NYC hiring: How to take a civil service exam

NEW YORK (PIX11) – If you’re considering working for New York City, you may want to consider taking a civil service exam .

More than 80% of jobs in city government require the exam, according to the Department of Citywide Administrative Services. More than 110,000 candidates take the exam yearly, DCAS wrote on its website .

So how do you go about taking a civil service exam?

DCAS releases the annual civil service exam schedule every July, but it also posts monthly exam schedules. You can check them here .

When looking at the schedule, you’ll see the application period and fee for applying. You can only apply for exams within the time period mentioned in the schedule, according to DCAS.

Once you figure out what exam you want to take, you can apply for it either online through OASys or at a computer-based testing and applications center.

The testing centers are located at:

• Bronx CTAC: 1932 Arthur Ave., 2nd floor
• Brooklyn CTAC: 210 Joralemon St., 4th floor
• Manhattan CTAC: 2 Lafayette St., 17th floor
• Queens CTAC: 118-35 Queens Blvd., 5th floor
• Staten Island CTAC: 135 Canal St., 3rd floor

There are several types of civil service exams : a scheduled exam and an education and experience exam. Scheduled exams are held in person at one of the city’s testing centers, while education and experience exams can be taken online through OASys, according to DCAS.

The exams are also specified based on your experience . An open-competitive exam can be taken by anyone who meets a job’s minimum qualifications, a promotion exam is only for city employees looking to be promoted and a qualified-incumbent exam is for city employees who have worked in their job title for two or more years.

The results of your civil service exam will be given to you right after the test, DCAS said.

There are also jobs within New York City government that don’t require you to take a civil service exam .

Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018 . She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here .

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