Finding Post Office Jobs

Finding available post office jobs is not an easy task. First, you have to figure out what type of postal job you are interested in. The various types of postal jobs available at United State Postal Services includes: post office clerk, postal carrier and mail clerk. Other local post office jobs include corporate jobs, sales and marketing jobs, and data technology jobs.

The USA Postal Service (USPS) delivers billions of pieces of mail each week. The USA Postal Service worldwide has over a million employees. Postal jobs involve processing, sorting, and delivering mail and packages along with providing customer service and supplies in post offices. Most postal service workers are mail carriers, clerks, or mail sorters and processors. Postal clerks wait on customers at the post offices, whereas mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators sort incoming and outgoing mail. Mail carriers deliver mail to hundreds of millions of addresses throughout the world. Postal workers are visible every weekday, including Saturdays delivering the mail.

Postal employees typically retire rather than leave postal careers. In fact, the retention rate for most federal employees is very good compared to the general public.  This goes against the public perceived image that postal workers are unhappy and over-stressed workers.

Even though, the postal service has hundreds of thousands of employees, the public often only sees a handful. There are many different jobs within the USPS including customer server and main processing..

Jobs are available nationally as well as around the globe. As with every employer, a postal worker can transfer or perhaps be transferred to a different position or location. Popular work destinations for the general population is also reflected with postal workers. So attractive locations in warm cities in California and Florida are sought after.

Postal workers gain instant recognition from their community. They are usually automatically popular and trusted. Postal workers appear on television, in movies, and are often depicted as welcome members of communities.  Therefore it is not surprising that many people take the postal exam to get jobs working for the USPS.


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Postal Battery Exam 473

The United States Postal Services has developed a new entrance exam called the Test 473 for Major Entry Level jobs. This new test is also referred to the 473 Battery Exam.

Mail room clerks, carrier, mail handlers, and postal distribution personnel must pass the 473 Postal exam. Your overall hiring potential is based on your test results on the Postal exam, your previous work experience and education. Those with related previous work experience will score naturally higher overall.

The 473 Battery Exam got its name from the fact that there are 473 questions on the Postal exam. The Postal exam covers the following:
  • Part A, covers your ability to check address. There are 60 questions and you have 11 minutes to determine if two address are identical to each other or not.
  • Part B, assesses your ability to complete forms. There are 30 questions and you have 15 minutes to complete missing information on forms presented in the exam.
  • Part C is made up of two parts. Section 1 of Part C has 36 questions and you have six minutes to assign the proper code to addresses based on the directions provided in the exam.

Section 2 of Part C of the postal exam is designed to test your memory skills. There are 36 questions and you got 7 minutes to answer the questions. You have to memorize assigned codes for addresses ranges.

The last part of the exam is Part D. There are 236 questions. Those taking the exam are given 90 minutes to answer questions that are designed to evaluate your experience and characteristics that are related to working as a postal worker.

Part D, will ask questions about yourself. Things you like to do and things you don’t like to do. They will ask questions to find out if you have experience in different areas of work. It’s a personal profile so the more honestly you answer the questions the better it will enable the U.S. Postal Service to find a job that fits your characteristics. This is one part of the exam that you cannot prepare for so concentrate on the other parts when you are studying.

Address Checking

The postal clerk exam is intended to underline your skills on the job if necessary. Address checking is obviously a huge component if you work for the postal service. There is a section devoted entirely to checking addresses in order to evaluate your attention to detail, and if you can work quickly.

When you are checking addresses, look for differences in street numbers, street names, abbreviated words like Dr. Rd. Ave. St. etc. City names and state abbreviations can throw you. NY looks similar to NV if the handwriting is unclear. Work as quickly as you can scanning the address from left to right. The smallest detail will make the difference if two addresses are identical or not. If you want to challenge your eye scanning skills, practice teaching yourself how to scan from right to left. The eye has a natural tendency to start from the upper left corner of any reading material first. But forcing yourself to scan an address from right to left will force your eye to move slower, thus better able to catch discrepancies.

Random guesses will not help your score so it is to your benefit to get through as many questions as possible and to give each your full attention.

Coding & Memory

Attention to detail is probably the single-most important skill for anyone testing for postal clerk jobs. The second most important skill for this career path is your memory. The coding and memory section of the postal clerk and carrier exam text your ability to remember your ability to focus.

