Administrative Assistant 1/Trainee 1/Trainee 2 (NY HELPS)

Minimum Qualifications

This title is part of the New York Hiring for Emergency Limited Placement Statewide Program (NY HELPS).*

To be considered for appointment through NY HELPS candidates must meet the open-competitive minimum qualifications for this position.

This title includes a traineeship opportunity and applicants will be appointed to the appropriate level** based on their experience and education.

• Administrative Assistant level requirements:
• Administrative Assistant Trainee 1 (equated to SG-8): Six months of experience in administrative support.
• Administrative Assistant Trainee 2 (equated to SG-10): One year of experience in administrative support.
  
  

Administrative Assistant 1, SG-11: Two years of experience in administrative support.

Required administrative support experience: use of office software (e.g., email, word processing), provision of customer service, business writing, and/or office administration. The selected candidate must pass a keyboarding test that demonstrates the ability to enter text at a rate of at least 30 words per minute with at least 96% accuracy by completion of probation.

Substitution: Certification (e.g., IAAP Certified Administrative Professional) or associate’s degree in office administration, secretarial science, administrative assistance, paralegal, business technology, or office technology substitutes for two years of experience.

Applicants may also be appointed to this position if currently reachable on the appropriate eligible list for this title OR are a current New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services employee with one year or more permanent, contingent-permanent or 55b/c service as an Administrative Assistant 1 and are interested in reassignment OR are a current New York State employee in a position allocated to a Grade 6 or above and eligible for transfer under Section 70.1 of the Civil Service Law.

• NOTE: Candidates who have not previously served in a keyboarding title must demonstrate adequate keyboarding skills (e.g., the ability to type 30 words per minute with at least 96 percent accuracy) by passing the Keyboard Performance Test.
  
  

If there are no more than three qualified candidates in the promotion field for this position, the agency will request approval from the Department of Civil Service to fill this position via a noncompetitive promotion (NCP) examination, pursuant to Section 52.7 of the Civil Service Law. In order to be eligible for the NCP, candidates must be in the direct promotion field, must not have failed, or failed to take the last holding of the promotion examination for the title listed above, and have one year of permanent competitive or 55-b/55-c service in an office assistant, clerical, or keyboarding title allocated to Grade 6 or higher. Only the titles listed are qualifying. Qualifying titles are listed at: https://www.cs.ny.gov/examannouncements/announcements/38701titles.cfm.

Dependent upon qualifications, if appointed as a trainee, successful completion of a one-year or two-year traineeship leads to appointment as an Administrative Assistant 1, SG-11. To be advanced to the full performance level of this title you must successfully complete a set training and development program.

Duties Description

The incumbent will report to the State Preparedness Training Center (SPTC) Administrative Office. Duties include but are not limited to:

• Respond to a high volume of telephone calls, voicemail messages, and e-mails to effectively manage inquiries and answer routine questions.
• Schedule appointments and meetings integral to the work of the office on a continuous basis.
• Be proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, Statewide Learning Management System (SLMS) and Acadis Learning Management System (LMS) as well as other software applications adopted for use by DHSES.
• Draft and edit written or visual material, including training guides and presentations.
• Prepare reports using statistical and narrative information.
• Organize and maintain filing systems, paper and electronic mail, data entry, and data functions to create and maintain spreadsheets and databases.
• Maintain the SPTC calendar, handle correspondence, reports, and other documents prepared by SPTC management.
• Provide administrative support services, recommendations, and assistance to staff including the editing, reviewing, formatting, and distribution of written documents in accordance with agency procedures and the preparation of complex statistical reports, related charts, and graphs.
• Assist in monitoring expenditures.
• Assist other office staff members with their duties as needed and cover their duties in their absence.
  
  

Additional Comments

• This title is part of the New York Hiring for Emergency Limited Placement Statewide Program (NY HELPS). For the duration of the NY HELPS Program, this title may be filled via a non-competitive appointment, which means no examination is required but all candidates must meet the minimum qualifications of the title for which they apply. At a future date, it is expected employees hired under NY HELPS will have their non-competitive employment status converted to competitive status, without having to compete in an examination. Employees will then be afforded with all of the same rights and privileges of competitive class employees of New York State. While serving permanently in an NY HELPS title, employees may take part in any promotion examination for which they are qualified.
  
  

NOTE: Support of operations during times of emergency and disaster from State Emergency Operations Center (EOC), state field offices and/or local deployments may be required, which would result in a change and/or increase in working hours, locations and/or duties.

NOTE ON TELECOMMUTING: Employees are required to apply and obtain approval through management to telecommute according to the agency’s Telecommuting Program Guidelines.