Stanislaus County operates a local merit system approved by the Board of Supervisors, the State Personnel Board, and the Federal Office of Personnel Management. The purpose of an Approved Local Merit system (ALMS) is to establish and maintain a selection procedure to insure that employment decisions are made based on job-related criteria and is fair to applicants, employees and the general public.

Approved selection procedures are used by the Chief Executive Office, Recruitment Services, to refer eligible candidates to County departments and offices for employment. Most County positions are filled from eligible lists. In general a candidate must be on the appropriate eligible list to be considered for the position. Eligible lists are established from a written and/or oral examination process. Some County positions require further testing to assess the applicant's ability, knowledge and skills. Once the appropriate eligible list is established, candidates are referred to County departments and office for selection interviews.

Certification or "referral" as it also called, is the process for submitting the names of candidates eligible for employment to County departments who are responsible for selection decisions. The basic rule in County employment is that County departments may fill vacancies only from among those certified to them by the Chief Executive Office, Recruitment Unit. Thus, the County does not hire people off the street. Candidates must participate in the process.

The recruitment and employment process can be lengthy. County departments have flexibility to decide how to conduct a recruitment with assistance from the Chief Executive Office, Recruitment Services. You can generally expect to go through the following steps:

1. Submit a completed application for each position by the final filing date. Applications are only accepted when there is a vacancy.  Interest cards are provided as a courtesy, accepted any time, and are used to notify applicants of future openings. Submitting an interest card does not guarantee you that you will be notified of openings. If you are really interested in a position, you should call the Job Line weekly to ensure that you learn of openings. The Job Line Number is (209) 525-4339. If you receive an interest card, you should submit a completed application as soon as possible before the final filing date.
2. Once the final filing date has passed, applications are no longer accepted. Applications are then screened based on the minimum qualifications and in some cases the desirable qualifications. Only those candidates that meet the minimum or desirable qualifications will be invited for a written or oral examination. The recruitment process is competitive and you should be sure that you meet the minimum qualifications before applying.
3. Those candidates who meet the minimum or desirable qualifications will be invited to a written and/or oral examination. In some cases, both written and oral examinations are used. Applicants who achieve a passing score of 70% or more continue on in the process. If you do not get a 70% or above you are eliminated from further consideration. Once the examination process is complete, the eligible list is established using the examination score.