U.S. Postal Service Recruiting For Non Full-Time Employment

WASHINGTON - Everyone needs a day off, a vacation or extra time to tend to special family needs - including your letter carrier and postmaster. To help keep the mail moving during these times, the U.S. Postal Service is looking for substitute rural carriers and postmasters, a job perfectly suited for retirees, "empty nesters," and others who want to meet new people, get exercise, serve their community, make good money and still have time to do other things. A substitute rural carrier (officially known as a Rural Carrier Associate, or RCA) is paid $16.24 per hour plus overtime and earns annual and sick leave benefits when serving on a vacant route for an extended period of time. These workers deliver mail on back roads as well as heavily traveled main roads and highways using either their own vehicle or a Postal Service vehicle. If they use their own vehicle, they receive an equipment maintenance allowance in addition to their regular pay. The substitute postmaster positions (known as Postmaster Relief/Leave Replacement) enable postmasters to have reliable and competent replacements on their scheduled days off or while taking leave. Pay is based on the size of the Post Office and there are opportunities for career development after one year of continuous service. On-the-job training includes financial transactions, understanding mail classes and special mail services, retail operations and customer relations. Interested applicants can inquire at any local Post Office with a vacancy and apply for the rural carrier associate exam online at www.usps.com/employment. Applicants for either position must be U.S. citizens or permanent resident aliens and have basic English competence. The U.S. Postal Service is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Since 1775, the Postal Service and its predecessor, the Post Office Department, has connected friends, families, neighbors and businesses by mail. It is an independent federal agency that visits 142 million homes and businesses every day, six days a week and is the only service provider delivering to every address in the nation. The Postal Service receives no taxpayer dollars for routine operations, but derives its operating revenues solely from the sale of postage, products and services. With annual revenues of more than $69 billion, it is the world's leading provider of mailing and delivery services, offering some of the most affordable postage rates in the world. The Postal Service delivers more than 46 percent of the world's mail volume-some 206 billion letters, advertisements, periodicals and packages a year-and serves seven and a half million customers each day at its 37,000 retail locations nationwide. Its website, usps.com, attracts more than 21 million visitors each month.