Lee Wherry Brainerd - Kaplan Postal Exam 473/473-C

What other jobs do you know of with such great benefits, opportunities, job security, flexibility, and the chance to exercise right on the job!

Pat B., U.S. postal worker for 22 years, Altadena, CA

On its website, the United States Postal Service (USPS) describes itself as an outstanding, award-winning service provider for the worldwide movement of messages, merchandise, and money. In fact, the USPS handles over 202 billion pieces of mail each year, thanks to the work of 770,000 career employees serving the American public in about 300 job categories. Tens of thousands of people apply for a variety of USPS jobs every year. These applicants appreciate that USPS employment is interesting; they appreciate that the pay, benefits, and job security are all very good.

Its probably for these reasons that you have chosen to take one of the USPS entry-level exams, Test 473/473-C (also called the 473 Battery Exam). Postal Service exams such as Test 473/473-C are open to the public as local staffing needs arise. This entry-level test examines general aptitude and personal characteristics, not knowledge of facts.

Furthermore, Exam 473/473-C serves as a screening process based on job-related skillssuch as memory, sorting, coding, and interpretingallowing applicants (like you!) to compete for positions. Reading this book and taking the six realistic practice exams included herein give you a decided edge over the competition. So lets get started!

The test is called the 473 Exam when it is given to fill all entry level jobs in USPS in these areas: Processing, Distribution, Delivery, and Retail. However, because the City Carrier position is the postal job in highest demand, this test is occasionally given just to fill that one job classification. In that event, it is called the 473-C Exam. Either way, because the exam content is identical, we will usually just refer to it as Test 473.

Which jobs does Test 473 correspond to? Check out the following positions and their brief descriptions.

City Carriers are full-time career employees who deliver and collect mail on foot or by vehicle, providing customer service in a prescribed area. They sort, rack, and tie mail at the post office before they start making deliveries within their route or area of delivery. They also maintain required information, record changes of address, forward undeliverable-as-addressed mail, and maintain other paperwork. City Carrier applicants must have a current valid state drivers license, a safe driving record, and at least two years of documented driving experience.

Mail Processing Clerks are full-time career employees who operate and maintain automated mail-processing equipment or manually sort mail. They collate, bundle, and move processed mail from one location to another.

Mail Handlers are full-time career employees who load and unload containers of mail onto and off trucks and perform duties incidental to the movement and processing of mail. Their duties include separating mail sacks to go to different routes or cities; canceling parcel post stamps; and operating canceling machines, addressographs, and fork-lifts. Mail Handlers also open and empty containers of mail throughout the postal facility.

Sales, Services, and Distribution Associates are full-time career employees who handle direct sales and customer-support services in a retail environment and perform the distribution of mail. The Associates must pass an on-the-job training program.

General employment eligibility requirements for the USPS are as follows: