Complaint Review: United States Postal Service - Phoenix Arizona

I truly do understand that this was 6 years ago that this was last posted. However even in 2013, this scam is still out there. I personally almost fell for it while on a job finder website. On the website it said that the USPS in my city was hiring and that there were only 3 available positions. I clicked on Mail Sorter and then clicked APPLY, only for it to give me a number to call. I called the number and it was a automated message telling me everything that I just read and that there would also be a test. It told me that the test came with a testing practice booklet and a packet that I can use to study for the test. However what got me thinking was that the study packet was $35, and it said that if I didn't get hired, then I would get a full refund as well as an extra $50. I then looked online on USPS website and found that USPS wasn't hiring in my city.

I strongly believe that at the time that you had posted this, a scam was admitted. The $130 packet that should have been free is one of the reasons. Also who knows, maybe the application was fake or outdated. I understand that not filling out boxes is frowned upon but most companies will go back with you and allow you to fill in the boxes, or allow you to ask about some boxes that you're not to sure about. 

USPS is a non-profit organization.  They are not SUPPOSED to show a profit, unless certain guidelines are met. Which I think is pointless, to be honest. We are SO controlled by congress it makes any REAL business model almost laughable.  We aren't even allowed to sell 3rd paty items. If you wanted to send a sympathy card to a friend, you can't just buy one at the location you are mailing it, which would increase revenue. If something doesn't make any practical sense, se say it makes Postal sense.

FYI to thee original poster - USPS doesn't and CAN'T charge you for study material, since it's free to access in any library.  Years before I was hired (as an RCA with a test score of 97.9%, no vet preference), I was almost taken in by a similar scam.  THAT is what should have been the ripoff report;s subject.

As to the interviewer - I agree! That was COMPLETELY unprofessional and a waste of your time! Fortunately, most Supervisors are NOT that callous. We are often abrupt, though, with nothing I can offer ohter than a heartful "I'm sorry". I try to make every encounter positive, including the nutty old lady who thinks she's being stalked by her carrier simply becaause he follows her EVERY day (he has a walking route - go figure!).

When I was first interviewed, they did their best to DISCOURAGE me from joining the team, knowing that nobody in their right mind would agree to lower wages, no real job security, no benefits and being on call EVERY day until the cut-off time.

There have been changes in the U.S. postal service application procedures, apparently. It used to be much longer, with more paperwork and a useless drug test. I smelled a lot of marijuna in the rest room at one of their sectional centers. Typical government brain dead incompetence. I really get enraged and try not to think about it. The USPS is NOT a private corporation, like they tell you and most believe. It should be usps.gov, NOT .com. In 1983, all postal employees were brought in to the social security system. Furthermore, as an executive at UPS correctly stated "the United States postal service would not last one day in the private sector of free market competiton". The USPS runs a deficit every year. Because they are an agency of the Federal government, they have not gone bankrupt. The government just pours more money in to the USPS sinkhole. The incompetence is very entrenched and very fierce. While a third of the regulars do work hard, the rest of the regulars put tremenous pressure on the casuals to slow down. There is no hustle to sort the mail correctly. There is deep corruption within the postal service. There are three unions the management has to deal with. There are many, many incidents of lazy bum employees. One had a six hour route. He found a place to hack off and installed a refrigerator. He would sleep and eat during those two hours. When someone else had his run, he would talk that substitute in to doing the same thing he was doing. Now how long would a UPS, DHL, etc, employee get away with that rot in the private sector? So sorry you wasted money studying for the test. The test was worthless because it is based on psychological tests. It doesn't matter if your answers are accurate. What matters is if the answers are consistent. This type of testing occurs everywhere nowadays. But it is even worse in the USPS. They don't need it. It is not hard to sort mail. The test is designed to make you think it is difficult. Also, parts of the test were based on numbers. Numbers is one of the few things I am good at. As I was memorizing during the preparation, I was interrupted by one of the supervisors and told to "look back". The whole test was a funnysick joke. I knew how to prepare and they were trying to slow me down! Then the administrator of the test didn't give enough time! The whole fiasco meant an inaccurate test, which is especially easy to detect based on whom they are hiring! Another thing is that the management doesn't want any employee who shows knowledge or speed. In my incident, I know about foreign cities, countries and can easily get familiar with zipcodes. I know; I am good at topics like that. The postal service was hiring after the Christmas season. I didn't get hired. I know for a fact that all who did were much, much less knowledgeable than I and could not work rapidly. The postal service needs to be abolished. Congress must allow others to compete with regard to delivery of first class mail. The USPS has a monopoly on your mailbox. That is not right. Those government employees who are retired need to come back to work. The postal service has a huge deficit and the taxpayer should not be subsidizing the pensions. Those regulars were overpaid to start with; it was union labor. That may be a hardship to work, but milions of little children are starving all over the world. It could be worse. Better to earn your keep.

