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About

You can, and should, prepare for the test before taking it. Our PrepPack™ includes timed tests to help ensure you are ready for the real exam. Our practice tests include explanations of all the answers. By practicing, you boost your chances of achieving a high score on the test. A high score not only guarantees that you pass the exam, but it also gives you a better chance of gaining employment over other applicants.

What Is the Professional Career Opportunities (PCO) Exam?

You must take the PCO written test to qualify for entry-level professional jobs that fall under the General Job Titles. The PCO exam consists of three sections: preparing written material, understanding and interpreting written material, and working and interacting with others.

What Do Those Who Score High Receive?

The PCO exam helps to fill more than 100 different civil service positions. By scoring high on the exam, you improve your chances of gaining employment. A yearly salary is between $34,838–$59,825, depending on your salary grade. Civil service jobs gained through PCO offer generous benefits—health insurance, paid sick leave, and paid holidays—as well as ample opportunities for growth.

What Do You Get with Your PCO PrepPack™?

Our PrepPack™ provides you full access to the most comprehensive practice resources for the three different sections on the exam. We offer 26 practice tests covering all the test sections. Our reading comprehension exercises will help with the understanding and interpreting written material section of the exam. Our written communication exercises will prepare you for the written material section and the interpersonal skills SJT exercises will help you prepare for the working and interacting with others section exam.

More about the PCO Exam

The PCO exam is a multiple-choice exam, and it has two and a half hour time limit. You need a score of 70 to pass. The test consists of three sections:

  • Preparing written material – These questions assess a candidate's ability to present information clearly and accurately, as well as to organize paragraphs logically and comprehensibly. For some questions, you are given information in two or three sentences, followed by four restatements of the information. For other questions, you are given paragraphs whose sentences are out of order. You must then choose the correct version of the paragraph from four suggestions.
  • Understanding and interpreting written material – These questions measure a candidate's ability to understand and interpret written material. You are presented with short reading passages and asked questions about these passages.
  • Working and interacting with others – These questions evaluate a candidate's ability to accomplish work and to maintain professional relationships with others in the workplace. Each question presents a situation and a number of possible approaches for handling it.

What Is the Public Administration Traineeship Transition (PATT) Test?

The Public Administration Traineeship Transition (PATT) Exam is the same as the PCO exam. It is designed to provide qualified clerical, secretarial, and administrative paraprofessional employees an opportunity to compete for a variety of positions. The majority of these positons are two-year administrative traineeships, which can later lead to jobs in administrative operations, fiscal operations, human resources, or program implementation. This exam is only open to current New York State employees who meet the minimum qualifications outlined on the examination announcement.

The Benefits of Being Ready

Practicing for the exam is the best way to ensure you are selected for a PCO position. Our PrepPack™ offers comprehensive practice tests to help you prepare for the exam. These practice tests enable you to become comfortable with the style of the questions as well as the format of the test. Only those with the highest scores will be offered to continue in the hiring process for a traineeship or professional position. Preparing with JobTestPrep allows you to both refine your skills and boost your confidence.

New York Civil Service Exams
Albany Buffalo Cattaraugus County
Chemung County Delaware County Dutchess County
Erie County Monroe County Nassau County
New York City Oneida County Onondaga County
Orange County Rochester Rockland County
Suffolk County Westchester County Yonkers

Related Links

New York State Civil Service Exam Civil Service Exams by Profession
Practice Civil Service Tests 911 Dispatcher Test Prep
Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Hogan Test Prep


What's Included

  • New 2018 edition
  • 16 reading comprehension exercises
  • Six written communication exercises
  • Four interpersonal skills SJT exercises
  • Secured payment 
  • Exclusive to JobTestPrep
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