72 coding and memory questions ask you to identify codings sections for details related to addresses and delivery routes. You are given a “coding guide” listing a series of address ranges on one side and delivery routes on the other. It will be your task to match the address range to the delivery route without using the coding guide after you’ve reviewed it.

The best tip for excelling at the coding & memory section is the same with the address checking section, to stay completely focused on the task at hand and pay close attention to the smallest details. Take the coding & memory sections of practice tests before your test date. At first, the coding guide will appear overwhelming. After reviewing a few of them, you will begin to see a pattern in that the guide is devised in a logical format so that addresses can be quickly associated with delivery routes.

A quick side note on memory. We all have a memory. We all have the ability to convert information to our short-term memory, our long-term memory and our remote memory. Short-term memory is where we store information temporarily. For example, if you are working as a temp you may have a badge number for a particular office, but once that assignment is complete, you probably forget all about that badge number.

Long-term memory is where we store information for the long haul. Family member names, important telephone numbers and passwords are usually stored here.

Remote memory is where we remember things on autopilot. For example, language is in our remote memory. Once we learn how to speak, we never forget.

Personal Characteristics & Experience Inventory

There is a section on the postal clerk exam called a Personal Characteristics and Experience inventory. This is the longest section on the exam and you can’t really prepare for it. In fact, you are encouraged not to. Let’s go over what your test reviewers are looking for in the PC & E section.

Your personality is a large part of this section. The questions aren’t intended to determine whether you are a good or bad person, rather, they are intended to reveal if your personality traits would bode well in the post office environment. For example, you will be asked to answer a series of agree/disagree questions that will shed light on your ability to work under pressure, and as a cooperative part of a team.

The Experience section is probing to find jobs that you have had previously that demonstrate similar aptitudes and skills for the post office job function. Jobs that might have required long hours standing, for example, would be important to mention. Did you have any jobs that required you to stand in one place for a long period of time, like a retail sales associate? Likewise, performing inventory in a retail environment might show that you can work very quickly while also paying attention to detail. Repetitious tasks in any previous job will be good opportunities to show that you are a good candidate for the post office.

Government Forms

There are 30 questions in the forms completion section on the postal clerk anc carrier exam.  Questions ask you to fill in fields on various forms. You don’t need to, nor should you even try, to memorize the government forms in advance of the exam in order to answer the forms questions successfully.  The process that you go through when you fill out medical forms are you local physician’s office are filled out the same way as the US Postal Service forms.

When you get a form, look at its title to determine exactly what that form is about.  Glance through the form quickly to see if there are sections you can skip if they do not apply. As you move down through the form fields, note questions that say something like ‘if you answered yes, proceed to question #8′.  Also, as you work down the fields, make sure you fill in the blank appropriately; for example do not write your city’s zip code in the home telephone number field.  Pretty self-explanatory tips.  This section really boils down to focus and taking your time to deliberately complete the form fields.

You’ll have fifteen minutes to answer the 30 questions in the Forms section on the exam.  Again, don’t worry about memorizing all the forms.  Undoubtedly there will be one you haven’t seen before.  If you stay focused on what the form is about, and exactly what detail the form field is looking for, you’ll score well.  In fact, in this section you are not penalized for incorrect answers. Rather, you are scored on the completion rate of your forms.  Be sure to fill in every answer!

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Veterans Preference

Veterans are given preference for employment in Federal Jobs. If you are a veteran, a certain number of points will be added to your basic rating on the exam, so long as you make at least 70% on the exam. This is what the law dictates: if you have served in the Armed Forces of the United States, you deserve some kind of priority in government employment.

Whether you are a veteran who participated in Iraq or Afghanistan - or even World War II, Vietnam war, or Grenada war - you will receive this preference so long as you were honorably discharged or separated from the Armed Forces of the United States.

If you are claiming the ten-point veteran disability preference, you are more fortunate than someone who is eligible for the ordinary five-point preference. Why? Because veteran eligibles who have service-connected disabilities and have extra ten points are placed first at the top of the register in the order of their scores, except for scientific and professional jobs.