There have been changes in the U.S. postal service application procedures, apparently. It used to be much longer, with more paperwork and a useless drug test. I smelled a lot of marijuna in the rest room at one of their sectional centers. Typical government brain dead incompetence. I really get enraged and try not to think about it. The USPS is NOT a private corporation, like they tell you and most believe. It should be usps.gov, NOT .com. In 1983, all postal employees were brought in to the social security system. Furthermore, as an executive at UPS correctly stated "the United States postal service would not last one day in the private sector of free market competiton". The USPS runs a deficit every year. Because they are an agency of the Federal government, they have not gone bankrupt. The government just pours more money in to the USPS sinkhole. The incompetence is very entrenched and very fierce. While a third of the regulars do work hard, the rest of the regulars put tremenous pressure on the casuals to slow down. There is no hustle to sort the mail correctly. There is deep corruption within the postal service. There are three unions the management has to deal with. There are many, many incidents of lazy bum employees. One had a six hour route. He found a place to hack off and installed a refrigerator. He would sleep and eat during those two hours. When someone else had his run, he would talk that substitute in to doing the same thing he was doing. Now how long would a UPS, DHL, etc, employee get away with that rot in the private sector? So sorry you wasted money studying for the test. The test was worthless because it is based on psychological tests. It doesn't matter if your answers are accurate. What matters is if the answers are consistent. This type of testing occurs everywhere nowadays. But it is even worse in the USPS. They don't need it. It is not hard to sort mail. The test is designed to make you think it is difficult. Also, parts of the test were based on numbers. Numbers is one of the few things I am good at. As I was memorizing during the preparation, I was interrupted by one of the supervisors and told to "look back". The whole test was a funnysick joke. I knew how to prepare and they were trying to slow me down! Then the administrator of the test didn't give enough time! The whole fiasco meant an inaccurate test, which is especially easy to detect based on whom they are hiring! Another thing is that the management doesn't want any employee who shows knowledge or speed. In my incident, I know about foreign cities, countries and can easily get familiar with zipcodes. I know; I am good at topics like that. The postal service was hiring after the Christmas season. I didn't get hired. I know for a fact that all who did were much, much less knowledgeable than I and could not work rapidly. The postal service needs to be abolished. Congress must allow others to compete with regard to delivery of first class mail. The USPS has a monopoly on your mailbox. That is not right. Those government employees who are retired need to come back to work. The postal service has a huge deficit and the taxpayer should not be subsidizing the pensions. Those regulars were overpaid to start with; it was union labor. That may be a hardship to work, but milions of little children are starving all over the world. It could be worse. Better to earn your keep.

