Civil
Service Exams / Government Jobs Exams / Postal Exams
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Tests are required for specific groups including foreign service
officers, customs, some secretarial and clerical, air traffic control,
law enforcement, postal service, and for certain entry level jobs. The
majority — approximately 80% — of government jobs are filled through a
competitive examination of your background, work experience, and
education, not through a written test.
Many exams have been replaced with
Occupational Questionnaires.
Federal and postal jobs are
posted online and individuals
complete their application, federal style resume,
and questionnaire online. If an exam is required, you will be notified of the testing date and
location.
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Personnel offices rate applications and generate hiring lists within two to
six weeks from the job announcement’s closing date. The “Best Qualified”
applicants are referred to a selection official for consideration. The
occupational questionnaire is discussed in Chapter Six of
The Book of U.S. Government Jobs.
Notice that I mentioned federal style résumé
several times. I emphasize “federal style” because a resume in the federal
sector is nothing like most private sector one-page résumés. A federal style
résumé is highly structured and may contain 43 specific blocks of
information and the format is standardized. A typical federal style résumé
is between three and six pages long and if Knowledge, Skills, Abilities
statements are required your résumé could easily reach seven to 10 pages or
more. If you submit an improperly formatted résumé it may be rejected or at
the very least you may not rate “Best Qualified” for the job.
Most people who first approach the federal sector are taken aback
by the amount of time, energy, and paperwork required to apply for jobs.
Applicants who put the extra effort and time into compiling their own unique
federal style résumé and tailor it to the job
announcement are more likely to succeed.
Clerical and administrative support written exams were used to measure the
clerical and verbal abilities needed to design, organize, and use a filing
system, organize effectively the clerical process in an office, make travel,
meeting and conference arrangements, locate and assemble information for reports
and briefings, compose non-technical correspondence, be effective in oral
communication, and use office equipment.
Most agencies choose to use the occupational questionnaire and self
certification instead of the written clerical test. Clerical tests and other
written exams were made optional by OPM years ago. Applicants, for the most
part today, complete an occupational questionnaire, submit a federal style
résumé, and self certify typing speed.
To find a clerical job announcement review the Administrative
& Clerical GS-300 Job Series for clerical job vacancy announcements. You first must
identify a
clerical job announcement in your area and then you apply online. You will
be notified by the agency if an exam is required or they will direct you to
complete an Occupational Questionnaire online. If an exam is required you must
bring the following items with you:
1) An eraser
2) a pen, three median No. 2 lead pencils
3) any other documents or forms that are requested.
Clerical Job Announcements:
General Experience: High school graduation or the
equivalent may be substituted for experience at the GS-2 level for all listed
occupations except Clerk-Stenographer, where it maybe substituted for experience
at the GS-3 level. Equivalent combinations of successfully completed education
and experience requirements may be used to meet total experience requirements at
grades GS-5 and below.
Table 5-1 in The Book of U.S. Government Jobs lists the positions and grades covered under the Clerical and
Administrative qualification requirements. Positions at higher grade levels in
listed occupations are covered under separate examinations.
Typing Proficiency
Typing proficiency is determined one of several ways. You can present a speed
certification statement from a typing course, take a typing test with OPM, or
personally certify that you type 40 or more words per minute and later take a
test upon reporting
for duty.
Testing Process
If a written clerical test is required it will consist of two parts, clerical aptitude and verbal
abilities. To pass the written test, applicants must make a minimum score of 33
on the verbal abilities and a minimum combined total score of 80 on both the
clerical and verbal parts. A score of 80 converts to a numerical rating of 70.
In addition to written tests, applicants must complete an online Occupational
Supplement that is used to determine an applicants' minimum qualifications based on a review of
their education and work experience.
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