• Continuous filing dates have been added.
• Any editable section on the Exam Bulletin has been updated.

Upcoming Filing Cutoff Dates:

• 5/1/2025
• 11/1/2025
• 5/1/2026
• 11/1/2026

Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) must be received or postmarked by the filing date indicated above. Applications postmarked, personally delivered or received via interoffice mail after the filing date will be processed in the next group.

The information below will help you determine which classification(s) is(are) appropriate for you. Applicants must meet the Minimum Qualifications as stated on this bulletin to compete in this examination.

Open and Open, Non-Promotional Examination(s):

• STATE HISTORIAN III - Open

For all Classifications, once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 9 months:

Exam Code(s):

2716

For STATE HISTORIAN III, once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 9 months:

Exam Code(s):

• EX-02716

Submit an Examination/Employment Application (STD 678) to apply for this examination.

Electronic applications can be submitted through your account at www.CalCareers.ca.gov.

You may apply by mail to:

• Christine Hendricks
  Department of Parks & Recreation
  Selections
  P.O. Box 942896
  Sacramento, CA 94296-0001
  

Indicate the Examination Code and Classification(s) on your Examination/Employment Application (STD 678).

You may drop off your application and any applicable or required documents at:

• Department of Parks & Recreation
  Selections
  715 P Street
  Sacramento, CA 95814
  8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
  Drop box is located at the security desk.

Indicate the Examination Code and Classification(s) on your Examination/Employment Application (STD 678). All applicants must provide proof of identification. Accepted forms of identification are: 1) a photo identification card or 2) two forms of signed identification.

If you require assistance or alternative testing arrangements due to a disability, indicate on your application that you need reasonable accommodation. You will be contacted by a representative of the testing department to make the necessary arrangements. If you have not been contacted by the time you receive notification of testing, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

If you are unable to submit your application or complete the test due to a disability, please contact the testing department listed in the Contact section of this bulletin.

All applicants must meet the education and/or experience requirements as stated on this exam bulletin to be accepted to the examination.

Unless otherwise stated in the Minimum Qualifications, qualifying experience may be combined on a proportionate basis if the requirements stated below include more than one pattern and are distinguished as "Either" 1, "or" 2, "or" 3, etc. For example, applicants possessing qualifying experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 1 and additional experience amounting to 50% of the required time of Pattern 2 may be accepted to an examination as meeting 100% of the overall experience requirement.

Education Requirements: Equivalent to graduation from college with major course

work in history, historic sites research, cultural resources management, architectural history, or a closely related field in which historical methods and techniques are employed. (Additional qualifying experience may be substituted for the required education on a year-for-year basis for up to two years.) AND

Either I

In the California state service, either:

Two years of experience performing the duties of a State Historian II; or four years of experience performing the duties of a State Historian I.

OR II

Five years of experience in research, cultural resources management, or museum wor in connection with historical reports, projects, buildings, or museums.

(Experience in California state service applied toward this requirement must include three years performing duties at a level of responsibility equivalent to that obtained in the class of a State Historian II.)

or

Five years of experience in the teaching of California history at the high school and college level.

(Graduate work in history, historic sites research, cultural resources management, architectural history, or a closely related field, in which historical methods and techniques are employed, may be substituted for one year of the required experience on a year-for-year basis.)

This examination consists of the following component(s):

A final score of 70% must be attained to be placed on the eligible list.

This examination consists of the following components:

Training and Experience Evaluation – Weighted 100% of the final score.

The examination will consist solely of a Training and Experience Evaluation. To obtain a position on the eligible list, a minimum score of 70% will be required.

The Training and Experience (T&E) Examination will consist of statements designed to measure how your training, and work history have provided you the essential knowledge, skills, and abilities, and potential to effectively perform the duties relative to the classification.

*Applicants who meet the minimum qualifications will be sent an email with the link to access and take the T&E examination. Candidates must include a current/valid email address on their application. Failure to provide your current/valid email address will prevent you from taking the examination.

Reschedules will only be considered based on the California Government Code and the California Department of Human Resources policy.