There have been changes in the U.S. postal service application procedures, apparently. It used to be much longer, with more paperwork and a useless drug test. I smelled a lot of marijuna in the rest room at one of their sectional centers. Typical government brain dead incompetence. I really get enraged and try not to think about it. The USPS is NOT a private corporation, like they tell you and most believe. It should be usps.gov, NOT .com. In 1983, all postal employees were brought in to the social security system. Furthermore, as an executive at UPS correctly stated "the United States postal service would not last one day in the private sector of free market competiton". The USPS runs a deficit every year. Because they are an agency of the Federal government, they have not gone bankrupt. The government just pours more money in to the USPS sinkhole. The incompetence is very entrenched and very fierce. While a third of the regulars do work hard, the rest of the regulars put tremenous pressure on the casuals to slow down. There is no hustle to sort the mail correctly. There is deep corruption within the postal service. There are three unions the management has to deal with. There are many, many incidents of lazy bum employees. One had a six hour route. He found a place to hack off and installed a refrigerator. He would sleep and eat during those two hours. When someone else had his run, he would talk that substitute in to doing the same thing he was doing. Now how long would a UPS, DHL, etc, employee get away with that rot in the private sector? So sorry you wasted money studying for the test. The test was worthless because it is based on psychological tests. It doesn't matter if your answers are accurate. What matters is if the answers are consistent. This type of testing occurs everywhere nowadays. But it is even worse in the USPS. They don't need it. It is not hard to sort mail. The test is designed to make you think it is difficult. Also, parts of the test were based on numbers. Numbers is one of the few things I am good at. As I was memorizing during the preparation, I was interrupted by one of the supervisors and told to "look back". The whole test was a funnysick joke. I knew how to prepare and they were trying to slow me down! Then the administrator of the test didn't give enough time! The whole fiasco meant an inaccurate test, which is especially easy to detect based on whom they are hiring! Another thing is that the management doesn't want any employee who shows knowledge or speed. In my incident, I know about foreign cities, countries and can easily get familiar with zipcodes. I know; I am good at topics like that. The postal service was hiring after the Christmas season. I didn't get hired. I know for a fact that all who did were much, much less knowledgeable than I and could not work rapidly. The postal service needs to be abolished. Congress must allow others to compete with regard to delivery of first class mail. The USPS has a monopoly on your mailbox. That is not right. Those government employees who are retired need to come back to work. The postal service has a huge deficit and the taxpayer should not be subsidizing the pensions. Those regulars were overpaid to start with; it was union labor. That may be a hardship to work, but milions of little children are starving all over the world. It could be worse. Better to earn your keep.

There have been changes in the U.S. postal service application procedures, apparently. It used to be much longer, with more paperwork and a useless drug test. I smelled a lot of marijuna in the rest room at one of their sectional centers. Typical government brain dead incompetence. I really get enraged and try not to think about it. The USPS is NOT a private corporation, like they tell you and most believe. It should be usps.gov, NOT .com. In 1983, all postal employees were brought in to the social security system. Furthermore, as an executive at UPS correctly stated "the United States postal service would not last one day in the private sector of free market competiton". The USPS runs a deficit every year. Because they are an agency of the Federal government, they have not gone bankrupt. The government just pours more money in to the USPS sinkhole. The incompetence is very entrenched and very fierce. While a third of the regulars do work hard, the rest of the regulars put tremenous pressure on the casuals to slow down. There is no hustle to sort the mail correctly. There is deep corruption within the postal service. There are three unions the management has to deal with. There are many, many incidents of lazy bum employees. One had a six hour route. He found a place to hack off and installed a refrigerator. He would sleep and eat during those two hours. When someone else had his run, he would talk that substitute in to doing the same thing he was doing. Now how long would a UPS, DHL, etc, employee get away with that rot in the private sector? So sorry you wasted money studying for the test. The test was worthless because it is based on psychological tests. It doesn't matter if your answers are accurate. What matters is if the answers are consistent. This type of testing occurs everywhere nowadays. But it is even worse in the USPS. They don't need it. It is not hard to sort mail. The test is designed to make you think it is difficult. Also, parts of the test were based on numbers. Numbers is one of the few things I am good at. As I was memorizing during the preparation, I was interrupted by one of the supervisors and told to "look back". The whole test was a funnysick joke. I knew how to prepare and they were trying to slow me down! Then the administrator of the test didn't give enough time! The whole fiasco meant an inaccurate test, which is especially easy to detect based on whom they are hiring! Another thing is that the management doesn't want any employee who shows knowledge or speed. In my incident, I know about foreign cities, countries and can easily get familiar with zipcodes. I know; I am good at topics like that. The postal service was hiring after the Christmas season. I didn't get hired. I know for a fact that all who did were much, much less knowledgeable than I and could not work rapidly. The postal service needs to be abolished. Congress must allow others to compete with regard to delivery of first class mail. The USPS has a monopoly on your mailbox. That is not right. Those government employees who are retired need to come back to work. The postal service has a huge deficit and the taxpayer should not be subsidizing the pensions. Those regulars were overpaid to start with; it was union labor. That may be a hardship to work, but milions of little children are starving all over the world. It could be worse. Better to earn your keep.

