The Recruitment Process at JEA

External applicants: Once you are interested in a job at JEA, please apply online.
Internal employees: Please apply on The Grid using the Job Openings – Taleo link

Please take time to review the job requirements very carefully and begin pulling required documentation together so that you have it in one location (resume, dates of employment, licensure, DD214, VP forms(s), etc). It’s the applicant's responsibility to ensure they provide all documentation.

Applications are reviewed after the job closes and eligibility is determined during the official review (deeming) process. We do not accept unsolicited resumes.

Completing the Online Application

When completing the online application, it’s absolutely imperative that you provide documentation to demonstrate that you meet qualifications. If you meet those requirements, you must demonstrate that you do so by including the information clearly in your resume and any attachments that you provide us (e.g – your DD214 and VP form(s) if you are requesting veteran’s preference, your high school diploma, any professional license required, etc.). Please note that driver licenses, passports and social security cards should not be attached to your application. If you are an internal JEA employee, it’s important that you include your prior and current employment history.

Once the job closes, you will no longer be able to add additional information for the specialist to review.

After the Job Closes

After the job posting closes, your resume will be deemed eligible or ineligible based on the open requirements listed and/or the documentation required for the recruitment. You will not hear from JEA’s Talent Acquisition Services department until this step is complete. This may take upwards of up to two weeks or more to complete depending on the number of applicants in the recruitment. Please be patient while this process is taking place.

You will be notified through your email address that you provided on your JEA application with next applicable steps, (e.g. an exam notice or with an email stating you did not meet the minimum qualifications, etc.).

The Civil Service Written Exam

If you are deemed eligible to take the exam, you will then be notified by JEA Talent Acquisition Services via email and/or a phone call with exam details. One of the pieces of information you will receive in your notice are the KSA’s (Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities) for the position applied.

After you receive the exam notice, you should read it in its entirety as it contains very important information and details regarding the exam (e.g. dates, times and required documents to show proof of who you are, etc.).

Civil Service exam questions and answers are developed by the hiring committee and use industry reference materials. You will receive KSA’s (Knowledge, Skills and Abilities) for each step along the process. The KSAs represent the material that you will be tested on and the percentages associated with each KSA. Exam questions are tied to a specific KSA. This will help you prepare for the exam.

Civil Service written exams are administered by a 3rd party vendor. The current vendor is Florida State College at Jacksonville. Generally, the exam times are between 1 and 2 hours; however, this could differ depending on the position.

Your test results are not given to you immediately and again we ask for your patience. We understand how anxious you will be waiting for the results and we will get them to you as soon as possible. As the specialist updates your status, you can log on to your applicant profile to check your status. Written exams are scored by the hiring committee and the specialist who is assigned to the recruitment. You will receive an email with your score and letting you know if you passed or not. You will receive information for the next steps in the recruitment process, as well.

The Civil Service Interview

Civil Service interviews are perhaps a little different from private sector interviews you may have applied for in the past. Please know that we follow strict guidelines to ensure that everyone who applies to JEA is treated fairly.

All applicants will be asked the same questions and given points to questions responded to. The committee will take accurate notes on what you say in order to determine your qualifications and may look down at their papers. Please do not take this as them being rude or disinterested; they want to remember everything you told them so they can have an accurate understanding of your knowledge, skills and abilities as it relates to the position you are applying for at JEA.

Be prepared to answer structured pre-set questions. An oral interview is generally 30 minutes to 1 ½ hours. Typically, interviews are done in panels; where more than one person serves as the interviewer. Panel interviews ensures that the hiring process is fair and balanced. The interviewers cannot ask you to elaborate on your answer or ask you to give more detail about your answer. It is entirely up to you to answer completely. Give as many details as you can so that the hiring committee can gain as much knowledge about you and your skills as they can. It is better to give excess information than not enough information. The committee has established what answers they will be giving points to, so the more thoroughly you can answer the question, the more you can maximize your score. You may take notes to organize your thoughts on paper provided by the exam committee; however, you must leave your notes with the committee upon conclusion of the interview. You may ask questions of the committee at the end of the interview.

You will hear something about the status of whether you got the job as soon as all the steps to the recruitment are complete. You can also check your applicant profile to review your status as well. There could be several steps (exam, interview, computer exercise, agilities, etc.) to the recruitment depending on the requirements of the hiring committee and therefore it could take several weeks to complete. We work hard to expedite the hiring process and want to give you an answer as soon as possible, so please be patient. All our communication is done via email so make sure to check emails periodically.

What to Expect When the Process is Complete

After all testing is complete, the hiring committee will review all final applicants and review each applicant’s performance on various parts of the test, the credentials of each applicant, any veteran’s preference if applicable, and select the candidate that most meets the needs of the business. This step usually takes a few days for the business to finalize its decision.

At the end of the process you will know your score and whether you passed. If you passed all parts of the testing components, you will be told that you will be placed on the internal/external eligibility lists for the position that you applied for.

There are three types of eligibility lists:

Internal Priority 1 (IP1) - 2 years
Internal Priority 2 (IP2) - 90 days
External (Ext) - 1 year

What does it mean to be on an eligibility list? Essentially, it means that if there is another opening for the position for which you are on a list, you will be considered for the opening without having to re-apply and re-test. If you are selected for the position, a specialist will contact you via phone and discuss the offer and any next steps to finalize the hiring process.

Contact Talent Acquisition Services

Of course, if you have any questions you should contact JEA’s Talent Acquisition Services Department:

recsel@jea.com