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Public
Employee Press Test
prep classes help workers advance A recently enacted
state law calls on municipalities to sharply reduce current numbers of provisional
employees, and New York City says it will replace provisionals with permanent
civil service workers by hiring and promoting from civil service lists wherever
possible.
District Council 37 has responded to members need to take
and pass civil service examinations. The DC 37 Education Fund, which has been
providing career advancement courses for over 25 years, has offered 15 test prep
courses since July 1, 2007, and will offer more in 2008.
Class enrollment
ranges from under 30 to the 3,500 members who took the Secretary and Office Associate
classes offered in October 2007. In February, over 300 members of Electronic Data
Processing Personnel Local 2627 were taking classes for the Computer Systems Manager
and Operations Manager exams. The preparation is excellent, said Local
2627 President Ed Hysyk. A lot of our members havent taken a test
like this for a long time.
The test preparation courses are
review classes that help members improve their test scores and provide tips about
test taking, said Education Fund Administrator Barbara Kairson.
The
career advancement classes are generally presented in a lecture format, with the
number of sessions depending on the content to be covered. Instructional materials
are provided free to eligible DC 37 members. Evening and weekend classes are offered
whenever possible, and courses are held in various locations citywide.
The
fund does not offer courses for all civil service exams, but tries to provide
classes where demand is high or in response to requests from local leaders. Only
members and agency-fee payers eligible for Ed Fund benefits may participate in
the classes and receive the materials. For upcoming courses, check the fund listings
in PEP or on the DC
37 Web page.
The Education Fund does not cover filing fees for
civil service examinations. Signing up for a union test preparation course does
not register an employee to take the civil service test. Members must submit their
applications and filing fees for exams to the Dept. of Citywide Administrative
Services. For more information, visit their Web site at http://www.nyc.gov/dcas.
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