Ulster
County Personnel Department
Civil Service Examination
Announcement
FILING FEE $20.00
#64530
PUBLIC HEALTH SANITARIAN
OPEN-COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION
LAST DATE FOR FILING
APPLICATIONS: September 7, 2012
EXAMINATION DATE: October 20, 2012
SALARY: The starting salary is currently listed at
$25.01 per hour.
MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must meet the following requirement(s)
on or before the date of the examination:
Either:
A. Possession of a Baccalaureate Degree
from a regionally accredited or New York State registered four (4) year college
or university with thirty (30) semester credit hours in the physical or biological
sciences, and satisfactory completion of a training course approved by the New
York State Health Department within one year of appointment; OR
B. Five (5) years of experience as a
Public Health Technician deemed satisfactory by the local commissioner of
health and satisfactory completion of a training course approved by the New
York State Health Department at the time of appointment.
ANTICIPATED ELIGIBILITY (FOR
MINIMUM QUALIFICATION ‘A’ ONLY):
If you expect to complete the
educational requirement within six months of the date of examination, you may
apply. If successful on the examination,
you will not be certified for appointment until you have submitted proof of
completion of the requirements to the Ulster County Personnel Department.
WHERE COLLEGE IS A
REQUIREMENT, YOU WILL BE EXPECTED TO SUBMIT COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS NO LATER THAN NOVEMBER
5, 2012 OR YOU WILL BE UNCONDITIONALLY DISQUALIFIED. IF COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS ARE ALREADY ON FILE
WITH OUR OFFICE, INDICATE THIS ON YOUR APPLICATION. ONCE SUBMITTED, COLLEGE TRANSCRIPTS WILL BE
HELD ON FILE IN OUR OFFICE FOR A PERIOD OF TEN YEARS. TRANSCRIPTS NEED
NOT BE OFFICIAL COPIES; HOWEVER, THEY MUST CONTAIN ALL INFORMATION
NECESSARY TO QUALIFY YOU FOR THIS POSITION.
NOTE: If your degree and/or college credit was
awarded by an educational institution outside of the
APPLICATION
REVIEW TOLERANCE POLICY
For
the purposes of this policy, "tolerance" shall mean the leeway given
regarding work experience when reviewing an application. Applicants lacking a
small amount of work experience when applying for promotional or
open-competitive examinations may qualify under the following conditions:
1) Candidates will be given a maximum tolerance of one (1) month.
2) Tolerance will be given only
when the minimum qualification requires one or more years of work
experience.
3) Tolerance Policy does not
apply to education or licensure/certification requirements. (See particular
examination announcement for "Anticipated Eligibility" information).
4) Tolerance Policy does not
apply where required work experience is set forth by law or rules.
5) Tolerance Policy does not
apply to enable applicants to meet residence requirements.
For
more information regarding Tolerance Policy, please contact our office at (845)
340-3550.
DISTINGUISHING FEATURES OF THE
CLASS: A sanitarian under supervision performs
professional activities which may include the investigation and inspection of
environmental health control. He
investigates nuisance conditions, interprets laboratory reports, provides
training, assistance and supervision of subordinate personnel, prepares reports
and recommendations and testifies at enforcement proceedings. Does related work as required
SUBJECT OF EXAMINATION: Written test will cover knowledge, skills,
and/or abilities in such areas as:
1. Inspection and interviewing
techniques
These questions test your
ability to select the proper course of action in situations which might occur
during routine inspections. Question topics may cover, but will not be limited
to, such areas as interviewing, gathering information and evidence, maintaining
proper attitude, and handling irregularities and violations with integrity and
sound judgment. Some questions may be in a situational format while others may
deal with the proper principles and practices of inspection.
2. Application of scientific
principles and knowledge to public and environmental health protection
These questions test for
knowledge of public and environmental health principles, the ability to
investigate and identify the causes of various public and environmental health
problems, and to recommend the appropriate remedial actions for such problems.
3. 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.
4. Basic principles of
biology, chemistry, and general science
These questions test for
knowledge of elementary concepts and principles in the fields of general
science, biology, and chemistry.
5. Microbiology as related to
disease prevention and control, sanitary chemistry, and toxic substances
These questions test for
knowledge of the principles and practices of microbiology involved in disease
prevention and control, including such areas as food, water and environmental
sanitation, toxic substances, and communicable diseases.
The New York State Department
of Civil Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However,
candidates may find information in the publication "How to take a written
test" helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on
line at: www.cs.ny.gov/testing/localtestguides.cfm.
CALCULATORS: "Unless specifically prohibited,
candidates are permitted to use quiet, hand‑held, solar or battery
powered calculators. Devices with
typewriter keyboards, ‘Spell‑Checkers’, ‘Personal Digital Assistants’,
‘Address Books’, ‘Language Translators’, ‘Dictionaries’ and any similar devices
are prohibited."
