Exam Bulletin - Sheetfed Offset Press Operator III

California Highway Patrol

Multiple Testing Departments. Please see list of Departments.

Exam Code: EX-3757

Examination Plans Included:

  • SHEETFED OFFSET PRESS OPERATOR III - Open

Final Filing Date: Applications are accepted on a continuous basis.

Bulletin Updates

  • Updated dates

Classification Details

SHEETFED OFFSET PRESS OPERATOR III: $5,062.00 - $6,341.00 per Month

View the SHEETFED OFFSET PRESS OPERATOR III classification specification.

Application Instructions

Upcoming Filing Cutoff Dates:

  • 12/5/2024
  • 1/2/2025
  • 2/6/2025
  • 3/6/2025
  • 4/3/2025
  • 5/1/2025
  • 6/5/2025

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.

NOTE: Dates printed on mobile bar codes, such as Quick Response codes available at the United States Postal Service, are not considered postmark dates for the purpose of determining timely filing of an application. It is the applicant’s responsibility to submit their application on time and to ensure the envelope is postmarked.

Who Should Apply:

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):

  • SHEETFED OFFSET PRESS OPERATOR III - Open

For all Classifications, once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 6 months:

Exam Code(s):

    3757

For SHEETFED OFFSET PRESS OPERATOR III, once you have participated in any of the following examinations, you may not recompete for 6 months:

Exam Code(s):

  • EX-03757

How To Apply:

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:

  • California Highway Patrol
    Selection Standards and Examinations Section
    097/Examination Services
    P.O. Box 942898
    Sacramento, CA 94298-0001

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:

  • California Highway Patrol
    Selection Standards and Examinations Section
    097/Examination Services
    601 North 7th Street
    Sacramento, CA 94298-0001
    8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

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.

All application (STD 678) forms must include: employment history “from” and “to” dates (month/day/year), hours per week, title/job classification, and duties performed. Application (STD 678) forms received without this information will be rejected. Résumés or other documents will not be accepted in lieu of a completed application (STD 678) form.

NOTE: DO NOT SUBMIT APPLICATIONS TO THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES (CALHR) OR TO A LOCAL CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICE.

Special Testing Arrangements:

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.

Minimum Qualifications

NOTE: All applicants must meet the experience and/or education requirements for this examination by the cutoff date. Part-time or full-time jobs, regardless of whether paid or volunteer positions, and inside or outside California state service will count towards experience.

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.

00107327 - SHEETFED OFFSET PRESS OPERATOR III

Either I

In the California state service, one year of experience performing the duties equivalent to either a Sheetfed Offset Press Operator II or a Webfed Offset Press Operator I.

Or II

Two years of experience operating a multicolor sheetfed offset press.

Position Description

00107327 - SHEETFED OFFSET PRESS OPERATOR III

This is the journey level in the Sheetfed Offset Press Operator series. Under direction, incumbents perform skilled work (including four-color process) involved in maintaining and operating a small sheetfed offset press; operate small presses with two or more units; dot-to-dot registration, reverses, large color solid, duo-tones, color trapping, and four-color process work; and do other related work.

Special Personal Characteristics

Flexibility to adapt to changing work priorities; work in a noisy environment; willingness to work nights and overtime; interact effectively and courteously with all levels of personnel, customers, vendors, and other parties; and vision sufficient to perform the essential functions of the job.

Additional Desirable Qualification

Education equivalent to completion of the twelfth grade.

Examination Information

This examination consists of the following component(s):

Component OrderComponent TypeComponent DuePercentage of Final Score
1Online ExamAfter Acceptance100%

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

Candidates who are accepted into the examination will receive an e-mail from the California Highway Patrol, Examinations Services, with instructions and a link to the Training and Experience Examination. 

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:
  • Basic lithography.
  • Single unit press and its functions including delivery systems, dampening system, feeding system, inking system, and printing system.
  • Pre-press (imaging).
  • Finishing processes.
  • Printing instruments and tools.
  • Use and care of blankets, rollers, and offset plates and their installations on presses.
  • Types of fountain solutions on sheetfed presses using a lithograph process.
  • Safety requirements applied in the operation of printing equipment and industrial workplace safety practices.
  • Printing solvents and additives.
  • Print stock weights, textures, and finishes.
  • Types and uses of printing inks.
  • Multicolor sheetfed press.
  • Color and register control systems.
  • Four-color process work.
  • Types and uses of spot varnishes.
Ability to:
  • Perform basic math calculations.
  • Take accurate measurements needed for effective job performance.
  • Perform mechanical tasks needed to operate equipment.
  • Communicate effectively.
  • Follow oral and written instructions to assure quality and quantity of production.
  • Make minor mechanical adjustments.
  • Maintain proper fountain solutions.
  • Maintain satisfactory personal relations with other workers.
  • Willingness to work under noisy conditions.
  • Willingness to work various shifts.
  • Understand and follow basic safety and environmental regulations and practices.
  • Stand for long periods of time.
  • Move and/or lift up to 50 pounds.
  • Operate a multiunit press.
  • Operate an envelope press.
  • Maintain registration between printing units.
  • Mix and match colors.
  • Produce a printing plate.
  • Shoot and lay out negatives and half-tones.
  • Operate a small sheetfed offset presses including perfecting units and powdering units.
  • Perform four-color process printing.
  • Dot-to-dot registration.
  • Trap colors.
  • Print large solids.
  • Pack the blanket and/or plate cylinder to register colors between units.
  • Print duotones and full reverses.
  • Convert from single-sided to two-sided printing and return.

Eligible List Information

A Servicewide Open eligible list for the SHEETFED OFFSET PRESS OPERATOR III Classification will be established for:

  • State of California

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.

Resulting Eligibility List(s) will be used to fill vacancies throughout the State of California.

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.

Testing Departments

  • California Highway Patrol
  • State of California

Contact Information

Questions regarding this examination should be directed to:

California Highway Patrol
Selection Standards and Examinations Section
097/Examination Services
P.O. Box 942898
Sacramento, CA 94298-0001
Phone: (916) 843-3820

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.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The State of California is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.

Drug Free Statement

It is an objective of the State of California to achieve a drug-free State work place. Any applicant for State employment will be expected to behave in accordance with this objective, because the use of illegal drugs is inconsistent with the law of the State, the rules governing civil service, and the special trust placed in public servants.

General Information

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.

California Highway Patrol 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.

Application Methods:
Electronic (Your CalCareer Account)
By Mail
In Person (see bulletin for details)
Alternate Application Process

While we recommend that you utilize your CalCareer Account to take advantage of all the tools available, you may choose to apply for this examination without using your account. In this case, print and complete the Exam Application Package Checklist and include it if you submit a hard copy application.

Exam Application Package Checklist

Blank Application Form (STD678)

Accommodation Request (STD679)