That simply means that you’re followed by all other eligibles, including the five-point preference veterans, who are listed according to their ratings. So if you’re a ten-point preference veteran, you’ll be on the top of the list, even if your basic score is lower than the top scorers. You’ll bump the other eligibles as if to say, “Move down, move down, move down!” The so-called preference eligibles who receive five points additional are listed with the other eligibles (civilians) according to scores. On the other hand, if you are a five-point preference veteran, it does not mean that you will be ahead of those who make higher scores than yours. If you score 75, including your five points, you won’t be listed above a nonpreference eligible who scores 76. However, if you are a preference eligible, you’ll be listed ahead of the nonpreference eligibles who make the same scores as you.

Standard Form 15
If you’re claiming veteran preference, you’ll have to fill out and submit Standard Form 15 to prove that you really served in the Armed Forces of the United States.

Because of the veteran preference, many who have retired from the Army, Navy, and Air Force have been appointed to postal positions and other Federal agency jobs.

In the competitive tests for appointment to positions in the Postal Service, these preference benefits are given to veterans under certain conditions:

  1. Five points are added to the basic rating of an examinee who scores at least 70 percent (the passing grade). If you make a score of 70, your final score will be 75; if you score 98 on the exam, your final score will be 100. (The maximum points any veteran can get is 100.)
  2. Ten points are added to the basic rating of an examinee who scores 70 percent or above and who is:
    • a. a disabled veteran or a veteran who has received a Purple Heart award. Physical requirements are waived for persons who receive this preference, so long as they can do efficiently the duties of a postal worker.
    • b. the wife of a disabled veteran if the veteran is physically disqualified by his service-connected disability for civil service appointment to positions along the line of his prewar or usual occupation.
    • c. the widow of a serviceman who died on active duty while serving in the Armed Forces, but only if she has not married again. (The law does not say whether she’ll be disqualified if she falls in love again.)
    • d. the mother of a deceased or disabled veteran son or daughter, if she is either widowed, divorced, or separated, or if her present husband is permanently and totally disabled.

Veteran Preference Explained
With regard to the veteran preference, the Postal Bulletin, in its issue of May 30, 1985 stated:
“The following revises Handbook P-11, Personnel Operations, Section 241.31. The principal change is to incorporate the minimum service requirements for veterans preference as provided in Section 408 of Public Law 87.306, enacted October 14, 1982, which amended Title 38 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Section 3103A. To obtain veterans preference in Federal employment, a person who enlisted after September 7, 1980 (or began active duty on or after October 14, 1982, and has not previously completed 24 months of continuous active duty), must perform active duty in the Armed Forces during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized, and serve for 2 years or the full period called or ordered to active duty. The time limit does not affect eligibility for veterans preference based on peacetime service exceeding 180 days from 1955 to 1976. This change is effective immediately and will be included in a future transmittal letter.

Kinds of Veteran Preferences
Five point preference is given to honorably separated veterans who served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States:
  1. during a war; or
  2. During the period April 28, 1952 to July 1955; or
  3. In any campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized (exception: a person who enlisted after September 17, 1980; or began active duty on or after October 14, 1982, and has not previously completed 24 months of continuous active duty must perform active duty in the armed forces, during a war or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized, and serve for 2 years or the full period called or ordered for active duty. The law excepts a person who is discharged or released from active duty (a) for a disability incurred or aggravated in the line of duty, or (b) under 10 U.S.C. 1171 or 1173 for hardship or other reasons.
  4. For more than 180 consecutive days any part of which occurred after January 31, 1955, and before October 15, 1976. (An initial period of active duty for training under the 6-month Reserve or National Guard Program does not count.)


Special Consideration
Veterans can file application with the Office of Personnel Management or the Postal Service after an examination has closed. If a current list of eligibles exists the veteran can apply within 120 days before or after separation. Ten-point preference veterans can apply anytime to be placed on an existing eligibles list.

All veterans, regardless of when they served on active duty, may file an application for any examination which was open while he or she was in the armed forces or which was announced within 120 days before or after his or her separation, provided the veteran makes the application within 120 days after an honorable discharge. A disabled veteran receives 10 points preference and may file an application at any time.

Veterans Readjustment Points (VRAs)
VRA appointments were originally limited to Vietnam Era Vets. Public Law 102-568 - October 29, 1992 greatly expanded VRA appointments to millions of post Vietnam Era Vets. You may be eligible for a non-competitive federal government job appointment. By law, federal agencies may hire qualified veterans of the Armed Forces directly under the Veteran’s Readjustment (VRA) program. Successful completion of the VRA program leads to a permanent civil service appointment.

