complete by June 30, 2009), the number of credit hours earned/expected for each course, and the name of the college or institution.

If successful on the test, you cannot be considered for appointment until you submit proof of successful completion of the educational requirement to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

Or 2. two years of satisfactory full-time accounting or auditing experience, one year of which must have been in maintaining or auditing double-entry books of a business, including the general ledger, or in maintaining a governmental agency's books, involving appropriation accounting and the preparation of budget and financial reports, or in the field auditing of such books.

Examples of the kinds of experience which will not be considered as qualifying experience are account-clerical experience and experience limited to posting, maintaining, examining, or preparing one or more of the following: voucher register, sales register, cashbook, insurance register, accounts receivable ledger, accounts payable ledger, and other special journal or subsidiary ledger; or experience preparing tax returns. Vague wording or omissions WILL NOT be interpreted in your favor and will result in the disapproval of your application.

Notes

1. Appropriate part-time and volunteer experience, which can be verified, will be accepted on a prorated basis.
2. New York State residence is not required.
3. Your 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 college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency. You can write to the Examination Information Desk of the NYS Department of Civil Service for a list of acceptable companies who provide this service. You must pay the required evaluation fee. If you are applying on the Internet, you must mail the independent verification of equivalency to the NYS Department of Civil Service, Alfred E. Smith State Office Building, Albany, New York 12239. Attention: S4SER.
4. A transition examination is also being held for these positions.
5. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has the option of making appointments from either the list resulting from this examination open to the public or the list resulting from the transition examination. If you meet the requirements for both examinations, you may wish to file for both. The processing fee must be paid for this examination unless you are eligible for a fee waiver.
6. If you do not receive a confirmation number after submitting your online application, your application was NOT processed.

The Positions

These positions exist in the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance at various locations throughout the State. The majority of vacancies are in Albany; there are limited positions in Buffalo and the New York City area.

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Duties

As a Tax Technician Trainee 1, you would participate in a two-year traineeship in which you will be trained to perform desk audits and related activities involving tax returns filed under various articles of the Tax Law administered by the Department. Training will consist of on-the-job training, supplemented by formal classroom training, designed to develop journey-level skills as a desk audit technician. Upon successful completion of the 12-month training as a Tax Technician Trainee 1, you will automatically advance to Tax Technician Trainee 2 at a salary of $35,376. Upon satisfactory completion of the 12-month training as a Tax Technician Trainee 2, you will be advanced to the full title of Tax Technician 1, G-14, without further examination, at a salary of $39,587. An appointee's performance in the trainee position and in prescribed training and development programs will be observed and evaluated. The prescribed training and development program will include extensive on-the-job training and carefully designed and monitored work experience. An appointee not meeting required standards can be terminated at any time after the initial eight weeks and before completion of the traineeship.

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Subject of Examination

There will be a written test which you must pass in order to be considered for appointment. The written test is designed to test for knowledge, skills, and/or abilities in such areas as:

1. Basic account keeping and bookkeeping practices - These questions test for a knowledge of basic principles and practices of account keeping and bookkeeping. The questions test for recognizing account keeping and bookkeeping terms, concepts and relationships; recording financial transactions; and solving elementary problems in account keeping and bookkeeping.
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 tabular material - These questions test your ability to understand, analyze, and use the internal logic of data presented in tabular form. You may be asked to perform tasks such as completing tables, drawing conclusions from them, analyzing data trends or interrelationships, and revising or combining data sets. The concepts of rate, ratio, and proportion are tested. Mathematical operations are simple, and computational speed is not a major factor in the test.
4. Understanding and interpreting written material - These questions test how well you comprehend written material. You will be provided with brief reading selections and will be asked questions about the selections. All the information required to answer the questions will be presented in the selections; you will not be required to have any special knowledge relating to the subject areas of the selections.

Your final score must be 70 or higher in order to pass. Rank on the eligible list will be determined after adding any wartime veterans' and Civil Service Law Section 85-a credits to your final passing score.

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How To Apply

Additional Information

New York State is an Equal Opportunity Employer

It is the policy of the State of New York to provide for and promote equal opportunity in employment, compensation and other terms and conditions of employment without discrimination on the basis of age, race, color, religion, disability, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, or arrest and/or criminal conviction record unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification or other exception.

Appointment to many positions in State government require candidates to undergo an investigative screening. This may include a thorough character investigation, a Federal Bureau of Investigation Criminal Record History Check, a Child Abuse Registry clearance, or other similar procedures. Candidates may be fingerprinted and may be required to pay any necessary fees for that procedure. Depending on the nature of the job, the criminal convictions discovered, or any falsified or omitted information revealed, the investigative findings may bar appointment or result in removal after appointment.

Eligibility for Employment

You must be legally eligible to work in the United States at the time of appointment and throughout your employment with New York State. If appointed, you must produce documents that establish your identity and eligibility to work in the United States, as required by the federal Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, and the Immigration and Nationality Act.

Religious Accommodation

Most written tests are held on Saturdays. If you cannot take the test on the announced test date, due to a conflict with a religious observance or practice, check the box under “Religious Accommodation.” We will make arrangements for you to take the test on a different date (usually the following day).

Reasonable Accommodations in Testing

In addition, it is the policy of the Department of Civil Service, in accordance with the New York State Human Rights Law and the Americans with Disabilities Act, to provide qualified persons with disabilities equal employment opportunity and equal opportunity to participate in and receive the benefits, services, programs, and activities of the Department. It is the policy of the Department to provide such persons reasonable accommodations and reasonable modifications as are necessary to enjoy equal opportunity. Persons with disabilities who require an accommodation to participate in an examination must note this on their applications. Further information is available from the Special Arrangements Unit of the Department of Civil Service at 518-457-2487 [press 2, then press 2] in the Albany area, toll free at 1-877-697-5627 [press 2, then press 2], or via TDD (telecommunications device for the deaf) at 518-457-8480.

Admission to Examination

Notice to appear for the test may be conditional as review of applications may not be made until after the test. If you have not received your notice to appear for the written test three days before the date of the test, call 518-474-6470 in the Albany area or toll free at 1-877-697-5627 [press 2, then press 1].

Multiple Examinations Scheduled for the Same Day

With the exception of written tests announced by New York City, if you have applied to take a written test announced by a local jurisdiction (county, town, city) scheduled to be held on the same test date as this written test, you must call 518-474-6470 in the Albany area or toll free at 1-877-697-5627 [press 2, then press 1], no later than two weeks before the test date, to make arrangements for taking all tests at one test site. All tests will be held at the state examination center.

S4/TA1 SER-vla
Issued: 1/30/09

This announcement is subject to amendment or cancellation without notice. Do not copy it, or post it to any other site, but link to it instead.

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