State of California: Civil service testing moves into cyberspace

The State of California has successfully implemented an employment application and civil service testing process on the Internet for its largest entry level professional classification, Staff Services Analyst. This innovative selection process, the first of its kind is available to the public twenty-four hours a day via the Internet or telephone. Since its debut in June 1996, this examination has been well received by candidates and state departments and has helped the state to realize a considerable savings in staff time and money as compared to a traditional written examination. This technology is already being applied to other examinations and is well on its way to becoming a common testing format. This paper describes the development and implementation of the Staff Services Analyst examination as well as some of the many issues to be considered when exploring the new frontier of Internet civil ser-vice testing. For the past several years, the California State Personnel Board (SPB) has been exploring ways to utilize new technology to streamline the process of recruiting and selecting candidates for employment. An interdepartmental task force was created to explore cost effective, efficient, flexible ways to administer quality testing procedures. The task force focused on the Staff Services Analyst (SSA) classification since this is one of the few entry level professional classifications tested on an open basis (open to members of the public). The resulting new exam consists of a scored life experience questionnaire and is available on a continuous basis on both the Internet and telephone. This nearly paperless examination represents a quantum leap forward in the application of new and innovative technologies, which significantly improves the effectiveness and efficiency of civil service testing procedures.