The features of the law are:
  • If you served on active duty between August 5, 1964, and May 7, 1975, you have either 10 years after the date of your last separation from active duty, or until December 31, 1955, whichever is later.
  • If you first entered active duty after May 7, 1975, you have 10 years after the date of your last separation from active duty, or until December 31, 1999, whichever is later.



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Postal Employee Salaries & Benefits

The U.S. Postal Service which employs over 800,000 employees all over the country is comprised of Corporate headquarters, located in Washington, DC, Headquarters Field Units, and 10 area offices that have eighty-five districts.

Positions
Individuals are employed as craft/bargaining unit employees and non-bargaining unit employees. Such craft/bargaining employes are clerks, carriers, mail processors, mail handlers, mark-up clerks, and flat-sorting machine operators. Non-bargaining unit employees may include computer programmers, nurses, accountants, and information specialists.

There are four types of positions in the U.S. Postal Service. That is, employes or workers are known as follows:
  1. Full-Time Regular: 
  2. Part-Time Flexible
  3. Part-Time Regular
  4. Casual

Full-Time Regulars are permanent employees who are guaranteed 40 hours a-week work. They have holidays’ pay (even without working), and they are given full benefits as full-time federal employees. They are sometimes called “permanent” employees.

Part-Time Flexibles are career-appointed employees. However, they are not guaranteed 40 hours a week; that is, they can work only for 30 to 40 hours a week depending on where they work. They are, however, employees who receive full benefits. In other works, after working for four hours, they can be sent home if there’s no more work to be done. All postal workers start as flexibles; that is, their time is flexible. They may be assigned from one shift to another as the need arises. They usually work overtime during the Christmas season.

Part-Time Regulars. They may be considered as “regular” part-timers. They are similar in some ways to “flexible” employees, but they are work on a set schedule.

Casuals. They are temporary employees who work mostly during the Christmas season, which may last only for a few weeks. Their pay is less than the other Postal Workers’. Like the Part-Time Regulars and the Part-Time Flexibles, they are paid per hour.

Salaries
The Postal salary system consists of several pay schedules. They are the Postal Service (PS) for bargaining-unit employees and the Executive and Administrative Schedule (EAS) for non-bargaining-unit employees. The pay period for employees begins on Saturday and covers a two-week period ending on Friday. Postal employees are paid every two weeks following the end of the pay period.

Benefits
The U.S. Postal Service offers excellent benefits. Such benefits include life and health insurance, retirement plan, savings and investment plan with employer contribution, and annual and sick leaves


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Types of US Postal Service Jobs

The major job categories in the U.S. Postal Service are Carrier (City, Rural Carrier, and Rural Carrier Associate)Distribution Clerk (Manual)Mail-Up Clerk (Automated)Distribution Clerk (Machine-LSM Operator)Mail HandlerMail Processor, and Flat Sorting Machine Operator. To get any of these jobs, you must get a high score on the 460 Exam and 473 Battery Test. The 460 Exam is for the Rural Carrier Associate only and the 473 Battery Test is for the other seven positions.

City, Rural & Rural Carrier Associate

Grade: Level 5
Salary Range:
Persons Eligible to Apply: Open to the general public
Examination Requirement: Must pass the 473 Battery Test and 460 Examination

As a carrier (whether city or rural) you’ll be required to sort, rack, and tie mail at the post office before you start making deliveries within your route or area of delivery. In sorting letters, you must arrange them in the same order as the streets occur on the route. Letters and magazines for occupants of an apartment complex must be tied together with a rubber band or a belt. If you make a mistake in reading an address, the letter may go into the wrong home mailbox, causing a delay in delivery. The next day, you may find a note that says, “This is not ours. Opened by mistake.” The letter might be a “deadline” letter, an order from the court, or a warning from a creditor.

As a carrier, you’ll maintain required information, record changes of addresses, maintain other reports, and forward undeliverable-as-addressed mail.

In some ways, a rural carrier’s duty is different from that of a city carrier. If you are hired as a rural carrier or a rural carrier associate, you’ll be a jack of all trades; you’ll also be a “walking post office.” You may carry stamps, scales, and other equipment and supplies to serve the people of the rural area you cover.

For this reason, you must know how to compute the cost of a piece of mail or a package whether it’s going to a neighboring city, Somalia, or Russia.

Distribution Clerk (Manual)

Grade: L-5
Salary Range:
Persons Eligible to Apply: Open to the general public Examination Requirement: Must pass the 473 Battery Test.

