Postal Service (2024)

FAQs

Is it hard to pass the postal exam? ›

While the number of applicants who pass the Postal Exam range from 10-20% depending on the year, our students enjoy an incredible 95% passing rate. It's really that easy.

Returned to the sender with the reason for nondelivery “Returned for Additional Postage” if First-Class Mail with a return address. The sender may affix the additional postage, cross out the reason for nondelivery, and remail the piece.

Standard letters. If your letter is a standard-sized envelope and weighs 3.5 ounces or less, you will need one stamp. Large envelopes. This includes 9x12, legal, and manila envelopes, Two stamps are needed for the first ounce, and postage will be an additional $0.20 cents after.

Both the application and any exams are free – if you see any websites that are charging a fee they are not legitimate and should be reported to the United States Postal Inspection Service.

If you did not receive a passing score, you will not be considered for the specific posting you applied to. However, you may apply to other postings requiring the same exam or a different exam. You may also apply to other jobs that require a different exam.

The term "dead mail" is perhaps a misnomer, and several jurisdictions have opted for the use of the term "undeliverable mail" as more clearly representing the status of the item whose transmission has been impeded.

In case you forgot to put a postage stamp on the letter you already sent somewhere, it will be: returned to you (the sender), or; the receiver will have to pay for the missing stamp.

According to the USPS, local post offices will handle the mail or they will send it to the Mail Recovery Center in Atlanta, Georgia—also known as the post office's lost and found. “If it has no value, it is destroyed,” Brenda Crouch, a retired USPS employee wrote on Quora.

Once you have completed the VEA you may check your results by logging in to your eCareer Candidate Profile. Open the Roadmap and go to the Assessments page (7). This score will be used if you apply to jobs that require the same VEA version.

You may only take the assessment once per job application. If you already have an assessment score recent enough to be in the retest time period (e.g., for Exam 473 within the past 120 days), you will not be Page 5 allowed to take the assessment again; your existing score will be used for that application.

Can you take the USPS exam online? ›

A non-proctored assessment is one that you can take on your own, at any location of your choosing (for example, using a computer at home or at the library). A proctored assessment is one that you must take at a specified test center.

If it was delivered to a post office, it will be sent back to the return address. Typically, they circle the stamp area with a pen and/or leave a note explaining insufficient postage. The letter is left in the mailbox of the return address.

Customers must affix additional postage when mailing letters weighing in excess of 1 ounce and/or letters subject to the nonmachinable surcharge or mailpieces subject to another rate of postage (e.g., large envelopes or packages).

A letter of 1 ounce – 1 Domestic Forever Stamp costs 58 cents. A letter of 2 ounces – 1 Domestic Forever Stamp and one additional ounce stamp at 20 cents costs 78 cents. A letter weighing 3 ounces – 1 Domestic Forever Stamp and two additional 20-cent stamps – costs 88 cents.

The proctored assessment will take approximately 90 minutes and must be completed at an approved location by trained personnel. I am applying for a job (e.g., City Carrier, Rural Carrier) that requires Exam 473.

USPS Postal Exam 474

This is a 45 minutes long self-administered test given to those who are applying for city and rural mail carrier positions. After you submit your application for an open position, if you are deemed a good fit you will be sent an email inviting you to take a Virtual Entry Assessment - MC 474.