How to get a government position

Transcriber’s Notes:

Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).

There is an additional Transcriber’s Note at the end.

       *       *       *       *       *

PRICE 5 CENTS.




HOW TO GET A GOVERNMENT POSITION.


  MULTUM IN PARVO LIBRARY.

  Entered at Boston Post Office as second
  class matter. Published by A. B. Courtney,
  Room 74, 45 Milk Street, Boston.

  Vol. 3. JULY, 1896. Published Monthly. No. 31

  Subscription Price, 50 Cents Per Year.




HOW TO GET A GOVERNMENT POSITION.


For a young man or young lady without private means, or with but a
small income, the Civil Service opens a channel for pleasant work,
regular hours, and fairly good remuneration. Government employees
know what to expect, can calculate exactly on the punctual payment of
the amount assigned to their respective positions, and are certainly
not expected to injure their health or mental powers by overwork; in
addition to which, in some positions, at the end of a certain number of
years they will find themselves in a position to retire from further
labor, with a certain, if moderate, income for the remainder of their
lives.

The Civil Service System of the United States has been extended until
it is now the only avenue of entrance to thousands of lucrative
positions. The examinations are competitive. Suppose that one hundred
candidates write at a particular Civil Service examination in the city
of Boston, that sixty-five of these pass the examination and that
there are forty vacancies to be filled. Of these sixty-five successful
candidates, the forty who stand highest are chosen for the positions,
the candidate, whether man or woman, standing first, taking the best
position, the candidate standing second, taking the second best
position, and so on down. This makes it very desirable and important
that intending candidates spare neither time nor money in preparing
themselves thoroughly for the examination.

Limitations of space make it impossible to give more than a general
outline of the examinations and a few practical hints as to the best
method of studying for the examinations.

Requests for blank forms of application for competitive examination for
admission to the Classified Civil Service and all regular applications
for such examinations shall be made--

1. For Classified Departmental Service, to the United States Civil
Service Commission, Washington, D. C.

2. Classified Customs Service: Sec. of Customs Board of Civil Service
Examiners, ---- ----

3. Classified Postal Service, to the Sec. of the Postal Board of Civil
Service Examiners, ---- ----

Give in the blank spaces the name of the town at which you wish to
enter the service.




Requirements.


Applicants for ordinary positions must be not less than 16 or more than
35 years of age. Messengers, stampers and other juvenile assistants not
under 14. In Classified Departmental and Customs Service are 18 to 45.
Age limitations do not apply to those honorably discharged from service
in the army or navy who served in the late war.

Three citizens to whom you are known must fill out blank forms
giving statements as to your character, etc., if you desire to enter
departmental service.




Blank Form of Application.


As indicated in the “Directions to Candidates,” send for a blank form
of application, fill it out carefully, according to the directions
given, and forward to the Commission or Board named thereon. The
following questions are selected from the application form used by
applicants for admission to the classified departmental service:--

Your Christian name and surname? Are you a citizen of the United
States? Of what state or territory are you a (legal) resident? How long
have you been a resident thereof? Your present post-office address?
The day and year of your birth? Your age last birthday? Where were you
born? Your education? (Kind of school, etc.) How old when you finally
quitted school? Are you married? How many members of your family are
in the classified service? Have you ever been convicted of, or are you
under indictment for, any crime? Do you habitually use intoxicating
beverages to excess? Are you physically capable of a full discharge of
the duties of the position to which you are seeking appointment? Have
you any defect of sight? Of hearing? Of speech? Of limb? Have you been
examined for the classified service since July 16, 1883? Particulars?
Are you now in the service? Were you dismissed? Were you ever in the
military service of the United States? Your place of abode during year
of 18--. Your occupation during that year? Name of your employer, and
his business? Present post-office address of employer?




Examination Rules.


