State civil service jobs are all the jobs that come under the government sector except for uniformed jobs such as the army, navy, and air force. The jobs include the executive, judicial and legislative sections of the government. Most of the state civil service jobs are merit based and earned after extremely competitive examinations. This is practiced for the lower post in the state civil service. The senior posts such as important agencies and executive positions are given to politically appointed persons. However, at the beginning of the 1800s the state civil service jobs were awarded by the president and could be taken away at any time.
The state civil service is divided into two main categories; the competitive service and the excepted service. The competitive service is where job candidates need to go through rigorous testing in order to be accepted. Almost all state civil service jobs in the executive branch. Except for jobs that are specially exempted from the competitive service by statute, jobs that are nominated by the United Sates Senate, and jobs in the Senior Executive Service. People employed through the competitive service are given a significant amount of rights to protect their positions, while the government maintains its control over the employees.
The excepted service mainly consists of the national security and intelligence areas of the state civil service. The most popular divisions of the excepted service are the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National Security Agency (NSA). The main difference between jobs in the excepted service and those in the competitive service is the lack of the employee’s rights under the excepted service. When it comes to being fired or being disciplined on the job, members of the excepted service are no given letter thirty days ahead and the right to a trial.
The salaries of the state civil service workers tend to be higher than those of the private sector. In addition to their base pay, members of the state civil service receive additional benefits depending on the state they live in. The General Schedule is the pay scale that is used by the executive members of the civil service, whereas the lower positions use a Wage Grade pay scale. Other agencies such as the Federal Reserve System have developed their own pay scale.
The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 created three agencies to monitor the State civil service. Each agency is responsible for different areas. Together they make sure that employees are not treated unfairly, guiding the various agencies within the state civil service, and overlooks the rights of employees of the state civil service. The main cause behind this act was to make sure the state civil service does not encourage incompetency.
Police service falls under the category of law enforcement jobs in U.S. civil service. Homeland Security, the Justice, Defense and Treasury departments all fall under the umbrella of law enforcement, which house a host of state employment opportunities. All police officer applicants must take the police civil service exam as the first step to be qualified for police service.
Prior to taking the police civil service exam, applicants have to satisfy the minimum qualifications as specified by the state, such as age, citizenship, education received, and also physical and mental fitness. Applicants who satisfy the minimum requirements become eligible to sit for the examination. The police civil service exam comprises of a written component and an oral component. The exams are offered by municipal civil service agencies in each state in the U.S. Therefore, the examination criteria, subject areas, scores, and expected performance levels may vary from state to state. Candidates who successfully pass the police civil service exam in his/her state are included in the eligibility list, which brings them closer to be instated in a prestigious position as a police officer.
The written section of the police civil service exam basically tests the applicant's competency in spelling, grammar, punctuation, mathematics, logical thinking and reasoning, situational awareness, processing information using charts and graphs and reading comprehension. The oral examination focuses mainly on assessing the candidate's reasoning and judgment skills through scenario based questions.
A candidate is retained in the eligibility list for a period of months, after which he/she has to repeat the process from start. The retention period is again a decision made by the respective state. In addition to police civil service exam scores, candidates who have served full time active duty can be eligible for veterans credit. These extra points add up to the final tally, which determine the candidate's position in the eligibility list. Some states may enforce additional assessments for those who successfully pass the police civil service exam. These additional assessments may include background checks of the candidate, polygraph tests, credit histories and similar aspects.
As in all examination preparation work, the more practice a candidate has, the better his/her chances are in passing the police civil service exam with high scores. Local book stores, as well as online resources have exam practice kits and other study materials available for applicants to prepare well for the police civil service exam. Additionally, it is important for candidates to be vigilant about unorthodox learning avenues. The police civil service exam, tests practical applications of law enforcement in depth. A tactful method of obtaining plenty of practical knowledge is to befriend police officers and making them share knowledge and experience with you. Some police departments allow civilians to ride along with the officers on duty. Making use of opportunities such as these ensures the applicant getting through the police civil service exam with exceptional results.
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