Design On-Line System to Apply For City Jobs;
Will Evaluate Hopefuls' Backgrounds, Cut Processing Time

By REUVEN BLAU

The Department of Citywide Administrative Services plans to launch its on-line job application system in the next few months, which will allow individuals to apply and pay filing fees via the agency's Web site.

The DCAS program, which has been in the works for several years, will also eventually automatically grade evaluations based on education and experience, agency spokesman Mark Daly said during a phone interview last week. "In addition, you get a preliminary result after you finish the application, and you can appeal the rating," he remarked.

Will Speed Processing

The system will be up and running later this spring, Mr. Daly said. Shortly afterwards, DCAS plans to begin allowing individuals to complete education-and-experience-based applications on-line for four high-level computer titles.

The new Web site - which has cost roughly $1.4 million and is being worked on by four city employees and two consultants - is expected to reduce the department's reliance on paper records and will free up several application evaluators. "It will speed processing," Mr. Daly said.

Most of the roughly 100 tests a year DCAS administers are multiple-choice written exams. DCAS holds 30 to 40 evaluations graded on education and experience each year. As a result, the agency typically manually rates thousands of exams annually.

Currently, that grading process involves a minimum of two employees who review applications, Mr. Daly said. A third evaluator often settles disputes if the two raters significantly differ in their evaluations. DCAS plans to eventually use those workers to help craft test questions for new exams once the computer system is fully in place, according to Mr. Daly.

Advance on State Site

The city's system will be more comprehensive than the State Department of Civil Service's Web site, which began accepting applications and filing fee payments on-line in 2005. The state system was created completely in-house under the agency's regular budget, said Terry Jordan, the agency's Director of Staffing Services.

DCAS's Web site, Mr. Daly said, has taken longer to develop and costs more because it is a broader project. "It's a way to not only apply for exams and pay for them, but to take them as well," he remarked. "What makes us different from the state is that they used off-the-shelf application software. But what we are doing is more sophisticated."

In 2004, DCAS's computer personnel visited their state counterparts to seek advice on how to develop the agency's own system, Mr. Daly noted. "At the time they weren't yet accepting credit card applications," he said. "What we saw was that their goals didn't match what we were doing."

The DCAS computer technicians also sought help in how to waive the filing fee for applicants receiving public assistance by verifying their status via another database. The state accepts a candidate's affirmation without independently checking it.

Can Check Quickly

Mr. Daly said the city's new system will automatically confirm if a person is receiving public assistance, and individuals applying for a waiver will get an immediate answer.

The DCAS project has been delayed, which has led the NYPD to create its own on-line application program in order to simplify the application process for interested candidates. The NYPD, which has been struggling to recruit new cops, has already begun accepting applications on-line for Police Officer exams, but there is no filing fee for those tests.

In December 2001, the state also began accepting applications for promotion positions that didn't include a filing fee. The Web site was expanded to open-competitive jobs in 2005 after the state was able to find a cost-efficient way to accept filing fees. That process involved setting up relationships with banks and credit card companies, said Mr. Jordan, who helped create the system.

The state upgraded its Web site two years ago with the help of advanced technology, Mr. Jordan said. "The cost was much less than in 2001," he added.

The user-friendly site, however, has not generated a significant increase in applications, Mr. Jordan said. "But it has certainly decreased the amount of manual work that we have to do here," he added.

The state now receives about two-thirds of all of its applications over the Internet, according to Mr. Jordan. "And we have seen a steady increase in that over time," he continued. He predicted that practically all applications would be filed through the Internet within 20 years.

To help simplify the application process, DCAS also plans to launch a Computerized Testing Center later this spring. The center, which will expedite the exam process by offering a more user-friendly format and walk-in service on a daily basis, was originally scheduled to open in the spring of 2006.

Site Uncertain

Mr. Daly said the center will be located in lower Manhattan, but declined to give a specific location. "The first test to be offered will be the Police Officer exam," he added.

A DCAS spokesman told this newspaper in 2004 that the center would be equipped with 50 test terminals and that staff would include one Examiner-in-Charge, two Assistant Examiners and one Computer Specialist.

Under that arrangement, candidates would be able to register for tests on a walk-in basis or in advance via telephone or the Internet. The exams will be timed automatically and at the conclusion of the test, candidates can print out their unofficial results.