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Issued: January 25, 2021 Albany Municipal Civil Service Commission City Hall Room 301 Albany, New York 12207 Telephone: (518) 434-5049 PLEASE POST CONSPICUOUSLY AN OPEN COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR FIREFIGHTER, EXAM #63-185 FILING FEE: $30.00 NON-REFUNDABLE filing fee for each application submitted. If paying by check or money order, make payable to the Albany City Treasurer. Include exam number and last four digits of your social security number on the check. Include exam number and last four digits of your social security number on the check. **Fee waiver available within application. See page five for eligibility.** TO BE HELD: Saturday, May 1, 2021. Candidates will be notified by email of time and location. LAST FILING DATE: Applications must be submitted through jobs.albanyny.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. Monday, March 29, 2021. Individuals who are on military leave or recently discharged from military service are permitted to file for an examination up to ten days prior to the examination. VACANCY: Resulting eligible list to be used to fill vacancies in the Albany Fire Department. STARTING SALARY: $44,608/year (2021 Salary Schedule) **Salary increase available for Paramedics with regional on line privileges.** DUTIES OF THE POSITION: This class performs general firefighting and fire prevention duties. Employees in this class perform standardized manual work in combating and preventing fires, often under hazardous conditions. Although an employee is subject to firefighting duty at any time, regular assignments include a substantial element of routine maintenance and custodial work on station and equipment. Regular assignments also include responding to emergency medical calls and rendering emergency medical service to members of the public. All work is performed under the general supervision of a fire officer and inspected upon completion. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: Candidates must meet the minimum qualifications by the date of the examination.* • Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma. *ANTICIPATED ELIGIBILITY: Candidates who expect to graduate from high school or possess a high school equivalency diploma by September 1, 2021, will be allowed to participate in this exam. Proof of graduation must be received before candidates are eligible for appointment. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS: • United States citizenship is required. • A valid NYS Driver’s License is required at the time of appointment and for the duration of employment. • Possession of a valid New York State Health Department Emergency Medical Technician (EMT-B) Certification no less than five weeks prior to appointment and for the duration of employment. Please visit www.joinafd.org for information on local EMT training and preparation for the Candidate Physical Agility Testing (CPAT). APPLICATION AND A COPY OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MAY BE SECURED AT THE ABOVE ADDRESS OR AT THE CITY OF ALBANY WEBSITE: jobs.albanyny.gov ---PAGE BREAK--- Page 2 of 5 GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS TO APPLICANTS #1 AGE LIMITS: Unless otherwise specified in the examination an- nouncement, there are no age restrictions. However there may be statutory restrictions on your employ- ment if you are under 40 or over 70 years of age. #2 APPLICATION FORMS: Applications can be submitted by visiting jobs.albanyny.gov A standard application must be filed for each examination. The applicant should be certain that every question is answered and that the application is complete in all respects, including the title of the examination. #3 VETERAN'S CREDITS: For the purpose of claiming veteran's credits on a civil service examination, an applicant must have been honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances after serving on active duty with the armed forces of the United States during time of war. Disabled and non-disabled veterans who establish eligibility for additional credits and are successful in the examination are entitled to have 10 and 5 points, respectively, (5 and 2.5 points in the case of promotional examinations) added to their earned scores, provided they have not used such credits to obtain permanent appointment or promotion. Veterans may determine to waive the use of their credits at any time up to the time of permanent appointment or promotion. #4 TRANSCRIPTS: Whenever college transcripts or diplomas are requested, they should be submitted with the application for the examination or as soon thereafter as possible BEFORE the examination. #5 ADMISSIONS TO EXAMINATION: The Commission does not acknowledge receipt of applications but all applicants are notified of the disposition of their applications. Approved candidates will be notified at least four days in advance of the place, date and hour of the examination. Applicants who have not received notice by this deadline should contact the office of the Commission. Every candidate should bring his or her notice to appear, social security number and photo ID to the examination. Do not interpret a notice to appear for, or an actual participation in, the examination to mean that you have been found to meet fully the announced requirements. Applicants are admitted to the examination on the basis of statements made in the