i have applied to usps servial times and been turned down. i was also acontracted driver for the usps for many years. yet they would never hire me. their reason was that as a truck driver i had driven more miles than the law allowed !!!! imagine that !! they even put this in writting. the real reason for not hiring me, even though i was contracted to them, was they could hire someone off the street cheaper than they could get me. the truth be told. finally.

That's cute what you wrote about me Cory, feel better now? And Mike, thanks for your honest opinions. There's not much else for me to say on here. I still don't think it's right how they conduct their job hirings, and they should be on notice. I'm glad I was able to take up 10 more minutes of their time to ask me: 1. What have you done at one of your previous jobs where you excelled? 2. How do you accomplish multiple task, do you get stressed in those situations? 3-10 Etc. Interviewer leaves the room, comes back and tells me I didn't fill out an application right. I'll maybe check back on here in a year or two and hopefully I can read about people that went through this experience, positive or negative at the Phoenix site. You may continue on with the bashing.

Good job in telling it the way it is. The OP comes crying about how difficult the application was, how unfair/unjust the interview went AND how harsh and mean our comments have been, after he posted on this site. He didn't get a chance to go "postal" before he got a job at the post office. We're all so mean. Shame on us. Can you see this guy working at the post office? I can. EVERY post office employee I know, comes in and tells me how much they hate working there. Maybe they should have hired him. He'd fit right in.

You were applying for Federal Employment. There are thousands of people who apply for these jobs. Most have served in the military and receive preference points based on time spent serving and injuries/disabilities. If you want to have the SLIGHTEST chance of getting a federal job you do everything right from the very beginning. I had no prior military service and am not disabled. I spent weeks compiling all of the REQUIRED information before allowing the application to leave my hands. It was for this reason that I passed easily through the interview process. They also told me around one and a half hours into the interview that any ommited information would result in IMMEDIATE DISMISSAL. They already had my application and did not offer me a chance to make last minute changes because I wasn't prepared when filling it out If you had been hired without revealing all of the information requested you would have been terminated when you had your grueling 2 hour (minimum) security interview with OPM (Office of Personnel Management). They overlook nothing. They personally met with my previous employers going back 8 years. They came to my neighbors homes, met with high school friends, and questioned my relatives. They are not amused by lazy people who give incorrect or incomplete information. I you had really wanted this job you should have arrived prepared. The application form is available on the Postal web site. Why didn't you read it in advance and bring in a copy that was filled out correctly? If you knew you going to be asked about your driving record why not go in with that documentation prepared? Did you think the interview was going to be a cake walk? The interview process is to weed out the people who show disregard for the process along with those who are not competent or qualified.

I'm glad to be a punching bag for some of you. I guess it makes you feel better or correct your bi-polarism to bash someone. For the last time!!! I didn't fill out the Speeding Ticket section because I didn't exactly know the last time I got one, sometime in '03-'04, it was a ways back. So I thought I should ask her if it wasn't exactly right, if it would be ok. The other section I didn't fill out was 10 or so boxes, that I thought was only to be filled out by Military Veterans, but I had to check the boxes NO. I did do the on-site drug screening and passed, and went through the whole sha-bang. I came here to see if anybody went through what I did. I appreciate the sarcasm and rude remarks of everyone. Also, those who fill out other job applications as opposed to a USPS App., appyling for a government position requires alot more. It was the most ridicilous application I've ever filled out, but I understand why they ask you over and over about your past and they should take it seriously.

