Information Technology Specialist 3

*Salary
$79,325 (PEF)
$79,410 (MC)

***Due to the size of the candidate population for this test date, you may be assigned to either Saturday, December 10; Sunday, December 11; Saturday, December 17; or Sunday, December 18 to take your test. Your admission notice will tell you where and when you are scheduled to appear. You cannot request or change your scheduled day.

You must review important information on the New York State Department of Civil Service COVID-19 policy that applies to all candidates sitting for in-person Civil Service examinations being administered at a New York State test center. You can access our full policy on the Department of Civil Service website.

Due to current testing space limitations, candidates may need to travel to a test site to take this examination. Candidates will be notified of their test site location on their admission notice.

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. Appointees who work in Dutchess, Orange, or Putnam Counties will receive an additional $1,513 annual mid-Hudson adjustment.

If you previously applied for this examination scheduled for April 25, 2020, which was postponed, you do NOT need to reapply. Your application will be reviewed to determine if you meet the qualifications to take the examination. Additional information will be sent to previous applicants via email.

The Positions: These positions exist in various agencies statewide, with the majority of the positions in the Albany area.

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***Minimum Qualifications

On or before December 10, 2022, you must have:

For No. 26-839:

Either 1. a bachelor's or higher level degree in any field including or supplemented by 15 semester credit hours in computer science AND two years of experience in the following computer related areas: network, server, storage, and systems management; telecommunications, IT customer support and training; computer installation, diagnosis, and repair; technical writing; computer security; knowledge management; database administration, design, and management; internet/intranet development, design, and maintenance; information technology project management; design and development of geographic information systems or computer aided drafting applications; computer programming; business/systems analysis; program design; or program testing;

Or 2. a bachelor's or higher level degree in any field AND three years of experience in computer related areas as described in #1 above;

Or 3. an associate's degree* with 15 semester credit hours in a computer science field AND four years of experience in computer related areas as described in #1 above;

Or 4. five years of experience in computer related areas as described in #1 above.

For No. 26-840:

Either 1. a bachelor's or higher level degree in any field including or supplemented by 15 semester credit hours in networking and/or telecommunications AND two years of experience in networking and/or telecommunications;

Or 2. a bachelor's or higher level degree in any field AND three years of experience in networking and/or telecommunications;

Or 3. an associate's degree* with 15 semester credit hours in networking and/or telecommunications AND four years of experience in networking and/or telecommunications;

Or 4. five years of experience in networking and/or telecommunications.

To qualify for No. 26-840, the networking and/or telecommunications experience must have involved the design, analysis, capacity planning, monitoring, performance evaluation, and/or tuning of a data communications/telecommunications network.

For No. 26-841:

Either 1. a bachelor's or higher level degree in any field including or supplemented by 15 semester credit hours in programming languages AND two years of experience in database programming or administration;

Or 2. a bachelor's or higher level degree in any field AND three years of experience in database programming or administration;

Or 3. an associate's degree* with 15 semester credit hours in programming languages AND four years of experience in database programming or administration;

Or 4. five years of experience in database programming or administration.

To qualify for No. 26-841, the database programming or administration experience must have involved direction or performance of activities related to managing and maintaining enterprise database environments as well as the data contained in the databases. The experience must have included responsibility for designing, implementing, and maintaining database systems.

For No. 26-842:

Either 1. a bachelor's or higher level degree in any field including or supplemented by 15 semester credit hours in computer science with at least 9 semester credit hours in programming languages AND two years of experience in computer programming;

Or 2. a bachelor's or higher level degree in any field AND three years of experience in computer programming;

Or 3. an associate's degree* with 15 semester credit hours in programming languages AND four years of experience in computer programming;

Or 4. five years of experience in computer programming.

To qualify for No. 26-842, the computer programming experience must have involved the planning, configuration, testing, implementation, and/or management of the systems environment that supports the organization's information technology architecture and business needs. This could be a mainframe or network based server environment where the server supports databases, data communications, web sites, applications servers, etc. The primary distinctive characteristic of computer systems programming when compared to applications programming is that applications programming produces software which provides services to the user, whereas systems programming produces software which provides services to the computer hardware (e.g., operating systems, disk defragmenter) and requires a greater degree of hardware awareness. Computer systems programming experience does not qualify for this examination.

For No. 26-843:

Either 1. a bachelor's or higher level degree in any field including or supplemented by 15 semester credit hours in programming languages AND two years of experience in computer systems programming;

Or 2. a bachelor's or higher level degree in any field AND three years of experience in computer systems programming;

Or 3. an associate's degree* with 15 semester credit hours in programming languages AND four years of experience in computer systems programming;

Or 4. five years of experience in computer systems programming.

To qualify for No. 26-843, the computer systems programming experience must have involved the planning, configuration, testing, implementation, and/or management of the systems environment that supports the organization's information technology architecture and business needs. This could be a mainframe or network based server environment where the server supports databases, data communications, web sites, applications servers, etc. The primary distinctive characteristic of computer systems programming when compared to applications programming is that applications programming produces software which provides services to the user, whereas systems programming produces software which provides services to the computer hardware (e.g., operating systems, disk defragmenter) and requires a greater degree of hardware awareness. Applications programming experience does not qualify for this examination.

