The United States Postal Service follows a specific procedure when hiring people to fill various careers and non-career job positions available at the post office. And for you to get your dream job at the postal service, you must pass the set passing score of 70%.

That demands that you package yourself with different skills and knowledge about various aspects concerning postal works. And with different roles at the postal office comes other exams that you must highly pass to be considered eligible for any position.

Therefore, in this article, we’ve covered what you need to know about various postal examinations, how you can prepare well to ensure you pass. Also, we have provided some insights on what happens once you get low scores on postal service exams.

Before we start,let’s find out more about postal exams

Types of postal exams and why they are important

Like any other organizations, businesses, and colleges, the postal service also gives out exams to help assess the eligibility of applicants for various positions before they could be hired.

Therefore, postal exams are tests given to candidates of various job positions and careers to help the postal examination and hiring department identify suitable and knowledgeable persons for a position. In addition, they are provided to test if the applicants have the right skills, knowledge, and experience to conduct the assigned roles flawlessly.

There are a couple of different postal exams for various job positions that you need to consider if you’re interested in any job position within the postal service.

Here are some of the postal exams you need to know

Postal exam 474- This is a mandatory entry assessment for those who wish to become mail carriers.

Postal exam 475- This is an assessment test for those who wish to have mail handling positions and their assistance. Other positions eligible for this exam are mail processing clerks and mail handlers and their assistants.

Postal exam 476-This is a test for mail processor positions.

Postal exam 477- this is an exam for those who want to land the customer service clerk positions

What are the key features of the postal exams?

Suppose you're wondering what the postal exams entail, who is eligible to take the exams. Or perhaps you’re stressed about what you need to do to avoid getting low scores on postal exams; then you are on the right place.

What are the contents of the postal exams?

The postal exam is made of different sections that require the candidates to provide different requirements. The sections are as follows:

Work scenarios/situations part- this section demands you to respond to any work-related experience and situations to the job you wish to get. Here you’re given a situation test to see if you can manage yourself.

Work your register section- this area dictate that you provide your background and work experience you’ve had. It’s different from the situation part, as you have to provide objective evidence that matches your experience resume.

Descriptive section- here, you're to tell your story of how you can have handled different situations. And how best can you manage yourself amid stress related to work?

Also, here you're given a questionnaire to help showcase how you can adapt to different work situations.

For postal exam 475, you'll have a check error section that needs you to verify the data/information test.

If you are to pass any of the postal exams, please familiarize yourself with the respective constituents, sections, or requirements of the specific postal exam.

Who is eligible for the postal exam?

You should be aware that USPS is legally responsible for providing postal services to all American citizens-those within the United States locations. Thus, any American citizen can freely take the exams by the postal service.

What must you attain to be considered for a position?

Like any other institution, the postal service has a pass mark that one has to achieve before they are considered for a particular job post.Therefore, you must attain a pass mark of 70% in your exam for you to be considered eligible.

Anybody who gets below 70% has no hopes of doing their dream jobs at the postal service. According to the USPS exam statistics and analysis, the most candidate always fails. In fact, the USPS failure rate is rated 80%.

Image alt text: Low scores on postal service exams. A grading scale for the postal exams assessments.

Author credit: By Winningmoves - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5188791

You may be asking why the huge failure percentage or the low score on postal service exams.

Reasons for low scores on postal service exams

Studying using unreliable study guides/resources

The most candidate fails to establish adequate study guides and routines while others might be revising using the outdated study guides that still have postal exam 473. You must ensure that you update your revision with the most current useful resources.

Therefore, when it comes to choosing a study guide for any postal exam, please on that it is up-to-date. Also, you use more pre-tests to enhance your areas and increase your confidence in handling different questions.

Unfamiliarity with the questions and expectation

I believe we can agree on one thing; you can never know what you don't know. Here is what I mean. It would be hard for you to pass a postal exam if you don’t know what you’re expected to answer in the examination, especially if you aren't aware of the layout. Or even the types of questions.

 Again, here is why pre-testing comes in handy. Through pre-testing, you get to understand the layout and structure of the postal exams. So you'll be doing an exam that you are aware of the different sections plus what every part demands of you, among other benefitsof taking a mock-up test.

So, to ensure you are well conversant with the postal exam you’re to take, please make it a habit of studying in advance.Most people would fail the postal exam because most are not well prepared before taking the exams.

Therefore, ensure you study and use any resource to ensure you are familiar with different sections of the exams.

Inattentive to details

Exam attention is key toyour performance. Besides, a section of the postal exams would require you to identify some differences between the work register section and work scenarios. If you're not keen, then your chances of failing and looming.

When you don't know how to differentiate some details, then you'll start guesstimating answers, and there, your downfall reigns. If you haven't heard, then you should there can be negative marking for any incorrect answers. So you see how guessing would cost you marks. Some marks can be deducted for any incorrect provision you have. That considerable loss can lead to low scores on postal service exams.

Providing incorrect details on experience and personality

You may be desperate for a postal service job but never go to the extent of providing false details about yourself.Consider the section for personality assessment as an important part of your exam score. You should ensure you provide accurate details.

This section aims to build your suitabilityto fill in honest and consistent or truthful with your answers if you may not know.

High speed without accuracy

There is no doubt you should act with speed while taking postal service exams. However, you should never forgo the accuracy part. When you move with speed at the expense of accuracy, you increase your chances of getting writing or providing wrong answers.

And that may also lead to negative marking, and that implies any incorrect answer is a drawback to your performance. Also, you will often make mistakes in the process of answering questions in a hurry, and you'll end up getting low scores on postal service exams.

The following would factor would also result in low scores on postal exams:

Some failures are attached to poor time management before and during the examinations.

Others would also fail due to fear and anxiety they experience during an exam. If you don’t deal with anxietyrelated to the postal exam, your chances of passing would be minimal.

So what can you do to ensure you pass your postal service exams?

Easy tips to help you pass your postal exams

To pursue your dream job at the postal office, you have to clear your exams and ensure you highly give to be considered eligible for a position. Therefore, you should ensure:

Conclusion

If you need to land your dream job at the postal service, you need to score in your exams highly. And to do that, you should ensure you study in advance, moderate your speed while taking exams, and maintain a high accuracy level. Also,provide honest and consistent personality and experience details to don't fail due to wrong and untruthful information.

Contributor: admin