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Civil service staff report shows low test follow-through; proposes digitizing records and more online testing
Summary
Civil service staff presented new tracking data showing low applicant follow-through on written exams, described steps taken to increase convenience for applicants and outlined funding requests to digitize records and expand online testing licenses.
Civil service staff on Jan. 8 told the Civil Service Merit Board that the office has created new tracking spreadsheets to monitor job postings, testing and referral timetables and that written-test response rates remain lower than desired.
"I did bring a few stats and things that I wanted to share with the group," said Nick Bradshaw, civil service staff, opening the report. He said the office began new, more detailed tracking after he started in October and that the data will guide decisions about outreach and testing practices.
Bradshaw said the office is using a self-scheduling tool (Acuity) for written exams and that, for one deputy-clerk posting in 2024, 23 applicants met minimum qualifications, 20 scheduled tests and 11 showed up — a 48% attendance rate from qualifying applicants. He said some continuous postings (for example, Public Service Worker I) go "straight to referral" because there is already a standing list of applicants, which shortens the timeline from requisition to referral.
The staff report included a separate spreadsheet of all written tests administered in 2024, showing department-level differences in response rates and underscoring a need to improve outreach and applicant convenience. Bradshaw said the office is considering ways to make scheduling and schedule adjustments easier for applicants and that spam filters may be reducing email-based scheduling notices.
Bradshaw also highlighted technical issues with the city's applicant systems and a parallel HR project to review the recruiting module in the HR information system. He said Oracle/PeopleSoft's recruiting module is being evaluated to reduce customizations that cause crashes and poor performance (the system currently performs best in Firefox, he said).
On modernization, Bradshaw said the office wants funds to digitize historic civil service records (minutes, agenda packets and attachments) to improve public access, and to expand licenses for online written tests. He said the current test-administration contract includes 150 online test licenses and that, for roughly $3,000 more, the office could purchase an additional 500 licenses to allow applicants to take some written tests remotely.
Board members asked for historical comparisons; Bradshaw said comparable spreadsheets exist for 2022 and 2023 and that switching to Acuity in 2023 produced a small uptick in response rates. He also described staffing and process differences that cause some requisitions to be canceled at the department's request (for example, transportation posted three similar positions to fill one funded slot).
Bradshaw said written exams remain resource-intensive and can limit the number of applications processed; the civil service office will continue to track and report detailed metrics monthly.
Ending: Bradshaw said the office will continue monthly reporting on the same metrics and invited board feedback on what to include in future staff reports.
