How to Fill Out and Submit the CT-HR-12: Connecticut State Job Application

To complete the CT-HR-12 form, download the PDF from the Department of Administrative Services (DAS) website or open it from a listing on the state’s JobAps portal, fill in every section with your personal, educational, and employment details, and submit it to the office named in the exam announcement or job posting.{¹} The form does double duty — it is both an application for a specific position and an application for a competitive examination — and where it goes depends on which of those you are doing.{²}

Know Which Track You’re On Before You Start

The CT-HR-12 is used by anyone seeking a job in a Connecticut executive branch agency. Before you touch the form, confirm whether you are applying for a competitive examination (which establishes an eligibility list for a job classification) or for a specific position opening posted by an agency. The exam announcement or job posting tells you which, and it also sets the closing date, lists any supplemental materials, and names the office that receives your application.

What to Gather Before You Fill It Out

The form asks for a dense amount of detail, and the information you provide is used to decide whether you meet the minimum requirements for the job or exam.{²} Pulling everything together first keeps you from leaving the kind of blanks that get applications screened out.

Your full legal name, current mailing address, phone number, and Social Security number. The SSN goes at the top of Page 1.
Names and addresses of every school attended, the specific credit hours you earned, and the exact title and field of each degree conferred. If the posting requires a degree, a vague entry like “bachelor’s” with no field of study can cost you qualifying credit.
A chronological employment history with job titles, supervisor names, dates, and detailed duties. The form’s instructions tell you to relate your experience directly to the minimum requirements in the exam announcement or posting.
License numbers, issuing authorities, and expiration dates for any professional credentials the role requires.
Official transcripts if the posting asks for them. Order these early; schools can take weeks to send them.
Your DD-214, if you plan to claim veteran preference points.

Filling Out the Form

The CT-HR-12 is a PDF that can be completed electronically or printed and filled in by hand.{} Write your name and the examination or position title at the top of every page.{²} This sounds minor, but pages separate during processing, and unmarked pages get lost.

Match the experience you describe to the specific requirements in the exam announcement. In many hirings the CT-HR-12 itself functions as the exam: HR staff score the education, experience, and credentials you listed to decide whether you meet the minimum qualifications. A thin or generic job description is the most common reason a qualified applicant fails to score.

Supplemental Materials

Many exam announcements require materials beyond the CT-HR-12 — supplemental questionnaires, writing samples, or proof of specific qualifications. Read the announcement carefully. These materials must be submitted together with the application; sending them separately or after the deadline usually means disqualification.{²}

Foreign Degrees

A degree earned outside the United States is not accepted at face value. You need a credential evaluation from a service recognized by the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES) or the Association of International Credentials Evaluators (AICE), and you submit the evaluation report in place of standard transcripts. Processing can take weeks to months, and you pay for the evaluation. Any non-English documents may need to be translated first.{³}

Criminal History Questions

Connecticut law restricts what state agencies can ask about your criminal past on an initial application. Under C.G.S. § 31-51i, no employer can require you to disclose prior arrests, criminal charges, or convictions on the initial application unless a specific state or federal law requires it, or the position requires a security or fidelity bond.{} If your records have been erased under Connecticut law — dismissed charges, not-guilty findings, youthful-offender adjudications, or convictions that received an absolute pardon — you are never required to disclose them, and the application must include a notice explaining that right.{⁴} Some positions, particularly in law enforcement or involving fiduciary duties, fall under exceptions where early disclosure is required. Follow the prompts on the form.

Where to Send the Completed Form

Routing is the step that trips up first-time applicants, and sending the form to the wrong office means it goes nowhere.{²}

For an Examination

Applications for exams go to the Statewide Human Resources Management Division at the Department of Administrative Services. The exam announcement lists the specific mailing address and secure fax number. If you fax it, confirm every page transmitted correctly — incomplete faxes or pages sent upside down will not be accepted.{²} Do not send exam applications to the hiring agency unless the announcement specifically tells you to.

