The Pennsylvania State Civil Service Commission is responsible for administering the Pennsylvania’s merit system for 37 state agencies having almost 57,000 civil service employees. The commission is a merit system of employment that hires, retains and promotes people based on their qualifications and ability to perform the job via civil service tests that can be taken which measures knowledge, skills and abilities needed to successfully perform the duties of a particular job or group of related jobs. The majority of civil service jobs are located in state agencies in Harrisburg, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, however there are jobs available in regional offices, state parks and forests, engineering district offices, state correctional facilities, state liquor stores, veterans’ homes, state mental hospitals and mental retardation centers.