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Welcome to CalHR's tutorial on Taking an Exam Part One,
where we show you how to find the Official Exam Bulletin.
The Official Exam Bulletin includes the following information:
The State department giving the exam.
The type of exam to be given.
How to apply to take the exam;
some bulletins refer to this as Filing Instructions.
And the Final Filing Date, or deadline to apply.
Visit our website at www.jobs.ca.gov.
Under the Search Exams and Job Vacancies feature, enter the title of the exam you wish to take.
For this tutorial we're going to search for "Personnel Specialist."
Click Search.
This is the Exams and Job Vacancies Search Results page. When you search for a job title on
our homepage, the website will look for both exams
and job vacancies.
and that's why you will see both an exams column and a vacancies column. If you don't see a
bulletin link for "Personnel Specialist," that means that the exam is not given right now,
and you should check back periodically for updates.
Keep in mind that just because there are current vacancies,
it doesn't mean the exam for that job will be available.
In this case there is a bulletin link so click on it to move forward. Now you're at the Exam Search Results page.
As you can see, the results have been narrowed down so you only see an exam for "Personnel Specialist." You'll see the word "open" for Exam
Base. An "open" exam means that both State employees and individuals who do not work for the State
may take the exam as long as they meet the minimum requirements for the exam.
If the Exam Base showed "promotional" instead of "open," this would mean that only State employees may take the exam;
although, certain exempt and legislative employees and veterans may also qualify. Click on the Exam ID link to proceed.
This is the Unofficial Exam Bulletin for "Personnel Specialist."
On this page, look for the section Where to Apply.
Typically, under the Where to Apply section,
there will be a link that takes you to the Official Exam Bulletin.
Click on the link.
This is the Official Exam Bulletin for "Personnel Specialist."
Keep in mind that exam bulletins may differ in layout and wording, but the basic information will be the same.
So read over the bulletin carefully and thoroughly to determine whether or not you qualify.
If you do qualify, follow the Filing Instructions to begin the application process required to take the exam.
Keep in mind: Generally, if the Official Exam Bulletin is available,
this means that the exam is available. However,
this isn't always the case.
Here is an example.
Here is the Official Exam Bulletin for "Motor Vehicle Field Representative."
As you can see, even though the bulletin is available at the time of this video,
the exam is clearly not. In this case you should visit the bulletin periodically for updates.
And please note: Most of the time, the Unofficial Exam Bulletin will take you directly to the
Official Exam Bulletin. But this is not always the case.
Consider the following example.
This is the Unofficial Exam Bulletin for "Clinical Social Worker."
The exam is given by the Veterans Home of California.
Under the Where to Apply section, you're taken to the California Department of Veterans Affairs website instead,
where you have to look for the Official Exam Bulletin.
And here it is. The Official Exam Bulletin for "Clinical Social Worker."
Click on it.
And now you're looking at the Official Exam Bulletin.
For more of our tutorials please visit CalHR's website at www.jobs.ca.gov.