In addition to evaluating the applicant's relative knowledge, skill and ability as demonstrated by quality and breadth of education/experience, emphasis in each test component will be on measuring competitively, relative to job demands, each applicant's:

Knowledge of:

1. California history
2. Historical research methods
3. Methods and techniques used in identifying and preserving historical objects, sites, and buildings.
4. Literature and publications dealing with California history, historical research, curatorship, and museum administration.
5. Private and public organization concerned with historical research and resource management activities pertaining to California history.
6. Museum administration principles.
7. Principles of effective supervision.
8. Personnel management and public administration.
9. State of California administrative procedures.

Ability to:

1. Conduct basic historical research.
2. Evaluate environmental impacts on resources of historical interest and develop and recommend mitigation procedures.
3. Make cultural and aesthetic decisions regarding cultural resources.
4. Communicate effectively.
5. Keep necessary records and prepare reports.
6. Analyze facts and situations accurately and take effective action.
7. Direct and train other personnel.
8. Plan organize, and supervise statewide historical and cultural resource management programs.

A Departmental Open eligible list for the STATE HISTORIAN III Classification will be established for:

• Department of Parks & Recreation

The names of successful competitors will be merged onto the eligible list(s) in order of final score regardless of test date. Eligibility expires 12 months after it is established. Applicants must then retake the examination to reestablish eligibility.

Veterans' Preference will be granted for this examination. Veterans' Preference is an assistance program for veterans, veteran widows and widowers, and spouses of 100% disabled veterans who seek employment with the state. Veterans' Preference is also extended to currently serving military members nearing their retirement or separation date.

You are not eligible for Veteran's Preference if you are:

• A veteran who has been dishonorably discharged or released.
• A veteran, widow or widower of a veteran, or spouse of a 100 percent disabled veteran who currently has permanent civil service status. (Permanent civil service status is the status of an employee who is lawfully retained in his/her position after completion of the applicable probationary period. This does not include limited term).

Veterans' Preference is codified in Government Code Sections 18973 – 18979.

Veteran status is verified by the California Department of Human Resources (CalHR). Directions to apply for Veterans' Preference are on the Veterans' Preference Application (Std. Form 1093), which is available at www.CalCareers.ca.gov, and the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Career Credits are not granted for examination(s) administered on an Open basis or a Promotional basis.

• Department of Parks & Recreation

Questions regarding this examination should be directed to:

California Relay Service: 1-800-735-2929 (TTY), 1-800-735-2922 (Voice). TTY is a Telecommunications Device for the Deaf, and is reachable only from phones equipped with a TTY Device.

Examination and/or Employment Application (STD 678) forms are available at the California Department of Human Resources, local offices of the Employment Development Department, and through your CalCareer Account (www.CalCareers.ca.gov).

If you meet the requirements stated on this examination bulletin, you may take this examination, which is competitive. Possession of the entrance requirements does not assure a place on the eligible list. Your performance in the examination described in this bulletin will be rated against a predetermined job-related rating, and all applicants who pass will be ranked according to their scores.

Department of Parks & Recreation reserves the right to revise the examination plan to better meet the needs of the service, if the circumstances under which this examination was planned change. Such revision will be in accordance with civil service laws and rules and all applicants will be notified.

General Qualifications: Applicants must possess essential personal qualifications including integrity, initiative, dependability, good judgment, the ability to work cooperatively with others, and a state of health consistent with the ability to perform the assigned duties of the class. A medical examination may be required. In open examinations, investigation may be made of employment records and personal history and fingerprinting may be required.

Eligible Lists: Eligible lists established by competitive examination, regardless of date, must be used in the following order: 1) sub-divisional promotional, 2) departmental promotional, 3) multi-departmental promotional, 4) service-wide promotional, 5) departmental open, 6) open. When there are two lists of the same kind, the older must be used first. Eligible lists will expire in one to four years unless otherwise stated on the bulletin.

High School Equivalence: Equivalence to completion of the 12th grade may be demonstrated in any one of the following ways: 1) passing the General Education Development (GED) Test; 2) completion of 12 semester units of college-level work; 3) certification from the State Department of Education, a local school board, or high school authorities that the competitor is considered to have education equivalent to graduation from high school; or 4) for clerical and accounting classes, substitution of business college work in place of high school on a year-for-year basis.

Accepted applicants must provide proof of identification at each in-person test session. Acceptable identification consists of a photo identification card or two forms of signed identification.