Filling in all spaces is Elementry and Fundamental-if you don't know that,learn it!!! For your on sakes! At least you are suppose to acknowledge that you saw and acknowledged that space with an n/a (not applicatable) or just a mark or a question mark would have been better than a blank! I would have guessed the date before I left it blank-you could have written NONE-and in the invent that you were going to be hired AND they found out-you could say Ohh-I forgot about that! Geeezzzz-sorry bout the bad luck,but for future reference always make some kind of mark. Blank spaces cannot only keep you from getting a job,but obtaining Credit etc...could even cost you more in insurance policys by not filling in all the blanks!PS-An Industry that is ALWAYS Hiring,and I mean always Hireing is the Great Transportation Industry! I was a Trucker for near 14 yrs and I wished I had never stepped into that office! I still have nightmares from hell involveing the Trucking Industry-butt that's another story! Plz forgive my spelling I need to go back to school,but it's too late in life to worry about it.LOL-WiLd TuRkEy of TEXass! Yee-Haw! GOoD DaY!

Filling in all spaces is Elementry and Fundamental-if you don't know that,learn it!!! For your on sakes! At least you are suppose to acknowledge that you saw and acknowledged that space with an n/a (not applicatable) or just a mark or a question mark would have been better than a blank! I would have guessed the date before I left it blank-you could have written NONE-and in the invent that you were going to be hired AND they found out-you could say Ohh-I forgot about that! Geeezzzz-sorry bout the bad luck,but for future reference always make some kind of mark. Blank spaces cannot only keep you from getting a job,but obtaining Credit etc...could even cost you more in insurance policys by not filling in all the blanks!PS-An Industry that is ALWAYS Hiring,and I mean always Hireing is the Great Transportation Industry! I was a Trucker for near 14 yrs and I wished I had never stepped into that office! I still have nightmares from hell involveing the Trucking Industry-butt that's another story! Plz forgive my spelling I need to go back to school,but it's too late in life to worry about it.LOL-WiLd TuRkEy of TEXass! Yee-Haw! GOoD DaY!

Filling in all spaces is Elementry and Fundamental-if you don't know that,learn it!!! For your on sakes! At least you are suppose to acknowledge that you saw and acknowledged that space with an n/a (not applicatable) or just a mark or a question mark would have been better than a blank! I would have guessed the date before I left it blank-you could have written NONE-and in the invent that you were going to be hired AND they found out-you could say Ohh-I forgot about that! Geeezzzz-sorry bout the bad luck,but for future reference always make some kind of mark. Blank spaces cannot only keep you from getting a job,but obtaining Credit etc...could even cost you more in insurance policys by not filling in all the blanks!PS-An Industry that is ALWAYS Hiring,and I mean always Hireing is the Great Transportation Industry! I was a Trucker for near 14 yrs and I wished I had never stepped into that office! I still have nightmares from hell involveing the Trucking Industry-butt that's another story! Plz forgive my spelling I need to go back to school,but it's too late in life to worry about it.LOL-WiLd TuRkEy of TEXass! Yee-Haw! GOoD DaY!

Filling in all spaces is Elementry and Fundamental-if you don't know that,learn it!!! For your on sakes! At least you are suppose to acknowledge that you saw and acknowledged that space with an n/a (not applicatable) or just a mark or a question mark would have been better than a blank! I would have guessed the date before I left it blank-you could have written NONE-and in the invent that you were going to be hired AND they found out-you could say Ohh-I forgot about that! Geeezzzz-sorry bout the bad luck,but for future reference always make some kind of mark. Blank spaces cannot only keep you from getting a job,but obtaining Credit etc...could even cost you more in insurance policys by not filling in all the blanks!PS-An Industry that is ALWAYS Hiring,and I mean always Hireing is the Great Transportation Industry! I was a Trucker for near 14 yrs and I wished I had never stepped into that office! I still have nightmares from hell involveing the Trucking Industry-butt that's another story! Plz forgive my spelling I need to go back to school,but it's too late in life to worry about it.LOL-WiLd TuRkEy of TEXass! Yee-Haw! GOoD DaY!

Do you know a typical interview for a civil service job is more like 45-60 minutes. You filled out an application and you were screened. You have to make it through the screening process in order to be interviewed. It doesn't sound like you made it past the screening process..... Best of luck with that refund. Take the test again.

