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1. Interviews

Though the City of Saratoga Springs Municipal Civil Service Commission strongly recommends and suggests that appointing authorities conduct interviews; neither New York State Civil Service Law nor local Civil Service Rules require that individuals on an eligible list be interviewed by the appointing authority.

In cases where a significant number of candidates are qualified for appointment, and it would be too cumbersome to interview all of them, it is within the discretion of the appointing authority to determine who to select for an interview.

2. Why are tests band scored?

Band scoring provides a more realistic assessment of a candidate's performance on written tests than point-by-point scoring. It takes into account that no test can measure a candidate's abilities with perfect confidence or assess all the abilities relevant to a given job. Also, increasing the use of band scoring on civil service test considerably opens the field of candidates who can be considered for appointment.

Example: A range of raw scores (number of questions answered correctly) from 45 to 47 are assigned a band score of 80.0. In other words if you answer 45, 46, 47 out of 60 questions correctly your final score will be 80.

3. Can I see the eligible list?

Yes, there is a "public" eligible list binder in the City of Saratoga Springs Municipal Civil Service office. The "public" eligible indicates canvass results, dates of certification for interviews, appointment information but does not show candidate's addresses.

A copy of the eligible list can be requested through the Freedom of Information Law. Freedom of Information requests are processed through the City Attorney's office.

4. What is the Rule of Three?

Read more about how the rule of three process works. Rule of three explanation