A clerk may be the jack-of-all-trades position in the U.S. Postal Service. If you score high on the 473 Battery Test and land a job in the Postal Service, you can be a manual distribution clerk.

As a distribution clerk, you’ll work indoors and will handle sacks of mail weighing as heavy as 70 pounds.

You’ll sort mail and distribute it by using a complicated scheme, which must be memorized. (See How to Score 95-100% on Scheme Tests, a chapter in The Book of U.S. Postal Exams by Veltisezar Bautista.) You’ll place letters or flats (magazines and pieces of mail in big envelopes) into the correct boxes or pigeonholes.

As a distribution clerk, you’ll also dump sacks of mail onto conveyors for culling and sorting; you’ll load and unload sacks and trays of mail on and off mail transporters, such as APCs (All-Purpose Containers) and BMCs (Bulk Mail Containers). As a clerk, you may also be assigned to a public counter or window, doing such jobs as selling stamps and weighing parcels, and you’ll be personally responsible for all money and stamps.

Mark-Up Clerk: Mail Forwarder

Grade: L-4
Salary Range:
Persons Eligible to Apply: Open to the general public
Examination Requirements: Applicants must pass the 473 Battery Test and a typing test.

Mark-Up clerks process mail that is undeliverable as addressed. Previously they were just known as mark-up clerks, but now they are known as mark-up clerks, automated. Your duty as a mark-up clerk, automated, consists of keying on the machine, and other related jobs.

Mark-up clerks used to mark undeliverable-as-addressed mail with rubber stamps that said “Return to Sender, Address Unknown,” etc. (But not with the words “Return to Sender, Went to Heaven or Hell!”) They used to stick, pre-printed labels with new addresses on envelopes. These labels were inserted between change-of-address cards, arranged alphabetically in an index card tray.

Today, CFS (Computerized Forwarding System) units are installed in USPS sectional centers throughout the country. If a CFS unit is to be established by a post office, or if a CFS unit needs additional employees, postal officials will have to give a 473 Battery Test. Those already in the service may get these jobs, if they wish, by bidding for positions. But they must pass a special written and typing test. Civilian employees in military headquarters or offices may also request transfer to mark-up clerks, as in other positions. But they must pass the written and typing test.

Distribution Clerk, Machine (LSM Operator)

Grade: L-6
Salary Range:
Persons Eligible to Apply: Open to the general public
Examination Requirement: Must pass the 473 Battery Test and the LSM training.

Distribution Clerks, Machine or Letter Sorting Machine (LSM) Operators are clerks who operate a machine (called a console) that is attached to a giant letter-sorting machine. The console has a keyboard similar to that of a piano. Some people say that if you’re a pianist or know how to play the piano, you’ll be a good LSM operator.

There are two kinds of LSM operators. One is assigned to learn one or more distribution “schemes”; the other is assigned to key ZIP codes.

Every post office has its schemes, based on its Zip codes. For example, Warren, Michigan has four ZIZ codes: 48089, 48091, 48092, and 48093. The scheme involves the routes to which letter carriers are assigned. For instance, a carrier may be assigned to Route 38, which covers certain streets. Sometimes a street is divided into several routes. Also, letters must be diverted to their proper routes. This is the job of an LSM operator (distribution clerk, machine). A manual distribution clerk sorts letters according to their route by putting letters into pigeonholes on a case.

If you’re assigned to key schemes, you must hit the right keys (two) on the machine (all numbers), as you read the addresses on envelopes that are moving from right to left at the speed of about 50 letters per minute.

If you’re assigned to key ZIP codes, you have to key only the first three numbers in the ZIP code. Your speed must be about 60 letters per minute. The letters you’re keying may go to different ZIP codes (for instance, Mt.Clemens: 48043, 48044, 48045, and 48046).

Mail Handler

Grade: L-4
Salary Range:
Persons Eligible to Apply: Open to the general public
Examination Requirements: Must pass the 473 Battery Test.

If you get a job as a mail handler, you’ll work mostly in the dock area, the canceling section, and the operation area. As the title indicates, you’ll load and unload mail onto and off trucks and perform duties incidental to the movement and processing of mail.

As a mail handler, your duties include separating mail sacks to go to different routes or cities; canceling parcel post stamps; rewrapping parcels; and operating canceling machines, addressographs, mimeographs, and fork-lifts.