1. Two examinations for each classified customs district and post
office shall be held each year. In each customs district one commencing
the first Tuesday of April and the second on the first Tuesday of
October; in each post office one commencing on the first Tuesday
of February and the second on the first Tuesday of August. The
examinations continue from day to day until all applicants present
upon regular notification have had an opportunity to be examined.

2. An applicant for a customs or a postal examination, cannot be
examined at any other custom house or post-office than the one in which
he is seeking to enter the classified service.

3. If an applicant fail to receive due notice of an examination, or
if he shall give a reason satisfactory to the commission or the board
of examiners for failure to attend an examination of which he may
have received due notice, he shall be notified to attend the next
examination for the same class or place.

4. Examiners in charge of any examination shall be diligent in securing
fairness therein.

5. The examination sheets shall be numbered.

6. Each competitor shall be designated by a number, to be known as his
examination number, which he must place in figures at the head of each
examination sheet that he may use.

7. At the commencement of an examination, each competitor must fill the
blanks in the “declaration sheet.” He must also write his _examination
number_, and nothing else upon an envelope; into this envelope he
must put the declaration sheet, and then seal the envelope. The
envelope thus sealed, must be delivered by the competitor to one of
the examiners in charge, and it must not be opened until after the
competitor’s papers shall have been marked, and his general average
ascertained.

8. As soon as the envelopes containing the declaration sheets shall
have all been delivered, sheet 1 shall be given to the competitors,
and, as soon as it shall have been completed, sheet 2; and so on,
each of the examination sheets in its order, according to its number,
no competitor being allowed to have two or more sheets at the same
time. If, through no fault of the competitor, a sheet is spoiled,
the examiners in charge may destroy the spoiled sheet and give the
competitor another sheet of the same number. The time when a competitor
receives a sheet, and the time when he finishes it, must be stated at
the top of the sheet.

9. The examiners in charge shall require every competitor, upon
completion of each sheet, to surrender the sheet itself and all
scrap-paper or other paper upon which he may have done preliminary work
before writing his answers on the sheet.

10. The answers on examination papers must be written with ink; but
preliminary work, on tablets or scrap-paper, may be done with pencil.

11. In the dictation exercise, the passage to be dictated shall first
be read aloud for information, and then be dictated in groups of
words, at the rate of not less than fifteen nor more than twenty-five
words per minute. The examiner who reads the dictation must not repeat
any group of words, or any word, dictated by him; but he must be
careful in giving the dictation to pronounce each word distinctly.

12. Examiners must make to the whole class all explanations deemed
necessary, and must not explain any question to any individual
competitor.

13. After an examination shall have been commenced, no conversation nor
communication of any kind shall be permitted between competitors.

14. No examination shall begin earlier than 9 A. M. or continue later
than 6 P. M.

15. Every examination must be held in the presence of more than one
examiner, and in the room set apart either permanently or temporarily
for such examination. But examinations in typewriting and other
subjects which would annoy other persons being examined (or which must
necessarily be confined to one person at a time), may be held in some
room convenient to the general examination room, but where they may be
under the supervision of more than one examiner. No secret or private
examination must be permitted.

16. Each examination, except the examination in book-keeping, or
other examination especially excepted from this regulation, by the
commission, must be completed on the day on which it is commenced.

17. Twenty minutes shall be allowed at the commencement of each
examination for the work of filling the blanks of the declaration sheet
and enclosing it in an envelope, and ten minutes for explanations and
instructions by the examiner in charge. No allowance will be made
for time spent for lunch or other purposes, either in or out of the
examination room, and no unnecessary delay in passing the examination
papers may be permitted by the examiner in charge.

18. All examination sheets whether completed or not must be turned in
at the expiration of the time to which the examination is limited.

19. No competitor shall leave the room without giving notice of
intention to do so, and shall not be permitted on his return to finish
any sheet upon which he may have been at work.

20. Any competitor suspected of copying from another, or otherwise
improperly obtaining information, shall, if proven guilty, have his
papers cancelled.