--- The interviewer and I went over my application, she asked me questions, left the room, came back and told me I didn't fill out the application out to their standards. This isn't hard to understand is it? --- It's very easy to understand. A test score is only of the criteria; filling out the job application completely and accurately is another criterion. If you can't even accomplish that on your own - apparently you couldn't even be bothered to figure out when you got your last speeding ticket - how could the employer ever trust you to perform your job duties competently? I bet they had lots of other people who did fill out their applications completely and correctly, and that makes them more qualified than you.

Jim- So why would I get a call back if an 88% isn't good enough? Why would I sit down with an interviewer for 10 minutes and her asking me 10 questions about my past work places if you say I'm not qualified with that test score. The interviewer and I went over my application, she asked me questions, left the room, came back and told me I didn't fill out the application out to their standards. This isn't hard to understand is it? Maybe I caught this interviewer on a bad day, but she's employeed by the USPS, so I hold them responsible. I'm in the process of trying to get a signed letter from this interviewer so I can get by $100 back for the test book I bought, which she declined on giving me when I was there. I have phoned the Human Resources department over and over, and what a surprise...they won't answer and return my messages, very professional of them.

Jim- So why would I get a call back if an 88% isn't good enough? Why would I sit down with an interviewer for 10 minutes and her asking me 10 questions about my past work places if you say I'm not qualified with that test score. The interviewer and I went over my application, she asked me questions, left the room, came back and told me I didn't fill out the application out to their standards. This isn't hard to understand is it? Maybe I caught this interviewer on a bad day, but she's employeed by the USPS, so I hold them responsible. I'm in the process of trying to get a signed letter from this interviewer so I can get by $100 back for the test book I bought, which she declined on giving me when I was there. I have phoned the Human Resources department over and over, and what a surprise...they won't answer and return my messages, very professional of them.

Jim- So why would I get a call back if an 88% isn't good enough? Why would I sit down with an interviewer for 10 minutes and her asking me 10 questions about my past work places if you say I'm not qualified with that test score. The interviewer and I went over my application, she asked me questions, left the room, came back and told me I didn't fill out the application out to their standards. This isn't hard to understand is it? Maybe I caught this interviewer on a bad day, but she's employeed by the USPS, so I hold them responsible. I'm in the process of trying to get a signed letter from this interviewer so I can get by $100 back for the test book I bought, which she declined on giving me when I was there. I have phoned the Human Resources department over and over, and what a surprise...they won't answer and return my messages, very professional of them.

Jim- So why would I get a call back if an 88% isn't good enough? Why would I sit down with an interviewer for 10 minutes and her asking me 10 questions about my past work places if you say I'm not qualified with that test score. The interviewer and I went over my application, she asked me questions, left the room, came back and told me I didn't fill out the application out to their standards. This isn't hard to understand is it? Maybe I caught this interviewer on a bad day, but she's employeed by the USPS, so I hold them responsible. I'm in the process of trying to get a signed letter from this interviewer so I can get by $100 back for the test book I bought, which she declined on giving me when I was there. I have phoned the Human Resources department over and over, and what a surprise...they won't answer and return my messages, very professional of them.

Jeff, here are some things to consider: 1. The fact they turned away 40 of 100 people without a test should be an indication that a job posting of "Help Wanted" does not translate into having a job being handed to you. Like every employer, the government does look for the best candidates they can get and they won't simply hand you a job even if you're the only applicant there. Growing city or not growing - the standard is the same. 2. Passing a test isn't enough. Getting an 88 on the test won't do it. You need to be somewhere in the mid-90's for government/civil-service work; that's one of those things people never tell you. That 2nd test I took, I received a 96, and I was getting interviews every week once that test score posted. The 1st was in the mid 80's, and no one wanted me with that score. I guarantee you that if you take that test again and crank up a score in the mid-90's, you will get a job. The government can't discriminate against you for driving violations, and such a statement should have appeared on the application unless the job requires driving a truck (and then they would simply refuse your application for someone with a better driving record). People make mistakes like speeding tickets, accidents, and the like. Don't go into this with any fear and trepidation - be as open and honest as you can with everything; a good interviewer smells fear a mile away. Besides, the last thing you need to be with a new employer (even the government) is to be deceptive in any way.... Best of luck to you on retaking the test.

