Interdepartmental promotion examination open to all qualified employees of New York State.

Senior Economist

The eligible list established as a result of this examination will be used to fill Senior Economist and the following agency specific titles:

• Senior Economist Environmental Impact
• Senior Economist Labor Research
• Senior Economist Milk Marketing

For Promotion in State Departments, Facilities, and Agencies

1. Within Promotion Units
2. Within Entire Departments
3. To Other Departments

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Minimum Qualifications

On or before May 14, 2016,* you must be a qualified employee of New York State and have had three months of permanent competitive, non-competitive, or 55-b/55-c service as follows:

Either A. as an Economist, Economist (Various Parenthetics), Economist Trainee, or Economist Trainee (Various Parenthetics);

Or B. as an Assistant Actuary, Biostatistician, or Statistician AND you must possess 18 semester credit hours in economics and an additional 6 semester credit hours from among the following course work areas: computer science, economics, econometrics, mathematics, operations research, research methods or statistics.**

*Anticipated Eligibility: If you expect to meet the educational requirements by August 31, 2016, 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 requirements to the hiring agency at the time of the interview.

**If you qualify under option B of the minimum qualifications, you must submit a listing of the qualifying courses with your application by completing the College Education AND Course Information sections of the online application. Applications submitted without a list of courses will be disqualified.

If you were permanently appointed to a qualifying title on or before February 14, 2016, and have served continuously in this title since that date, you are eligible to file for this examination.

Qualifying Experience for Appointment from the Eligible List

After one year of service as an Economist, Economist (Various Parenthetics), Assistant Actuary, Biostatistician, or Statistician, successful candidates will be qualified for appointment from the eligible list.

Eligibles who meet the “B” qualifications, and who are subsequently appointed to an “A” title, may request to have their name added to the “A” list, once they have completed the one year of service in the “A” title. The request should be submitted in writing to the NYS Department of Civil Service, Albany, NY 12239; Attention: S1/JBH.

Order of Certification

The order of certification of this eligible list will be:

1. Promotion Unit "A" eligibles
2. Promotion Unit "All" eligibles
3. Department "A" eligibles
4. Department "All" eligibles
5. Interdepartmental "A" eligibles
6. Interdepartmental "All" eligibles

Notes

1. Your degree or 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 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. You must pay the required evaluation fee. You must mail the independent verification of equivalency to the NYS Department of Civil Service, Albany, New York 12239. Attention: S1/JBH.
2. In accordance with Section 52.11 of the Civil Service Law, individuals serving permanently in the non-competitive class in a qualifying title (including those serving under Section 55-b/55-c) who otherwise meet the requirements for taking this examination are eligible to compete in this promotion examination.
3. This examination is being held on an interdepartmental promotion and open-competitive basis. If you are admitted to the promotion examination under anticipated eligibility (i.e., you do not have the required one year of Qualifying Experience For Appointment From The Eligible List) and if you meet the open-competitive minimum qualifications, you may also be admitted to the open-competitive examination. To be admitted, you must apply for the open-competitive examination according to the instructions given on the open-competitive announcement. Once you meet the required one year of qualifying service for appointment from the promotion list, you will not be eligible for appointment from the open-competitive eligible list.
4. This examination has special minimum qualifications in addition to the usual "time in service requirement." Please list all pertinent information online.
5. Important: As the processing fee is non-refundable, verify that you entered the correct examination number and title on your online application prior to submitting. You should immediately review your email confirmation notice to verify that you applied for the correct examination. If you do not receive a confirmation number after submitting your online application, your application was NOT received by the Department of Civil Service. No late applications will be accepted after the filing deadline has passed.

SELECTIVE CERTIFICATION: Approved applicants will have an opportunity to complete an 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. 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. This questionnaire will NOT be scored and must be completed within the required time period specified in the email. Your final score for the Senior Economist examination is based only on the written test. Names of candidates who pass the examination, but do not complete this questionnaire, will appear on the general eligible list only.

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, in the order of certification: (1) within promotion units, (2) within entire Departments, or (3) to other Departments. 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 (see above). 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, in the same order of certification described above. Final scores are based on the results of the written test 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. 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.
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. You should bring with you a hand-held battery- or solar-powered calculator for use on this test. You will not be permitted to use the calculator function of your cell phone.
4. Basic statistical concepts - These questions test for knowledge of the analytical methods used to reduce and describe large sets of numerical data. The questions cover such areas as the organization and presentation of data, statistical terminology, central tendency, variability, the normal curve, and correlation. You will not be required to do any substantial manipulation of data.
5. Economic principles and theories - These questions test for a knowledge of contemporary economics. The questions will cover such areas as price theory and related topics in microeconomics, macroeconomics, employment and labor economics, and regulatory economics.

If you pass, your seniority credit(s), if any, will be included in the computation of your final score. Rank on the eligible list will be determined after adding any wartime veterans' credits to your final passing score.

Credit for Seniority

Seniority is credited at the rate of one credit for each five-year period (or fraction thereof), excluding the first year of service.

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Duties

As a Senior Economist you would conduct surveys including: devising approaches for obtaining information, assisting in selection of samples, and providing facts and information required in the administration of various governmental programs. You would conduct difficult economic research and analysis on a wide range of technical subjects. You would collect information and assemble and write comprehensive analyses on such subjects as general business and industrial trends, markets, prices, housing, employment, milk marketing, banking, population and labor market trends and issues.

Important: The Department of Civil Service and other state agencies may communicate with you through email correspondence. This may include the notification of your 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

If you do not receive a confirmation number after submitting your online application, your application was NOT processed.

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 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, or arrest and/or criminal conviction record unless based upon a bona fide occupational qualification or other exception.

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, call 518-474 6470 in the Albany area or toll free at 1-877-697-5627.

Multiple 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: http://www.cs.ny.gov/jobseeker/local.cfm

Eligibility for Examination

To be eligible to compete in this examination, you must be employed in the specified department or agency on a permanent or contingent permanent basis in the competitive class, or in the non-competitive class or labor class if specifically noted on this announcement (or be on an appropriate preferred list), and have the specified time in the specified title or salary grade. You may not compete in a test for a title if you are permanently employed in that title (unless you are still on probation) or in a higher direct line of promotion.

Cell Phones or Electronic/Communication Devices at the Test Site

Do not bring cell phones, beepers, headphones, or any electronic or other communication devices to the test site. The use of such devices at the test site in the test room, hallways, restrooms, building, grounds, or other areas could result in your disqualification.

S1/TB2 JBH-tlm
Issued: 2/26/2016

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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