21. Applicants must supply themselves with pen, ink, lead pencils,
erasers, and in technical examinations with the necessary instruments.

22. Except by special permission no persons except the commissioners,
examiners and competitors shall be allowed in the examination room.

23. No books, notes, maps or diagrams shall be permitted in room for
the use of competitors.

24. A record of all non-competitive examinations shall be kept by
the commission, and each customs and postal board shall, after each
examination, report to the commission all the facts in relation thereto.

25. No request for the examination of an applicant out of his order as
determined by the number of his application paper shall be granted.

26. An applicant who has for any reason been denied examination in his
due order may appeal to the commission.




Marking of Papers.


1. As soon as practicable after an examination, the papers of the
competitors shall be marked and the general average of each ascertained.

2. A competitor after receiving notice that he has passed or has
failed to pass, may in person or by duly authorized agent, inspect,
in the presence of an examiner, his examination papers, and if in his
opinion injustice has in any way been done him, he may within thirty
days after the receipt of notice, appeal to the commission, specifying
particularly and in detail the cause of the complaint. The commission
shall promptly decide all such appeals, and may, in the investigation
thereof, direct the re marking of applicant’s papers and change his
general average. But no communication from a competitor, explanatory
of errors presumed to have been made by him in said examination, shall
receive attention.

3. No request to have the papers of a competitor marked out of their
order shall be granted.




Subjects of Examination.


To test the fitness of applicants for admission to the classified
departmental service, there shall be examinations as follows:--


COPYIST EXAMINATION. FOR PLACES OF $900 PER YEAR AND UNDER.

1. Orthography (_spelling_).

2. Copying.

3. Penmanship.

4. Arithmetic: _to percentage_.


CLERK EXAMINATION. $1000 PER YEAR AND UP.

1. Spelling.

2. Copying.

3. Penmanship.

4. Arithmetic: Fundamental Rules, Fractions, Percentage, Interest and
Discount.

5. Book-keeping.

6. Grammar.

7. Letter Writing.

8. Geography, History and Government of the United States.

For places which in the opinion of the commission certain technical,
professional or scientific knowledge, or knowledge of other language
than English, a special or supplementary examination. Each special
examination shall embrace in addition to the special subject upon which
the applicant is to be examined, such part of the clerk examination
as the commission may deem necessary to determine his fitness for the
position to be filled.


EXAMINATION FOR CLASSIFIED POSTAL SERVICE SHALL BE:

1. Spelling.

2. Copying.

3. Penmanship.

4. Arithmetic: _to percentage_.

5. Grammar.

6. Letter Writing.

7. Geography, History and Government of the United States.


CARRIER EXAMINATION.

1. Spelling.

2. Copying.

3. Penmanship.

4. Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

5. Geography of the United States.

6. Knowledge of the Local Post Office Delivery.

7. Physical Tests.


MESSENGER EXAMINATION.

1. Spelling.

2. Copying.

3. Penmanship.

4. Fundamental Rules of Arithmetic.

5. Physical Tests.

This examination shall also be used for applicants for positions of
piler, stamper, junior clerk or other places requiring chiefly manual
labor.




General Rules.


No person now serving in the army or navy shall be examined for
admission to the classified service until the written consent of the
head of the department under which he is enlisted shall have been
communicated to the commission.

The commission may refuse to examine an applicant who would be
physically unable to perform the duties of the place to which he
desires appointment.

No question in any examination shall be so framed as to elicit
information concerning the political or religious opinions or
affiliations of competitors; and no discrimination in examination,
certification or appointment shall be made by the commission, the
examiners, or the appointing or nominating officer in favor of
or against any applicant, competitor, or eligible because of his
political or religious opinions or affiliations. Any appointing or
nominating officer who shall make inquiries concerning, or in any
other way attempt to ascertain, the political or religious opinions or
affiliations of any eligible, or who shall discriminate in favor of or
against any eligible because of the eligible’s political or religious
opinions or affiliations, shall be dismissed from office.