From a retired USPS employee, I worked my way from part time carrier to management. At one point I gave the entrance test. Here is the problem with your complaint. 1.Missing information is no small matter. 2.Drivers license is very critical. 3.You messed up and want to blame someone else. Grow up.

Jeff, an RCA is a non-career position with no guarantee of EVER going permanent. An RCA is on call, but may not be called. He/she relieves the regular rural carrier on their day off, on annual leave, and whenever they call in sick. You are required to be available, so if you try and have another job, that won't work. You need to be available for the USPS. And you have to deliver the entire route in the time the rural carrier has contracted to do it in. If you don't, you're looking at discipline, and without the union to back you, good luck. I worked 25 years in service, part of that time in Personnel, and this is normal. The Post Office is not in the position to have to worry about hiring people, there are always thousands of applicants, and as one rebuttal pointed out already, many MANY ex-military applicants who get veteran's preference points. The post office can decide not to choose you based on any reason, including not filling out the application. It's not necessarily the best practice (I'm sure they miss some good employees by being so picky) but, it's legal. In any case, I'm delighted to be out of the hell that was the Post Office. I'd warn everyone I can that the money you'd earn is hardly worth the BS that will most likely make you sick, depressed, and not the same person you were. For what it's worth, I hear that UPS employees, the ones that work at the airport, work hard and are relatively happy. At least the guys in the Men of UPS calendars look happy!

Cory- I appreciate the sarcasm, but it's not needed here. I understand this is a government position, the standards are high and it's a stressful position to be a carrier. The positon of an RCA isn't even full-time, no benefits, you never know when you'll be called in for work and for what? The Post Offices in Phoenix have "For Hire" signs plastered everywhere. Gilbert and Chandler are still one of the fastest growing cities in the nation and they are in need of carriers. A 88% more then qualifies me for the job, one speeding ticket in the last five years still qualifies me, no criminal record qualifies me. The interviewer was out of line and I didn't appreciate here attitude and comments about my reasons for wanting to work for the USPS. They are very unprofesssional when it comes to their orientations and their hiring practices. I wasn't the only one that was floored about their procedures, as 40 people out of about 100 people there didn't even get to be inverviewed, drug screened, nothing. They were turned away and very, well I'll put it nicely, upset.

If you ever go to the Post Office and see how these folks do their job, you'll find it to be one of the most detailed-oriented tasks one can apply for. Failure to fill out a few boxes is problematic given the detail level required. Insofar as your question related to taking a test before a job, there are a lot of jobs out there that require one to complete a test to assess (1) competence, (2) character, (3) intelligence, and (4) intangibles. Just about EVERY job with the government (be it a local, county, state and federal position) requires a test be taken by the applicant in order to determine priority in the hiring process. I applied for some city and county positions upon graduating for college and you had to take a civil service exam in order to assess priority. First time - I botched the test. Second time - high enough to get weekly interviews with various departments in the county. Never took any of the positions because private industry always worked faster than government.... I even used to administer tests to applicants who worked for me. I would inform the applicant there would be test administered as part of the job interview, and if the applicant couldn't get all of the questions correct (it was an easy test), they would not be considered for the job. If you are really seriously considering working for the USPS or some other job with the government, I would take some time out, complete another application (this time correctly and don't hide anything), and get a score better than 88% (you need something far higher than that to be considered). If nothing, your perseverance will be a better test of your character. No need for emotion - just do it. Best of luck to you.

"I failed to fill out a FEW boxes". "I wasn't sure when I last received a SPEEDING ticket but it did happen in the last 5 years". "I was about to get EMOTIONAL over what she said. It's probably for the best that you didn't get the job with the post office. Everyone I've spoken with, that works there, hates it due to all the pressure and stress they're placed under by their supervisors. And if you become EMOTIONAL by this episode, you'll probably go POSTAL. They have a bunch of retired vets working there that scored 100 on their tests and get 5 and 10 points vet preference points on top of that giving them 105 or 110 totals.