Learn about the basics of operations management by taking a class online or at your school. Discover how this skill can benefit a variety of careers. 

Take an operations management class. 

Your mail carrier comes by your home almost every day. It's a great opportunity to ask if they'd be willing to give you an informational interview about their job—when they're not busy working, of course!

Get to know your mail carrier!

Get an inside look (literally) at the world of shipping and receiving as a camera records the whole shipping process from inside a package. Does having a hand in this process interest you?

Explore how items from all over the world get to you.

Dive into this overview of a popular organizational philosophy and get started on your own system to up your productivity and start getting things done!

Practice getting organized!

Read about what it's like working at the United States Postal Service and watch videos about different positions. Can you see yourself working here?

Find out what it's like to work for USPS.

Postal Service Mail Carriers

Sort and deliver mail for the United States Postal Service (USPS). Deliver mail on established route by vehicle or on foot. Includes postal service mail carriers employed by USPS contractors.

Work involves following procedures and regulations to organize information or data, typically in a business setting. Conventional occupations are often associated with office work, accounting, mathematics/statistics, information technology, finance, or human resources.

Conventional

Work involves designing, building, or repairing of equipment, materials, or structures, engaging in physical activity, or working outdoors. Realistic occupations are often associated with engineering, mechanics and electronics, construction, woodworking, transportation, machine operation, agriculture, animal services, physical or manual labor, athletics, or protective services.

Realistic

Work involves managing, negotiating, marketing, or selling, typically in a business setting, or leading or advising people in political and legal situations. Enterprising occupations are often associated with business initiatives, sales, marketing/advertising, finance, management/administration, professional advising, public speaking, politics, or law.

Enterprising

Work involves helping, teaching, advising, assisting, or providing service to others. Social occupations are often associated with social, health care, personal service, teaching/education, or religious activities.

Social

Work involves creating original visual artwork, performances, written works, food, or music for a variety of media, or applying artistic principles to the design of various objects and materials. Artistic occupations are often associated with visual arts, applied arts and design, performing arts, music, creative writing, media, or culinary art.

Artistic

Work involves studying and researching non-living objects, living organisms, disease or other forms of impairment, or human behavior. Investigative occupations are often associated with physical, life, medical, or social sciences, and can be found in the fields of humanities, mathematics/statistics, information technology, or health care service.

Investigative

Job Zone Two: Some Preparation Needed

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.

Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.

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.

Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.

Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.

Knowledge of raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and other techniques for maximizing the effective manufacture and distribution of goods.

Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Knowledge of administrative and office procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and workplace terminology.

Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.

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.

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.

Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

Talking to others to convey information effectively.

Managing one's own time and the time of others.

Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.

Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

Actively looking for ways to help people.

Postal Service Workers

Office and Administrative Support Occupations

Material Recording, Scheduling, Dispatching, and Distributing Workers

Scan labels on letters or parcels to confirm receipt.

Obtain signed receipts for registered, certified, and insured mail, collect associated charges, and complete any necessary paperwork.

Return to the post office with mail collected from homes, businesses, and public mailboxes.

Sort mail for delivery, arranging it in delivery sequence.

Deliver mail to residences and business establishments along specified routes by walking or driving, using a combination of satchels, carts, cars, and small trucks.

Meet schedules for the collection and return of mail.

Sign for cash-on-delivery and registered mail before leaving the post office.

Hold mail for customers who are away from delivery locations.

Turn in money and receipts collected along mail routes.

Leave notices telling patrons where to collect mail that could not be delivered.

Postal Service Mail Carriers

Overview

Career

What Postal Service Mail Carriers Do

Other Job Titles Postal Service Mail Carriers May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Postal Service Mail Carriers

Overview

Career

What Postal Service Mail Carriers Do

Other Job Titles Postal Service Mail Carriers May Have

Tasks & Responsibilities May Include

Education

Level of Education Attained by Postal Service Mail Carriers

Related Careers

Related Leaders