*FEES*: Send your check or money order for twenty
dollars ($20.00) (made payable to
EXCEPTION TO FEE REQUIREMENT: An exception to the processing fee will be
made for persons receiving Supplemental Social Security payments or public
assistance (Safety Net Assistance or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families),
provided Foster Care or certified Workforce Investment Act of 1998 eligible
through a state or local social service agency, and for those who are currently
unemployed. Individuals wishing to claim
this waiver of fee on the basis of Supplemental Social Security, Safety Net
Assistance or Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, must certify on their
application, under number 20 Remarks, that they are
receiving public assistance and must indicate the type of assistance they are
receiving, the agency providing the assistance and their case numbers. Persons
claiming this waiver through Foster Care or Workforce Investment Act of 1998
Certification must specify the program and name of their contact agency.
Persons claiming this waiver, who are currently unemployed must certify on
their application, under number 20 Remarks, that they
are currently unemployed and must provide documentation that they are receiving
unemployment benefits or other unemployment documentation deemed appropriate by
the Ulster County Personnel Officer. Such
claims are subject to later verification and, if not supported by appropriate
documentation, are grounds for barring appointment.
Applications may be obtained
at the
For those applications
submitted in person on the last file date, please submit no later than 4:30 PM.
All applications must be in our office no later than 5:00 PM on the last file
date. Applications postmarked by the last file date will also be accepted.
This
examination is being prepared and rated by the New York State Department of
Civil Service in accordance with Section 23‑2 of the Civil Service
Law. The provisions of the New York
State Civil Service Rules and Regulations dealing with the rating of
examinations will apply to this test.
CRIMINAL
BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION POLICY: In accordance with Ulster County Local Law
Number 14 of 2007, a criminal background check (including fingerprinting) will
be initiated by the Ulster County Personnel Department upon initial employment
or re-hire to Ulster County positions, and conducted by the New York State
Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS), the New
York State Office of Court Administration, the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services Verification Information System (IMAGE Program), or any
law enforcement agency.
SPECIAL NOTE: All public agencies are required by law to
provide full and equal opportunities for minorities, women and to people with
disabilities. All qualified candidates are encouraged to compete without regard
to race, creed or national origin. Applicants requesting special testing
arrangements as a Saturday Sabbath Observer, alternate test date candidate (in
accordance with Alternate Test Date Policy), or an active member of the
military away from the area on the scheduled test date must clearly indicate
this fact on the application. All such requests must be supported by
appropriate documentation.
VETERANS: Non-disabled and disabled
veterans who wish to claim additional credits must request a Veterans Credits
application from our office. This form must be completed and submitted along
with a war service (DD214) form prior to the establishment of the
resulting eligible list. Veterans credits may only be added to a passing score
and may only be used for appointment once. Candidates currently in the
armed forces may apply for and be conditionally granted veteran’s credits. Any candidate who applies for such credits
must provide proof of military status to receive the conditional credits. You
may not claim additional Veterans Credits after the eligible list has been
established. It is the candidate’s responsibility to request the Veterans
Credits application forms and submit these forms and any required supporting
paperwork before the eligible list is established.
ADDITIONAL CREDITS FOR
CHILDREN OF FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY: In conformance with section 85-a of the Civil
Service Law, children of firefighters and police officers killed in the line of
duty shall be entitled to receive an additional ten points in a competitive
examination for original appointment in the same municipality in which his or
her parent has served. If you are
qualified to participate in this examination and are a child of a firefighter
or police officer killed in the line of duty in this municipality, please
inform this office of this matter when you submit your application for
examination. A candidate claiming such
credit has a minimum of two months from the application deadline to provide the
necessary documentation to verify additional credit eligibility. However, no credit may be added after the
eligible list has been established.
APPLYING FOR CIVIL SERVICE
EXAMINATIONS IN MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS WHEN
EXAMINATIONS ARE SCHEDULED ON SAME DATE: If you have applied for any other Civil
Service examinations for employment with New York State or any other local
government jurisdiction, you must make arrangements to take all the
examinations at one test site.
If you have applied for both State
and Local government examinations, you must make arrangements to take
all your examinations at the State examination center by calling (518)
457‑7022 no later than two weeks before the test date.
If you have applied for other
local government examinations, call or write to each Civil Service Agency to
make arrangements. You must make your
request for these arrangements no later than two weeks before the date
of the examinations. You must notify all
local government civil service agencies with whom you have filed an application
of the test site at which you wish to take your examination(s). For this examination call (845) 340‑
3531 OR write to Ulster County Personnel Department,
*If candidates have not
received notification of this examination within four (4) days of the
examination, they should contact this office immediately.
#64530
ORIGINAL COPY: YELLOW
ISSUED: August 8, 2012