The Department of Civil Service is undertaking a comprehensive strategic planning effort to engage a variety of stakeholders and develop the future vision for the civil service merit system in New York State.
This transformation is focused on customer service, sustainability, and onboarding best practices aimed at recruiting the next generation of public employees and leaders.
As part of this effort, the Department is looking to leverage technology to develop a customer-friendly, fully accessible, innovative method to examine candidates for merit and fitness, while building a workforce that mirrors the diversity and ability of all New York State residents.
The end goal is to develop new automated processes to improve the experiences of both candidates and HR professionals and orient hiring practices towards matching the most qualified candidates with open positions quickly and equitably.
This page will be a resource to share updates on the transformation.
A vacancy-based Training and Experience (T&E) examination is a competitive civil service assessment method that scores candidates based on their education and work experience rather than a written cognitive test. The vacancy-based T&E is one component of the competitive examination process. The Department of Civil Service (DCS) has used T&Es for decades, and they are currently utilized to assess candidates for a broad range of open-competitive, entry-level titles including (but not limited to): Correction Officers, Motor Vehicle Representatives, Attorneys, Engineers, Child Protective Specialists, Emergency Medical Technicians, and Nurses.
NY HELPS temporarily waives the examination for nearly all jobs open to the public. To date, more than 38,000 appointments have been made into New York State jobs and more than 14,000 appointments across participating local government agencies. NY HELPS is in place through June 2026.
10 regional locations opened in DOL Career Centers. Each CCG has a dedicated Civil Service employee to meet jobseekers where they are and work with the local community to create awareness of the many opportunities that are available in public service.
To make testing more convenient for all New Yorkers, the Department will begin opening Computer-Based Testing Centers across the State in the coming months.
The Department will be implementing a new NYS Jobs Portal and Applicant Management System to streamline recruitment, modernize the hiring process, and improve efficiency.
The Department is working with a vendor to conduct a total compensation analysis to review the current value of the compensation packages employees receive.
The Department is meeting and engaging with several key stakeholders to discuss the transformation plans. Listed below are meetings and engagements that have taken place. The Department is also communicating with additional key stakeholders on a regular basis via phone calls and emails.
The Department is planning additional stakeholder engagement and will update this page as these sessions occur.
You may have a lot of questions when thinking about the Department of Civil Service Transformation efforts. Please see our DCS Transformation FAQ page.
Please see below for additional resources that will provide more information about The Department's transformation efforts.