Mail Processor

Grade: L-4
Salary Range:
Persons Eligible to Apply: Open to the general public. Occasionally, positions are open only to current employees.
Examination Requirement: Must pass the 473 Battery Test

If you’re appointed as a mail processor, you’ll process mail using a variety of automated mail processing equipment. You’ll work at the optical character reader (OCR) mail processing equipment.
Among your duties are starting and stopping equipment, culling and loading mail, clearing jams, sweeping mail from bins, and performing other related tasks.

Flat Sorting Machine Operator

Grade: L-5
Salary Range:
Persons Eligible to Apply: Open to the general public
Examination Requirement: Must pass the 473 Battery Test

As a flat-sorting machine operator, your major duty is to operate a single- or multi-position operator-paced electromechanical machine in the distribution of flats. (Flats are mailed material mostly contained in manila envelopes and other self-sealed mail, and are fed to the machine by an operator to go to different cities or routes.) You may also be assigned to work in other areas as needed.

Here are other jobs open to the Public. (Applicants are required to pass examinations.The total qualifications will be evaluated on the basis of the results of the writgten test and the review panel’s evaluation of the applicant’s work experience.)

Area Maintenance Specialist, Grade: L-7
Area Maintenance Technician, Grade L-8
Assistant Engineman, Grade: L-5
Automotive Mechanic, Grade: L-6
Blacksmith-Welder, Grade: L-7
Building Maintenance Custodian, Grade L-4
Building Equipment Mechanic, Grade L-7
Carpenter, Grade: L-6
Clerk-Stenographer, L-5
Clerk-Typist, L-5
Data Conversion Operator
Electronics Technician, L-
Elevator Mechanic, Grade: L-7
Engineman, Grade: L-6
Fireman
Fireman-Laborer
Garageman, Grade: L-5
General Mechanic, Grade: L-5
Industrial Equipment Mechanic, Grade: L-6
Letter Box Mechanic, Grade: L-6
Machinist, Grade: L-7
Maintenance Electrician, Grade: L-7
Maintenance Mechanic
Mason
Mechanic Helper, Grade: L-4
Motor Vehicle Operator, Grade: L-5
Oiler, MPE
Painter, Grade: L-6
Painter-Finisher
Plumber, Grade: L-6
Postal Machines Mechanic, L-6
Postal Maintenance Trainee
Scale Mechanic
Stationary Engineer, Grade: L-7
Trailer-Trailer Operator


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US Post Office Employment Qualification Requirements

Age Requirement
The general minimum age requirement for positions in the Postal Service is 18 at the time of employment. For high school graduates or for persons certified by local authorities as having terminated formal education for adequate reasons, the minimum age is 16.


Applicants who are less than 18 years of age, who are not high school graduates, and have not terminated formal education may participate in the examination if they will reach 18 within two years from the date of examination. For carrier positions which require driving, applicants must be 18 years of age or over. There is no maximum age limit.

Citizenship
All applicants must be citizens of or owe allegiance to the United States of America or have been granted permanent resident alien status in the United States.

Whether you are from the Philippines, Haiti, or Nicaragua, provided you are an immigrant, you are eligible to take a postal exam and to be employed in the USPS.

Qualification Requirements 
Many positions, such as clerk and carrier, require passing an entrance exam: but some do not. To be a plumber, a machinist, or a maintenance mechanic, you have to pass a written exam. Your rating will be based on both the written test and on your qualifications. But you don't need to pass a written exam, for example, if you're a physician, a nurse, a psychologist, or a computer programmer. Your rating on these jobs will be based on your education, training, and experience. In the written tests, the passing score is 70 (excluding the extra five or 10 points for applicants entitled to veterans preference.)

Education Requirements
The Postal Services does not indicate that you must be a high school graduate to be eligible for any position.

So unless it is stated specifically that you need a college degree to be qualified for a certain position, such as doctor, nurse, or engineer, you will be considered for any position if you meet the requirements and win over other competitors.

Physical Requirements
Applicants must be physically able to perform efficiently the arduous duties of any position. For instance, the physical requirements for a carrier are different from those for a maintenance electrician. The carrier must be able to carry a load of 70 lbs. and must be on the road in all conditions. The electrician must be able to perform the duties of the position, which may involve standing, walking, climbing, bending, reaching, and stooping or prolonged periods of time as well as intermittent lifting and carrying of heavy tools, tool boxes, and equipment on level surfaces and up ladders and stairways.