application. These statements may not be verified until after the examination has been held. Those candidates not meeting the requirements are disqualified at that time. Inquiries may be made as to character and ability of candidates. All statements made by candidates in their applications are subject to verification. #6 SATURDAY SABBATH OBSERVERS & HANDICAPPED PERSONS: If special arrangements for testing are required, indicate this on your application form. #7 RATINGS REQUIRED: This examination will be prepared and rated in accordance with Section 23.2 of the Civil Service Law. The provisions of New York State Civil Service Law, rules and regulations dealing with the preparation and rating of examinations, will apply to this examination. #8 MEDICAL EXAMINATIONS: Candidates may be required to have a medical examination to determine if they are physically capable of performing the duties of the position. #9 ELIGIBLE LISTS: Eligible lists are established for a minimum duration of one year but may be extended by the Commission before expiration, for a total of no more than four years. Changing conditions may make it necessary to certify to future vacancies at higher or lower salaries than those originally announced. #10 CHILDREN OF POLICE/FIREFIGHTERS KILLED ON DUTY CREDITS: 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 dead- line to provide the necessary documentation to verify additional credit eligibility. However, no credit may be added after the eligible list has been established. FILE YOUR APPLICATION IMMEDIATELY AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER ---PAGE BREAK--- Page 3 of 5 RESIDENCE: Candidates must have been legal residents of Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schoharie or Schenectady County for at least thirty (30) days immediately preceding the date of the written examination. ***RESIDENCY PREFERENCE FOR APPOINTMENT*** (ALLOWED FOR UNDER SECTION 23.4-a OF NEW YORK STATE CIVIL SERVICE LAW & CITY OF ALBANY LOCAL CIVIL SERVICE RULE VII) 1. Preference in appointment may be given to successful candidates who have been legal residents of the City of Albany for at least thirty (30) days immediately preceding the date of the written exam. 2. When preference in certification is given to residents of the City of Albany, in order to be included in certification as a resident of such municipality, an eligible candidate must be a legal resident on the date of the examination and must be a legal resident of the City of Albany at the time of certification and at the time of appointment. Scopes / Subjects of examination: A test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas. Ability to learn and apply information These questions test for the ability to learn new information and apply it to answer questions effectively. Candidates will read information presented in a Training Lesson and then answer questions regarding the information and procedures covered in the Training Lesson. All information needed to answer the questions will be provided in the Training Lesson, and candidates will be able to refer to the Training Lesson when answering the questions. Some of the questions may require candidates to combine information from different portions of what has been learned in the Training Lesson. No prior knowledge of any specific job or subject matter is needed. Basic arithmetic This section requires candidates to use basic arithmetic (add, subtract, multiply, divide) to find a missing value in a table of numbers. Candidates will not need to refer to the Training Lesson or any other section of the test to answer the questions in this section. All information needed to answer each question will be contained in this section. No knowledge of firefighting or any other job is required. Candidates should bring a hand-held battery- or solar-powered calculator for use on this test. Candidates will not be permitted to use the calculator function on their cell phone. Reading comprehension These questions test for the ability to understand written materials sentences, passages) and answer questions about the information presented. Candidates will be provided with reading passages, followed by questions related to each passage. Each question will require candidates to demonstrate that they have read and understood the information contained in the passage. Situational judgment This section tests for the ability to identify appropriate and effective responses to work-related challenges. Candidates will be presented with several scenarios that reflect the types of challenges one could encounter in a work environment. They will then be asked to rate the effectiveness of a number of possible responses to each scenario. ---PAGE BREAK--- Page 4 of 5 Test guide: A Guide for the Written Test for Firefighter is available at the New York State website: Candidates not having access to a computer or the internet may request copy of the test guide from the municipal civil service office conducting this examination using the contact information found elsewhere on this announcement. NOTE: Candidates are RECOMMENDED to use a quiet, hand-held, solar or battery powered calculator. Devices with typewriter keyboard, spell checkers, personal digital assistants, address books, language translators, dictionaries or any other similar devices are prohibited. YOU WILL NOT BE PERMITTED TO USE THE CALCULATOR FUNCTION OF YOUR CELL PHONE. YOU