Been in restaurants/retail for like 9 years, trying to move into some kind of office/admin gig. I’m not looking for anything crazy. Front desk, office assistant, intake coordinator. I’ve put in maybe 25 NYCAPS applications for city admin stuff since spring. One email saying I was “referred,” then radio silence. Are these postings even real? Half my friends tell me they already know who they’re hiring and it’s just posted for show. If that’s true, just tell me so I can stop wasting Saturdays.

Yeah that tracks. City hiring is glacial. I applied for a DOHMH admin job in March and got a canvass email in like August. By then I had another job. It does happen but the timeline is absurd. Are you applying to provisional titles or just the open ones? If you have no civil service score you’re basically swimming in the provisional pool, and those get weird.

I’ll disagree a little. I got a call about a Parks & Rec front desk thing maybe two months after applying. Didn’t take it because pay cut. The postings are real but you have to be pretty literal with the resume keywords. Also check if your resume says 'office assistant' anywhere. Have you taken the exam for office assistant? If no, look at DCAS monthly exam schedule. Some jobs they can't even touch you unless you're on a list.

Both are true, but it’s not a total black hole. There are two different things going on with NYCAPS. Many postings are provisional: the agency needs a body now, but the title might later be filled by someone who actually took the civil service exam and got on the list. So yes, some positions are posted with an internal candidate in mind, but agencies genuinely do hire people with no city experience into provisional admin titles because the pay is not competitive enough for everyone.

The key is to make it easy for an HR analyst to see the match. Mirror words from the posting like 'timekeeping,' 'data entry,' 'scheduling,' and don't just describe restaurant work as 'serving' — mention reconciliations, managing reservations, ordering, handling cash drawers, etc. Then create saved searches on NYCAPS, and also check CUNY, Health + Hospitals, and other quasi-city systems. H+H uses their own portal.

I once applied to a city title in July, didn’t hear back until October, and by then I’d already done a civil service exam and got a list number. The list is worth more than any single application. I’d sit for Admin Assistant, Staff Analyst, or any exam you qualify for. The biggest caveat is patience; this can be a six-month to a year process. If you need immediate income, keep interviewing elsewhere.

Appreciate the detail, @landmark_lina. I didn't know provisional meant you could get bumped later. So there are no open exams for staff analyst right now on DCAS, unless I'm looking at the wrong page. Do they announce them anywhere besides the monthly schedule? I set a Google alert but that's probably useless.

OMG yes the DCAS monthly exam calendar!! Also check their 'Exams for Your Career' filter and the City Jobs Bulletin. You have to check every single month — Staff Analyst and maybe Administrative Manager? Those exams open for filing sometimes and the filing window can be really short.

Have you tried the computer-based exams at the testing centers downtown? They sometimes have walk-in periods for the office titles if you missed the initial window. Also people sleep on the CUNY civil service pathway: some schools have free prep and they post job alerts via Handshake? You might qualify for Admin Assistant / Clerical Associate? I love this stuff. Good luck, don't give up!!