ROCHESTER, N.Y. \u2014 There is a major effort to advance the opportunities of New York state\u2019s public sector employees and to hire more state workers.<\/p>\n
The state is opening new advanced computer-based testing facilities across upstate as a step in the Civil Service transformation effort.<\/p>\n
What You Need To Know<\/p>\n
Civil Service computer-based testing centers are open in upstate New York
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The effort helps state workers advance and grow
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Currently, there are about 180,000 New York state employees, with some 18,000 current job postings<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the past, we held civil service exams one to two times per month, usually on the weekends,\u201d said Debra Penn. She has taken the civil service test a handful of times over the years.<\/p>\n
Penn started as an intern at the Department of Civil Service and is now the director of testing services, now looking back on the old way of doing things.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was paper and pencil,” Penn said. “So, we had the bubble sheets; we had paper booklets. Everyone had to bring their number two pencils. And so, the traditional system, it was not very flexible; it was not very accessible.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s now a thing of the past as the New York State Department of Civil Service is announcing the opening of new computer-based testing centers across the state.<\/p>\n
A total of 12 such centers are set to be open by the end of 2027.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis has been a game changer for our state employees,\u201d said Timothy Hogues, commissioner of the Department of Civil Service.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt Civil Service, our team has just looked at how can we reduce the barriers for entry into the New York state Civil Service opportunities,\u201d said Hogues.<\/p>\n
Tests are now taken on a computer at convenient times for test takers, as the sites are open six days a week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has changed the face of state government,” Hogues said. “On state government alone, there’s been over 42,000 appointments since 2023.”<\/p>\n
Right now, there are about 180,000 New York state employees, with some 18,000 current job postings.<\/p>\n
The upgrades are supported by the union that represents some 60,000 public sector workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you like what you’re doing, fine. But if you want to grow, which is CSEAs always trying to promote, then that’s what you’ve got to try to do. And this gives them more opportunities to do so,\u201d said Tom Finnigan, executive vice president at CSEA.<\/p>\n
While the testing facilities are for current state employees. Once they advance in their careers, it opens up new opportunities for others.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely. Because more people having the opportunity to get promotions means entry level positions now become open for people to be able to come in,\u201d said Finnigan.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s part of a larger effort to open the doors of opportunity to those seeking to work for the government that includes Gov. Kathy Hochul\u2019s recent announcement of NY HELPS \u2013 a two-year program that just began in June.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt gives individuals the opportunity to get well-paid jobs with benefits and pensions and all that type of stuff,\u201d said Hogues. \u201cThere’s a huge opportunity to grow. And so, if you’re thinking about working for the state, we’re saying come apply.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ROCHESTER, N.Y. \u2014 There is a major effort to advance the opportunities of New York state\u2019s public sector…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":291830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[2024,2025,9,11,10,49,51,50,12,115,200,1839],"class_list":["post-291829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-app-in-the-community","tag-community-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-news","tag-rochester","tag-vod","tag-wendy-wright"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=291829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/291829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/291830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=291829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=291829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=291829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}