All district and local boards of examiners are supplied currently with announcements of examinations and are fully informed concerning civil service matters generally. Discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines, as well as all other citizens, are advised to keep in touch with the boards of examiners in their respective communities in order that they may be informed as to opportunities for employment. Those who live in communities in which the Civil Service Commission is not represented may obtain information at any time by writing to the nearest district secretary or to the commission at Washington.
Mechanical Trades Positions
Local boards of examiners for certain branches of the service receive applications for some positions, principally mechanical trades and similar positions and positions of unskilled laborer. Local boards of this class are located at navy yards and naval stations, at ordnance plants, at district headquarters of the Engineer Department of the Army, at headquarters of lighthouse districts, at projects of the Indian Irrigation and Allotment Service, and at projects of the Reclamation Service. Information relative to position which are open in any particular establishment may be obtained by communicating with the secretary of the local board of civil service examiners at the establishment. The locations of the various establishments of the services named will be furnished upon request by any district secretary or by the commission at Washington.
Physical Requirements
The civil service regulations specify certain physical defects which will debar from all examinations and other defects which will debar from certain examinations. These regulations are based upon the requirements of the service as established by the several departmental heads.
The general regulations provide that the following defects will debar persons from any examination: Insanity, tuberculosis; paralysis; epilepsy; seriously defective sight of both eyes which can not be corrected by glasses; loss of both arms or both legs; loss of arm and leg; badly crippled or deformed hands, arms, feet or legs; uncompensated valvular disease of the heart; locomotor ataxia; cancer; Bright’s disease; diabetes. Defective hearing will also debar from examination if the duties of the position are such that the defective hearing of the employee would be likely to result in injury to himself or his fellow workers or would otherwise impair his efficiency. Other physical defects may debar persons from certain examinations. Announcements of examinations specify the additional physical requirements if any are provided.
On April 16, 1919, the President authorized, on the recommendation of the Civil Service Commission, an amendment to the civil-service rules which permits the Commission to exempt from physical requirements established for any position a disabled and honorably discharged soldier, sailor, or marine upon the certification of the Federal Board for Vocational Education that he has been specially trained for and has passed a practical test demonstrating his physical ability to perform the duties of the class of positions in which employment is sought.
Preference in Appointment
An act of Congress, approved March 3, 1919, provides as follows:
“That hereafter in making appointments to clerical and other positions in the executive departments and independent governmental establishments preference shall be given to honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines, and widows of such, if they are qualified to hold such positions.”