Ohio Civil Service Clerical Skills and Procedures Questions and Answers

Question 1

An office manager needs to create a filing system for new client contracts.
The contracts are frequently accessed by the client's last name.
The office anticipates a high volume of new clients over the next several years.
Which filing system would be the MOST efficient and scalable for this purpose?

Accepted Answer

A numeric system, where each client is assigned a unique number and an alphabetical cross-reference index is maintained.

Answer

A chronological system, filing contracts by the date they were signed.

Answer

A subject-based system, with folders for different types of services rendered.

Answer

An alphabetical system, filing contracts directly by the client's last name.

Question 2

A clerk is tasked with proofreading a draft of a public notice before it is posted. The clerk finds the following sentence: 'All residents effected by the new policy should attend the meeting on Tuesday, Febuary 9th.' Which of the following corrections is necessary?

Accepted Answer

Change 'effected' to 'affected' and 'Febuary' to 'February'.

Answer

Remove the comma after 'policy'.

Answer

Change 'attend' to 'have attended'.

Answer

Capitalize the word 'policy'.

Question 3

You are an administrative clerk responsible for managing your supervisor's calendar. She has a recurring weekly team meeting on Wednesdays at 10:00 AM. A new, high-priority request comes in for a one-time project briefing with a director, who is only available on Wednesday at 10:00 AM next week. What is the BEST course of action?

Accepted Answer

Inform your supervisor of the conflict and ask her how she would like to proceed.

Answer

Decline the director's meeting request because the time slot is already booked.

Answer

Schedule the director's meeting without informing your supervisor, assuming she will see it on her calendar.

Answer

Immediately cancel the team meeting and schedule the director's meeting in its place.

Question 4

Which of the following is the primary purpose of a 'tickler file' in an office setting?

Accepted Answer

To serve as a chronological reminder system for tasks and deadlines.

Answer

To store humorous office memos and announcements.

Answer

To archive completed project documents for long-term storage.

Answer

To maintain a confidential list of employee performance issues.

Question 5

When handling incoming office mail, what is the generally accepted first step after the mail has been opened?

Accepted Answer

Date-stamp the correspondence.

Answer

Immediately shred all envelopes to protect confidentiality.

Answer

Distribute the mail to the intended recipients.

Answer

Read through all the mail to summarize it for the supervisor.

Question 6

A clerk needs to file the following four names alphabetically: 1. St. John, David 2. Saint, Mary 3. Sanchez, Carlos 4. St. James, Anne. What is the correct alphabetical order?

Accepted Answer

2, 3, 4, 1

Answer

3, 2, 1, 4

Answer

2, 4, 1, 3

Answer

3, 1, 4, 2