Every applicant for examination for the classified departmental service
must support the statements of his application paper by certificates
of persons acquainted with him, residents of the state, territory, or
district in which he claims _bona fide_ residence; and the commission
shall prescribe the form and number of such certificates.

A false statement made by an applicant, or connivance by him with any
person to make on his behalf a false statement in any certificate
required by the commission and deception of fraud practiced by an
applicant, or by any person on his behalf with his consent, to
influence an examination, shall be good cause for refusal to examine
such applicant, or for refusing to mark his papers after examination.

All examinations shall be prepared and conducted under the supervision
of the commission; and examination papers shall be marked under
rules made by the commission, which shall take care that the
marking-examiners do not know the name of any competitor in an
examination for admission whose papers are entrusted to them.

Any person not under twenty years of age may make application for
admission to the classified departmental service, blank forms for which
purpose shall be furnished by the commission.




Suggestions for Study.


If it is intended to make application for admission to civil service
examination it is wise to make preparation by taking up a regular
course of study in the branches which your examination will come.

The best course of study and the most practical knowledge can be gained
by having a friend read a newspaper paragraph, allowing you to write it
down while it is being read. This exercise is particularly effective
as it gives you a knowledge of spelling, punctuation, and rapid and
improved penmanship.

The spelling of the names of the various states and territories and
their proper abbreviations is also necessary.

Other abbreviations in common use should also be studied and
understood, such as: inst., prox., ult., P. M., Ont., Can., P. Q., N.
F., Man., etc. A general idea of the history and Government of the
United States is also required. The rapidity with which you can read
copy and correct business letters or other papers in which the writing
is not particularly good will also be a help to you.

One of the most important branches in many of the departments is
arithmetic, and a systematic course of studies should be taken up
before the time of the examination.

There is no danger of knowing too much, and care in studying
systematically will amply repay the time it takes. It is almost
impossible for anyone who has been out of school for two or three years
or more to pass an ordinary school examination, however much they may
have gained in general practical knowledge.

The examination given is comparatively simple and does not require
a college education, but can easily be passed by anyone who is a
graduate of a grammar school, if a little time and care is devoted to
preparation for the examination.

A position of this kind is profitable and permanent, with reasonable
hours; it is worth trying for.




On Etiquette.


An important factor to success in any position is good manners. We
have just published a book on etiquette which fully explains perfect
behavior for men and women in all stations of life. We will send the
Etiquette Manual postpaid for ten cents. Address, Keystone Book Co.,
Philadelphia, Pa.




For Ladies.


Beauty is often essential to success. Our Guide to Beauty tells how to
appear handsome at all times. We send it sealed in plain envelope to
any lady who sends us four cents in stamps. Address, Helen Marko & Co.,
P. O. Box 3032, New York, N. Y.




Important to You.


We have just published an excellent volume by Mr. Rowland, entitled,
“How to Become Quick at Figures.” This book gives more valuable
information than any dozen arithmetics and will teach you how to win in
an examination that involves figuring. We have hundreds of testimonials
as to the great value of this volume, which is neatly bound in
illuminated colors. The price of “How to Become Quick at Figures” is
25 cents. Sent postpaid upon receipt of price by Keystone Book Co.,
Philadelphia, Pa.




Special Notice.


This is for men only. On receipt of ten cents in stamps we will send
the great set of Parisian pictures. They come to you in apparently
blank sheets and can only be developed by the smoke of a cigar. A few
puffs of smoke will bring out a very sensational French female picture,
more interesting when seen than described. Every man who gets one
of these smoke cameras will be astonished and delighted. Recollect,
you can get it for 10 cents by addressing: Lee Mfg. Co., Box 1634,
Philadelphia, Pa.

       *       *       *       *       *

Transcriber’s Note:

Punctuation has been made consistent.