*Candidates who have completed at least 60 college semester hours in a bachelor's degree program, including at least 15 semester credithours in a computer science field, also qualify, but must meet the experience requirements as described in #3.

If you expect to meet the educational requirements by June 30, 2023, you can be admitted to the written test, but you cannot be considered for appointment until you submit proof of successful completion of the educational requirement to the Appointing Authority at the time of the employment interview. Failure to meet the educational requirements by June 30, 2023, may result in your removal from the eligible list.

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Duties

As an Information Technology Specialist 3, you would perform such activities including, but not limited to: technical and agency program support; information technology activities related to network and system design, configuration, maintenance, and network/information security; customer support; project support; business/systems analysis and design which may include mainframe, client/server, and n-tier (e.g., three tiered) web or browser based applications systems; and the design, development, and administration of enterprise storage, backup, and database systems.

As an Information Technology Specialist 3 (Data Communications), you would perform such activities including, but not limited to: data communications network design, analysis, capacity planning, installation, monitoring, performance evaluation, tuning, and/or maintenance.

As an Information Technology Specialist 3 (Database), you would perform such activities including, but not limited to: activities associated with the design, development, installation, and performance of agency databases.

As an Information Technology Specialist 3 (Programming), you would perform such activities including, but not limited to: technical activities related to writing instructions (code); applications program development, program and system testing, and business/systems analysis and design related to computer systems, systems maintenance, and implementation in such areas as the design and development of database systems; dynamic, transactional, or interactive websites; and agency specific applications programs.

As an Information Technology Specialist 3 (Systems Programming), you would perform such activities including, but not limited to: systems programming and implementation, maintaining, and managing an agency's hardware and systems software environment or major component of it.

For all titles, you may supervise Information Technology Assistants, Information Technology Specialists 1 or 2, Information Technology Specialists 1 or 2 (Programming), and support staff.

NOTES:

1. Background Investigation/Justice Center Review: In some agencies, the names of all prospective employees will:
   • be checked against the Staff Exclusion List (SEL) maintained by the Justice Center for the Protection of People with Special Needs. Prospective employees whose names appear on the SEL as having been found responsible for serious or repeated acts of abuse or neglect will be barred from appointment and may have their names removed from the eligible list(s) for the title(s);
   • be investigated through a Criminal Background Check (CBC). All convictions must be reported. Conviction of a felony or misdemeanor or any falsified or omitted information may bar appointment or result in removal after appointment. Each case will be determined on its own merits, consistent with the applicable provisions of state and federal laws;

   and may:

   • be screened against the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment (SCR). Prospective employees whose names appear on the SCR may be barred from appointment.

     You will be responsible for payment of all required fees.

2. Medicaid and Medicare: In order to be eligible for appointment and to maintain employment, you cannot be listed as an excluded individual or entity on any of the Federal and/or State Medicaid and Medicare exclusion lists (or excluded from any other Federal or Federally assisted program). If you are appointed and subsequently listed as an excluded individual or entity on any of these lists (or excluded from any other Federal or Federally assisted program), you may be terminated from your employment.
3. One $40 non-refundable processing fee is required per application submission. You must select the individual examination(s) you are interested in during the application process. For example, you may apply for both examinations listed and pay one $25 fee if processed during one online transaction. If you submit one online application for one examination listed, and subsequently apply for the additional examination, another $40 non-refundable processing fee will be required.
4. You will not be scored for any examination for which you did not apply.
5. Your degree or college credit must have been awarded by a college or university accredited by a regional, national, or specialized agency recognized as an accrediting agency by the U.S. Department of Education/U.S. Secretary of Education. If your degree or 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. This information can also be found on the Internet at http://www.cs.ny.gov/jobseeker/degrees.cfm You must pay the required evaluation fee. If you are applying on the Internet, you must mail the independent verification of equivalency to the New York State Department of Civil Service, Albany, New York 12239. Attention: S1BLM.
6. A promotion examination is also being held for these positions. If you are eligible for appointment from a promotion list, you may not be appointed in your own agency from the list resulting from this examination open to the public.
7. You may file for these examinations by completing one NYS-APP application form or applying on the Internet. Unless you are eligible for a fee waiver, the indicated processing fee must be submitted for each examination listed on your application.
8. Appropriate part-time and volunteer experience, which can be verified, will be accepted on a prorated basis.
9. New York State residence is not required.

CERTIFICATION OF ELIGIBLE LISTS: When filling vacancies, agencies will have two options. One option is to request a general certification of the eligible list which will include all candidates, by score. Or, if it is determined that specific education and experience, beyond the minimum qualifications are required for a position, agencies have the option to request a selective certification of the eligible list. The SELECTIVE CERTIFICATION will filter the results of the written test based on the responses to the online questionnaire. The selective certification will contain only the names of candidates who meet the specialized requirements, ranked by score. Final scores are based on the results of the written test only.