MAY NOT BRING PENS, HIGHLIGHTERS, FIREARMS, BOOKS OR OTHER REFERENCE MATERIAL TO THE TEST. CITIZENSHIP – It shall be a condition of employment that candidates possess United States citizenship at the time of appointment and maintain said citizenship throughout their career. BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION – Candidates may be subject to a thorough background investigation to determine suitability for appointment. Applicants may be required to authorize access to educational, employment and criminal history, as well as other records checks as part of such investigation. Criminal convictions or other offenses are subject to evaluation and may result in disqualification. Applicants will be required to submit the necessary fees for the fingerprint processing, where required. CANDIDATE PHYSICAL AGILITY TEST (CPAT) – It shall be a condition of employment that candidates successfully pass a functional capacity test. A candidate who fails the Candidate Physical Agility Test (CPAT) will be able to retest in the next round of hiring from the current list. SPECIAL NOTE: Any candidate who successfully passes a Candidate Physical Agility Test (CPAT), certified by the New York State Office of Fire Prevention & Control, within an eighteen (18) month period prior to appointment date will not be required to test. Candidates must provide adequate proof to the City of Albany Civil Service Commission to be waived from further testing. MEDICAL TESTING – It shall be a condition of employment that candidates successfully pass a medical examination. It shall be a condition of continued employment in the Albany Department of Fire and Emergency Services that employees submit to and successfully pass these examinations throughout their career. EVALUATION – Candidates who pass the written test will be required to pass a qualifying examination(s) prior to appointment. Candidates who do not successfully complete the evaluation are reinstated to the eligible list after one year from initial evaluation. DRUG TESTING – It shall be a condition of employment that candidates submit to and successfully pass a urinalysis test for the detection of drug and/or substance abuse at the time of appointment. Evidence of drug and/or substance abuse shall be grounds for disqualification from appointment. CROSS-FILER STATEMENT: If you have applied for 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. ---PAGE BREAK--- Page 5 of 5 If you have applied for both State and local government examinations, you must notify the City of Albany of your intent to take both a State and a local government examination. When taking both a State and a local government examination you will be required to take all your examinations at a State examination center. You will be advised by letter when and where to report for your examinations. 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 by calling our office at (518) 434-5049 no later than 14 days before the date of the examination. You must notify all local government Civil Service agencies with which you have filed an application of the site where you wish to take your examinations. A cross-filer application must be completed for City of Albany examinations. VETERAN’S CREDIT: Veterans or disabled veterans who are eligible for additional credit must submit an application for veteran’s credit with their application for examination or at any time between the dates of their application for examination and the date of the establishment of the resulting eligible list. Applications for veteran’s credit are available from this office. Veteran’s credits can only be added to a passing score on the examination. Effective January 1, 1998, the State Constitution was amended to permit a candidate currently in the armed forces to apply for and be conditionally granted veteran’s credit in examinations. Any candidate who applies for such credit must provide proof of military status to receive the conditional credit. No credit may be granted after the establishment of the list. It is the responsibility of the candidate to provide appropriate documentary proof indicating that the service was in time of war, as defined in Section 85 of Civil Service Law, and that the candidate received an honorable discharge or was released under honorable conditions in order to be certified at a score including veteran’s credits. APPLICATION FEE WAIVER: A waiver of application fee will be allowed if you are: - Currently unemployed AND primarily responsible for the support of a household OR; - Determined eligible for Medicaid OR; - Currently Receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments OR; - Currently Receiving Public Assistance (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families TANF or Safety Net Assistance SNA) OR; - Certified Job Training Partnership/Workforce Investment Act Eligible OR; - A Veteran discharged under honorable conditions from the Armed Forces or the United States of New York State OR; - A recent high school graduate or recipient of a general education development (GED) certificate within the last two years AND a City of Albany resident (up to a total of two exams) All claims for application fee waiver are subject to verification. If you can verify eligibility for application fee waiver, complete the “Fee Waiver Information” within the fee/payment section of the online application available at jobs.albanyny.gov