Like your car, you should always be in top condition. No matter how cold or how hot it is, your body should be in good condition to withstand the conditions of the roads and the climate.
But most important of all, you must score 95-100% on the exams to be able to be called for employment.

Although the passing score is 70%, you need to score 95-100% on exams. Why? Because usually, only those scoring 90-100% are hired due to the large number of those taking the exams. In short, the competition is too keen.

Training Requirements
Applicants for some positions may be required to complete satisfactorily a prescribed training course or courses before assignment, reaasignment, or promotion.

Operator’s Permit
Some positions may require driving a government vehicle. Such positions include city carrier, rural carrier, garageman, and electronics technician.

Road Test
As an applicant for carrier or any other position requiring that you drive a government vehicle, you must demonstrate a safe driving record and pass a postal road test. If you fail the road test the first time, you cannot be hired, but you may be given a second chance later. Some people who have taken this test complain that it is more difficult than the state road test. That’s because safety is the name of the game in the Postal Service; to pass this road test, you must show that you follow traffic rules, drive safely, and deliver letters, magazines, and parcels to the addresses without damage.

The Key to Employment
Employment hinges on one thing and one thing only: ‘how well you do on the exam.' This rule is strictly enforced with no ifs, ands, or buts. You could have a Ph.D. and still not be hired if you didn't come through on the exam. It doesn't matter whether you're a United States citizen or an immigrant, man or woman, black or white, brown or yellow, you name it. It's your exam score that counts. Make 95-100% on exams and you'll make it!
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How To Get A Job In The United States Postal Service

It doesn't matter whether you're an electrician, a professional person or just a high school graduate. It doesn't matter where you were born or where you grew up. If you're a U.S. citizen or an immigrant, you can get a job in the U.S. Postal Service by one of two routes --either by getting high scores on postal entrance examinations or (if you're a doctor, nurse, or any other professional) by getting a job without any examinations.

Civil Service Eligibles

You cannot apply for a job with the USPS without being a civil service eligible (except for technical positions such as doctors, engineers, computer analysts, etc. To be an eligible you must pass the postal exams. The Postal Service gives different exams for different positions, such as clerk and carrier, mail handler, mark-up clerk (automated), distribution clerk (machine), rural carrier, and other positions.

Post Offices throughout the country give exams to compile a “register of eligibles” from which they can take people, according to their ranking, to fill current and future vacancies. Tests are given by management sectional centers, general mail facilities, and bulk mail centers of the U.S. Postal Service. For instance, the Pittsburgh MSC gives examinations for its associate offices with the area covered by 150, 153, 154, 156, and 260 (West Virginia) zip codes. To know if there are exams to be given in your area, call the sectional center of the U.S. Postal Service. A directory of U.S. Postal Testing Centers is contained in the Book of U.S. Postal Exams.

Although the Postal Service says that 70 is the passing score, your hair will turn gray while you wait to be called for employment if you score only in the 70s. The records show that only those who score from 90 to 100% are usually called by the Post Office for employment, because hundreds and even thousands of people take and pass the exams and the Post Office can afford to be selective. The rule says that those at the very top of list of eligibles (in your area) have the first choice to work in the city where you live or to any city of your choice. You can take postal exams in any city.If you make a high score, you may request that your eligibility be transferred to the city where you want to live and work, or you can work where you took the exam. If your eligibility is transferred, you'll lose your eligibility in the city where you took the test. When you are an eligible, you can postpone your employment in the Post Office for a certain period of time and still remain an eligible.

Marking the Answer Sheets

Bautista also reveals that questions on the exams are so tricky that you need to use techniques and strategies to get high scores.He also says that one must know how to mark the answer sheets to obtain high scores, from 95-100%. He says that if you know this secret, you'll increase your chances of making 95-100% by 30 percent. This secret is contained in his book. No other postal exam authors have revealed such a secret, probably not knowing it because they have not taken any postal exams. Bautista took the exams and scored 95-100%.

Remember: employment hinges on one thing and one thing only: “how well you do on the exam.”
This rule is strictly enforced with no ifs, ands, or buts.You could have a Ph.D. and still not be hired if you didn't come through on the exam. It doesn't matter whether you're a United States citizen oran immigrant, man or woman, black or white, brown or yellow, you name it. It's your exam score that counts.
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