For a Specific Position

Applications for a posted position go to the hiring agency, not to DAS.{²} The posting tells you where. DAS directs applicants to browse current openings on JobAps at jobapscloud.com/CT and follow the directions in each listing.{¹}

Deadlines and Confirmation

Watch the closing date on the exam announcement or job posting. If you mail the application, use a trackable service so you can verify delivery before the deadline. If you submit through JobAps, you should receive electronic confirmation; check your Personal Status Board regularly, since some email providers delay delivery of status updates.

Claiming Veteran Preference Points

Connecticut adds points to passing examination scores for veterans and certain family members. The preference applies only to original-appointment exams used to fill vacancies, not to promotional exams, and only if you first achieve at least the minimum passing score on your own.{⁵} On a 100-point scale, the allocations are:

Five points for wartime veterans not eligible for VA disability compensation or pension. The same five points extend to the spouse of a disabled veteran who cannot work, or the unmarried surviving spouse of such a veteran.
Ten points for veterans — or their qualifying spouse or surviving spouse — who are eligible for VA disability compensation or pension.
Five points for veterans who received or were entitled to a campaign badge or expeditionary medal, if they do not already qualify under another category.
Five points for active-duty service members in the final year of their enlistment contract.

To claim these points you must be a “veteran” as defined in C.G.S. § 27-103, meaning you were honorably discharged from, or released under honorable conditions from, active service in the armed forces.{⁵} Your DD-214 is the standard proof of eligibility.{⁶} Include it with your application.

Requesting a Disability Accommodation

Under the ADA, Connecticut state agencies must provide reasonable accommodations during the application and examination process. Examples include materials in large print or braille, a sign language interpreter, extra time on a timed written test, or holding the exam at an accessible location.{} If you need an accommodation, contact the agency or division administering the exam as soon as you submit your application, and be ready to describe what you need and provide supporting documentation. An agency can decline a specific accommodation only if it would cause undue hardship, and even then it must offer an alternative that works.{⁷}

Sign Carefully: Accuracy Is Not Optional

The CT-HR-12 includes a certification statement that you sign, attesting the information is accurate. State agencies verify what you put on the form, and discrepancies discovered after hiring can lead to disciplinary action up to and including termination. The consequences are steepest when someone fabricates credentials to meet position qualifications; in that scenario, dismissal is standard practice across state government hiring. An honest gap in your resume is far less damaging than an embellished one that unravels during a background check.

What Happens Next

Once your form reaches the right office, the merit-based review process begins. For competitive positions, the Commissioner of Administrative Services prescribes the exam format, which may be a written or oral test, a skills demonstration, an evaluation of your training and experience, or any combination the Commissioner considers appropriate.{} Everyone who passes is placed on a candidate list for that job classification, ranked by score, with veteran preference points added on top of the earned rating before ranking.{⁸}{⁵} Certified lists are typically valid for up to one year from the job’s closing date, so a hiring agency can pull candidates from that list for up to a year.{⁹} Status updates come through the contact information you provided on the form, so keep your phone number and email current, and if you applied through JobAps, check your Personal Status Board for referral questionnaires or interview scheduling links.

1
Department of Administrative Services. Apply for State Job Openings
2
State of Connecticut. Application for Examination or Employment CT-HR-12
3
United States Department of State. Evaluation of Foreign Degrees
4
Justia. Connecticut Code 31-51i – Employer Inquiries About Erased Criminal Record Prohibited
5
Justia. Connecticut General Statutes 5-224 – Credit for Military Service
6
Connecticut General Assembly. Connecticut General Assembly Office of Legislative Research – Veterans Benefits
7
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Job Applicants and the ADA
8
Connecticut General Assembly. Connecticut Code Chapter 67 – State Personnel Act – Section: 5-216
9
Department of Administrative Services. Applicant Reference Library