Getting on The Eligible List
For detailed official information as to just what your qualifications must be and just how you must proceed to secure a place on the eligible list for employment in navy yards you should secure a copy of Instructions to Applicants for Employment at Navy Yards and Naval Stations. Probably you can get a copy from your vocational adviser, or you can write to the United States Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C. Probably you will want to get some explanations from your vocational adviser and you should take the matter up with him.
The following will give you a general idea of how individuals for navy yard appointments may proceed to get their names on the eligible list for their trade or occupation. Your first step is to apply for examination for a civil-service rating. At nearly all yards and naval stations there are labor boards that receive applications for employment in the yards to which they are attached. (The “instructions” already referred to will give you exact information on this point.) If men are needed or are likely to be needed, arrangements will be made to determine your qualifications and rate you. In general, if you are applying for examination and rating as an artisan (as you probably would be), you would be rated on your experience, your training, and your physical ability. If your physical ability is affected by your services in the Navy or the Marine Corps, it is the understanding of the office of the Federal Board for Vocational Education that wherever a soldier, sailor, or marine has been disabled in the war and desires employment in any occupation in a navy yard or shipyard under the jurisdiction of the United States Government, the question of his physical ability to discharge the duties of the position properly will be passed upon individually for each case. Should the Civil Service Commission determine that, notwithstanding his handicap, he is able to do the work of the position in a satisfactory way, any general rule or regulation regarding disability now in operation under the rules of the commission will not apply.
Therefore, if you are a disabled soldier, sailor, or marine interested in navy yard occupations, you should first communicate with representatives of the Federal Board for Vocational Education regarding your case. These representatives are to be found at the central office at Washington, D. C., or in one of the district offices given at the back of this pamphlet. You do not have to pass written examinations, but your rating is determined by the values given to your training, physical ability, and experience as stated by you under oath and verified by the examining board.
If your rating is over a certain number your name is placed on the eligible list. The higher your rating the nearer your name to the top of the list. When vacancies occur appointments are made from the top of the list down, and appointees are notified when and where to report for work.