Where do I begin? There are so many different jobs within the USPS it is ridiculous. But if you work at a postal service in rural America, the jobs consist of Post Masters, City Carriers, Letter Carriers, Clerks, and Rural Carriers. As for me, I was hired on as a Rural Carrier Associate. What a great euphomism for a part time job, right? When you think of part time jobs, one might think you are only working 20 hours a week. That's not the case as an RCA. You will be lucky to work once a month. And if your route is 120+ miles where you have to learn the rural route inside and out, in addition to getting the mail sorted within less than 2 hours, then your first year as an RCA will be extremely overwhelming! How can the USPS expect someone to fill in and be successful at this job?
I was hired on as an RCA in 2008. My interview was done by two Post Masters, and the one who was in charge of the interview was not even the Post Master of that office. He balantantly told me that within less than one year of service I would be given full time status as a Rural Carrier. I had no more questions to ask him because I already knew what great benefits and income they receive. Funny tho, the interview continued on for almost 2 more hours. Weird.
I didn't receive a full time position after one year working for them, and I have a BA in Political Science along with a extensive resume that consists of working all over the United States of America. I continued working for a total of 4 years and still did not get a full time job. I even worked at 2 different post offices and still could not make it financially. I also tried to apply with the US Postal Inpection Service (the law enforcement of the USPS), since they require a 4 year degree, but for some reason they where not hiring. I guess I didn't have the right connections.
What's even more stressful is how the USPS expects you to leave another job that you have on the side to come work for them when they need you. If you don't come work them, they will threaten to get rid of you.
Another stress with the job is when the full time rural carrier that you sub for is a farmer who has 2,000+ acres of land, farming corn, soybeans, and sugarbeats. Why does a farmer with that much land need a full time position with the USPS? It's obvious that he is taking advantages of the benefits so that it didn't dip into his $500,000.00 farm income. Ah, yeah, that's a half a million dollars to those who aren't good in math.
I would recommend that if you are a farmer and want to make extra income or just want to get away from your farm life, go work for the USPS. If you are not a farmer, stay clear from the USPS. Oh, and as a part timer, you get no benefits until you are hired full time.
But if you are willing to wait 10+ years to get a full time position, then sign up for the USPS! You will have to take the USPS Battery Exam test, and if you do well in that, hopefully you will get a call from a post office within 30-45 miles from where you live for an interview. And if you succeed in your interview, you will be expected to take a drug test. After everything is completed, you get about 2 weeks of OJT (on the job training) to learn your rural route and how to sort the mail. Hopefully you have a photographic memory, because if you don't, you will be extremely stressed for the first year.