SELECTIVE CERTIFICATION: Approved applicants will have an opportunity to complete one online education and experience questionnaire that will be used for all titles on this announcement. Information provided on the questionnaire is subject to verification and may be used to qualify candidates for positions requiring specific education and experience beyond the minimum qualifications. Approved applicants will receive, via email, information about the process of completing the online questionnaire and when it will be available. It is very important that you provide an up-to-date email address on your application as you will receive important communication via email, including any potential opportunities to update the online education and experience questionnaire. The Department of Civil Service may update the items in the selective certification questionnaire during the life of these eligible lists. All approved candidates are encouraged to complete the questionnaire to maximize opportunities for appointment; only candidates who complete the questionnaire and receive a passing score on the written examination will be considered for positions being filled through the use of selective certification. The validity of your information will be verified. This questionnaire will NOT be scored and must be completed within the required time period specified in the email. Final scores for these examinations are based only on the written test. Names of candidates who pass the examination, but do not complete this questionnaire, will appear on certifications of the general eligible list only.

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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. Logical reasoning using flowcharts - These questions test for ability to reason logically by solving problems involving given variables expressed in flowcharts and accompanying information. All information needed to answer the questions is included within the flowcharts and the accompanying information. Prior knowledge of flowchart conventions is necessary to answer these questions.
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. Systems analysis - These questions test for techniques and concepts of computer systems analysis. They cover such subjects as feasibility and applications studies, systems development tools and software, the systems life cycle, types of systems (e.g.,client/server, Web-based), controls, and systems documentation, testing, and implementation.
4. Understanding and interpreting a manual - These questions test for the ability to comprehend a set of directions and apply them. Candidates will be provided with a procedural manual excerpt to read. This information will be used to answer questions about procedures and the way operations should be carried out. All of the information needed to answer the questions is provided in the set of directions. Candidates will not be required to have any special knowledge about the content area covered.

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.

Note: The Department of Civil Service may administer tests either online or with paper booklets and answer sheets.

Admission To The Test: If approved for a written test, you will receive an admission notice which will indicate your assigned test date and the way your test will be administered. Your test may be administered with paper and pencil or online at a state test site using a state-provided Chromebook. You cannot request to change your scheduled day or request a specific type of test administration.

Applicants are required to have a Personal NY.gov account and keep their email address up to date. The Department of Civil Service and other state agencies will communicate with you through email correspondence. This may include the notification of your test arrangements, examination results, and canvassing you for interest in appointment. It will be important for you to keep your email address, phone number, and mailing address current by logging into https://www.cs.ny.gov/home/myaccount.

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How To Apply

Important: Unless waived, you must pay the non-refundable processing fee. For information on fee waivers, visit https://www.cs.ny.gov/examannouncements/types/oc/appinfo.cfm##Fee. Any past due application processing fees must be paid in full prior to submitting an application. Please email FeeUnitMail@cs.ny.gov regarding inquiries about any past due fee. It is important that you verify that you entered the correct examination number and title on your online or paper application prior to submitting. If you apply online, you should immediately review your email confirmation notice to verify that you applied for the correct examination.

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 employment, compensation, and other terms and conditions of employment without unlawful discrimination on the basis of age, race, color, religion, disability, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, veteran or military service member status, marital status, domestic violence victim status, genetic predisposition or carrier status, arrest and/or criminal conviction record, or any other category protected by law, 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

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 provide equal opportunity. Persons with disabilities who require an accommodation to participate in an examination must note this on their application. Further information is available from the Test Administration Unit of the Department of Civil Service. In the Albany area, call 518-457-2487. Outside of the Albany area, call toll free at 1-877-697-5627. For TDD services, call NY Relay at 711 (requires a fee) or 1-800-662-1220.

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, email us at AdmissionNotices@cs.ny.gov. Please provide your first and last name, address, and the last four digits of your social security number, and we will provide you with the information you need to attend your written test. If you have an issue other than not receiving your admission notice, please contact our office at (518) 474-6470 in the Albany area or toll free at 1-877-697-5627. Please leave a clear concise message and provide your first and last name, last four digits of your social security number and a daytime phone number.

Taking State and Local Examinations Scheduled for the Same Day

If you have applied to take a written test announced by either one or several local jurisdictions (county, town, city) scheduled to be held on the same test date as this written test, you must notify each of the local jurisdictions 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. For your convenience, contact information for all local civil service agencies is available on our website at: https://www.cs.ny.gov/jobseeker/local.cfm.

Cell Phones or Electronic/Communication Devices at the Test Site

The use of cell phones, beepers, headphones, or any electronic or other communication devices at your personal testing site or in the test room, hallways, restrooms, building, grounds, or other areas, except as expressly authorized by the Department of Civil Service, could result in your disqualification.

S1/TA1 BLM-rkv
Reissued: 9/28/22
***Revised Material: 9/28/22

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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