For positions involving unskilled or semiskilled labor or domestic attendants or custodial work, when the character or place of the work makes it impracticable to supply the needs of the service by appointments made in accordance with the procedure prescribed by this article, the director, subject to the rules, may adopt or authorize the use of such other procedures as he determines to be appropriate in order to meet the needs of the service while assuring the selection of such employees on the basis of merit and fitness. Such procedures may, so far as practicable, include the testing of applicants and maintenance of lists of eligibles by localities, the testing of applicants, singly or in groups, at periodic intervals, at the place of employment or elsewhere, after such notice as the director considers adequate, the registration of applicants who pass a noncompetitive test or submit satisfactory evidence of their qualifications and appointment of registered applicants in the order of their application or by lot or any variation or combination of the foregoing or other suitable method.