Exam Bulletin - Bookbinder II

Department of General Services

Exam Code: EX-4361

Examination Plans Included:

  • BOOKBINDER II - Open

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

Classification Details

BOOKBINDER II: $4,688.00 - $4,827.00 per Month

View the BOOKBINDER II classification specification.

Application Instructions

Upcoming Filing Cutoff Dates:

  • 6/6/2025
  • 7/7/2025
  • 8/1/2025
  • 9/5/2025
  • 10/3/2025
  • 11/7/2025
  • 12/5/2025
  • 1/2/2026
  • 2/6/2026
  • 3/6/2026
  • 4/3/2026
  • 5/1/2026
  • 6/5/2026

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.

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):

  • BOOKBINDER II - Open

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

Exam Code(s):

    4361

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

Exam Code(s):

  • EX-04361

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:

  • Department of General Services
    Recruitment and Examinations Services Unit
    P.O. Box 989052
    West Sacramento, CA 95798-9052

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 General Services
    Recruitment and Examinations Services Unit
    707 3rd Street, Lobby
    West Sacramento, CA 95798-9052
    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.

The most expeditious method to apply is electronic submission through your account at www.CalCareers.ca.govOptionally, you may submit your completed application packet to DGSExams@dgs.ca.gov.

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

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.

00107402 - BOOKBINDER II

Either I

One year of experience as a Bookbinder I or the equivalent.

Or II

One year of experience moving and lifting stock and printed materials in a printing facility.

Position Description

00107402 - BOOKBINDER II

Definition:

Under supervision, performs the less skilled tasks; operates equipment requiring simple setup with hand tools or manual dexterity in operation; and does other related work.

Typical Tasks:

Sets up and operates the following equipment: drilling machines, manually operated side and saddle stitchers, multihead stitchers, rotary slot perforators, carbon tippers, plastic wraps, and padding machines; takes sigs from bins, checks jobs, and feeds pockets; feeds books into equipment; logs and verifies job orders, table work stripping, tipping, and book repairing; checks status; pulls samples; takes readings from production records; operates bundling machines, compressors, and related equipment; fills job orders for flat sheet stock; drives forklifts; operates core splitter and other similar equipment; washes and oils small machines under direction; occasionally performs Bookbinder I duties such as sweeping and cleaning floors and moving stock or other material; and does other related work.

Special Personal Characteristics:

Willingness to work under noisy conditions and on shift work; and interest in and aptitude for bindery work.

For information regarding position location(s), please refer to the Eligible List Information section.

Examination Information

This examination consists of the following component(s):

Component OrderComponent TypeComponent DuePercentage of Final Score
1Supplemental ReportWith Application100%

Components that are due with your application will be scored and will count toward your final examination result. Failure to submit these items may result in disqualification or elimination from the examination.

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

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 and Abilities

Knowledge of:
1. Printing plant equipment machinery operations and terminology.
2. Types of paper stock and proper methods of paper movement and handling.

Ability to:
1. Communicate effectively.
2. Follow directions.
3. Move and/or lift up to 50 pounds.
4. Set up and operate complex nonjourney level equipment.

Eligible List Information

A Servicewide Open eligible list for the BOOKBINDER II Classification will be established for:

  • Department of General Services

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.

Preparing for the Examination

Here is a list of suggested resources to have available prior to taking the exam. 

To streamline the examination process, please create a CalCareer Account with CalHR. A CalCareer Account is a one stop shop for taking civil service examinations, applying for state jobs, and provides storage and organization for your documents and communications stemming from job opportunities, all in a paperless format. To sign up for a CalCareer Account, or log in to your existing account, Click here

Employment History: Employment dates, job titles, organization names and addresses, names of supervisors or persons who can verify your job responsibilities, and phone numbers of people listed above. 

Education: School names and addresses, degrees earned, dates attended, courses taken (verifiable on a transcript), persons or office who can verify education, and phone numbers of persons or offices listed above. 

Training: Class titles, certifications received, names of persons who can verify your training, and phone numbers of persons listed above. 

Cut-Off Date: 1st Friday of Every Month

Applications are accepted on a continuous basis. Check back periodically as cut-off dates are subject to change or can be cancelled at any time. Such changes or cancellations will be in accordance with civil service laws and rules. Additionally, applications may be processed on a flow basis prior to the cut-off date to meet the hiring needs of the Department.

Testing Departments

  • Department of General Services

Contact Information

Questions regarding this examination should be directed to:

Department of General Services
Recruitment and Examination Services Unit
P.O. Box 989052
West Sacramento, CA 95798-9052
Phone: (916) 376-5400
DGSexams@dgs.ca.gov

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.

Department of General Services 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)