Human Resources

While the eligible list is comprised of all candidates who pass the exam, the referral list is comprised of those candidates who have been referred for an interview to the hiring department. When a referral list is generated, departments determine the number of candidates they would like to interview. Subsequently, they will receive an even number of candidates from the promotional and open competitive lists based on how many they wish to interview. For example: If a department requests six candidates to interview, they will receive the top three promotional candidates and the top three open competitive candidates.

As a merit system, most of our recruitments will include a competitive examination process. The Washoe County Personnel Handbook section 5.160 outlines instances which allow the Department of Human Resources to waive the examination process. When an examination is waived, all qualified candidates are placed on an unranked list.

Certain recruitments fall outside of the merit system and will entail a separate and unique process. The details of the process will be outlined on the job announcement.

Most eligible lists are active for a minimum of one year but may be extended by the director of human resources for up to three years. There are instances where a recruitment may be opened prior to the one year minimum.

If you pass the examination, you will receive your score  and rank via email to the email address you provided on your application.

All candidates on the list are ranked in score order, based on the number of eligible candidates.  If there is a tie score, the candidates receive the same ranking.  For example, if two people have a score of 86.44 and are ranked at #8 then both are ranked 8.  If the next candidate’s score on the list is an 87,  that candidate  would be ranked 7 due to  their higher score.

All correspondence about your application, testing and ranking are sent through email to the email address you provided on your application. Prior to contacting Washoe County Human Resources, be sure to check your email spam folder. After checking your email spam folder, if you still cannot locate an email regarding the results of the exam, please contact careers@washoecounty.gov.  

Yes, if the recruitment is continuous/open until filled, new names will be added to the list each time the exams are administered. If another applicant scores higher than you, your rank will be lowered. It is also possible for you to advance higher on the eligible list as others are hired or removed for other reasons such as finding other jobs. In addition, your rank may change from one recruitment to another even if the same exam is used.

Once the examination process has concluded, a list of top ranked candidates will be referred to the hiring department for an interview. The hiring department determines the number of candidates to interview. Depending on your rank from the exam, you may or may not be contacted for an interview as this is contingent on how many candidates the departments opted to interview. If the department did not request enough candidates to get to your ranking on the list, you will not be contacted for that round of interviews.   

If it is an unranked list, all qualified candidates will be referred for an interview. Most hiring departments will interview candidates shortly after the list is referred. Some departments may take longer than others to schedule the interview and there are instances where a list was created to fill future, anticipated vacancies.

The good news is if you passed the exam, your name will remain on the eligible list for future opportunities as they become available. Please make sure to check your email and voicemail to ensure you are not missing important communication from either the hiring department or Human Resources.