Careers > Postal Service Clerks

Postal Service Clerks

$56.2K Median Salary 5.8K Job Openings (Annual Projection) -7.7% Job Growth

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About This Career

Perform any combination of tasks in a United States Postal Service (USPS) post office, such as receive letters and parcels; sell postage and revenue stamps, postal cards, and stamped envelopes; fill out and sell money orders; place mail in pigeon holes of mail rack or in bags; and examine mail for correct postage. Includes postal service clerks employed by USPS contractors.

Reported Job Titles

Bulk Mail Technician, Clerk, Distribution Clerk, Part Time Flexible Clerk (PTF Clerk), Postal Clerk, Sales and Distribution Clerk, Sales and Service Associate (SSA), Window Clerk

Career data shown for:

Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Oral Comprehension

Oral Expression

Near Vision

Speech Clarity

Speech Recognition

Written Comprehension

Category Flexibility

Deductive Reasoning

Information Ordering

Manual Dexterity

Trunk Strength

Arm-Hand Steadiness

Finger Dexterity

Inductive Reasoning

Mathematical Reasoning

Number Facility

Perceptual Speed

Problem Sensitivity

Selective Attention

Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service

English Language

Mathematics

Administrative

Sales and Marketing

Computers and Electronics

Transportation

Skills

Active Listening

Speaking

Reading Comprehension

Service Orientation

Critical Thinking

Monitoring

Social Perceptiveness

Time Management

Technology Skills

Operating system software

Accounting software

Point of sale POS software

Enterprise resource planning ERP software

Human resources software

Time accounting software

Inventory management software

Tools

Sorters

Postal scales

Franking or postage machines

Carts

Bar code reader equipment

Rubber stamping stamps

Bin handlers

Box sealing tape dispensers

Security tags

Dollies

Stamp canceling machines

Hand trucks or accessories

Point of sale POS terminal

Cash box trays

Material handling racks

Security tag detacher

Optical character recognition systems

Automatic postal or mailing machine

Mailing bags

Abilities

Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Manual Dexterity: The ability to quickly move your hand, your hand together with your arm, or your two hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble objects.
Trunk Strength: The ability to use your abdominal and lower back muscles to support part of the body repeatedly or continuously over time without "giving out" or fatiguing.
Arm-Hand Steadiness: The ability to keep your hand and arm steady while moving your arm or while holding your arm and hand in one position.
Finger Dexterity: The ability to make precisely coordinated movements of the fingers of one or both hands to grasp, manipulate, or assemble very small objects.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.
Perceptual Speed: The ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Selective Attention: The ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.

Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Mathematics: Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
Administrative: Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.
Sales and Marketing: Knowledge of principles and methods for showing, promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
Transportation: Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

Skills

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Technology Skills

Operating system software: Microsoft Windows
Accounting software: Billing software; Bookkeeping software; Intuit QuickBooks; Sage 50 Accounting
Point of sale POS software: Smart card management software
Enterprise resource planning ERP software: Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne; Oracle PeopleSoft; Oracle PeopleSoft Financials; SAP software
Human resources software: ADP Workforce Now
Time accounting software: Timekeeping software
Inventory management software: Assisi Software Assisi Inventory