1. The general examinations under the first clause of Rule VI for
admission to the service shall be limited to the following subjects:
(1) Orthography, penmanship, and copying; (2) arithmetic--fundamental
rules, fractions, and percentage; (3) interest, discount, and elements
of bookkeeping and of accounts; (4) elements of the English language,
letter writing, and the proper construction of sentences; (5) elements
of the geography, history, and government of the United States.
2. Proficiency in any subject upon which an examination shall be held
shall be credited in grading the standing of the persons examined in
proportion to the value of a knowledge of such subject in the branch or
part of the service which the applicant seeks to enter.
3. No one shall be entitled to be certified for appointment whose
standing upon a just grading in the general examination shall be less
than 65 per cent of complete proficiency in the first three subjects
mentioned in this rule, and that measure of proficiency shall be deemed
adequate.
4. For places in which a lower degree of education will suffice the
Commission may limit the examinations to less than the five subjects
above mentioned; but no person shall be certified for appointment under
this clause whose grading shall be less than an average of 65 per cent
on such of the first three subjects or parts thereof as the examination
may embrace.
5. The Commission may also order examinations upon other subjects
of a technical or special character to test the capacity which may be
needed in any part of the classified service which requires peculiar
information or skill. Examinations hereunder may be competitive or
noncompetitive, and the maximum limitations of age contained in the
twelfth rule shall not apply to applicants for the same. The application
for and notice of these special examinations, the records thereof,
and the certification of those found competent shall be such as the
Commission may provide for. After consulting the head of any Department
or office the Commission may from time to time designate, subject to the
approval of the President, the positions therein for which applicants
may be required to pass the special examination.