I've been thinking of getting a mailman job, /biz/.
Anyone else thinking bout that?
Is it a nice career (pay, benefits, etc.)?
>>1065860
It can be. The USPS is odd in that is required to pay for employees pensions up front, which combined with terrible terrible mismanagement has put them near bankruptcy. If you would enjoy a government job with tons of bureaucracy, slow and inconsistent promotions and working with and for inept people, sure. My dad worked there for over 40 years.
>>1065860
Also worth noting that you would have to kill several people and burn the sorting facility down before they would think about firing you.
>>1065860
>>1065860
My dad is a postal employee and is near retirement. I believe he is making 60k but is still just a carrier. There are other things you can do to move up in individual offices. He worked around seven to three most days when I was a kid. Christmas and other holidays these days will pound you in the ass. Your boss and the USPS will likely be cunts about all kinds of stupid shit. I recall many a night hearing my dad bitch about work and his coworkers. This may be specific to his office though. I am not sure of his benefits but I know he never saved very well. I assume there is a 401k. I know the health benefits are pretty sweet. I am still on their insurance until I'm 26, but usually my copay is 18 dollars for general office visits. I had collarbone surgery and it amounted to around 3-4k for everything. If you can get a walking route you can probably get in pretty damn good shape too. Let me know if I can answer anything else
It's extremely competitive and there is a lot of cronyism as far as who gets jobs from what I've heard. You're not going to get the job not knowing anybody just walking in off the street, even if you ace the test.
>>1067510
Yes people are rarely fired. You may just get shuffled.
Currently a mailman. It's a mediocre gig. You start at $16.00 an hour as a non-career employee. Basically you cover routes when people are off, callout, when they go on vacation, when they have too much volume to get back to the office on time, etc.
The job is the same everywhere, but your wellbeing is entirely dependent on the office you work in. Some are very well run, some are are very poorly run. Some offices are so short-staffed that the CCA's work 13 days on, 1 day off. It's luck of the draw really.
As the new guy, you basically have no say in anything. You don't even really get a schedule.
The entire carrier system is based on seniority rather than merit. It's a job of attrition, unless you move into management, which isn't a cakewalk either.
It's hard to say what the future of the organization is. Mail volume is way down, which was extremely profitable. Parcels are up 1 billion units per year since 5 years ago, and that number is only going to get bigger, but the profit margins aren't nearly as good as what they make from mail.
Best part of the job is that the day goes quick and you're basically by yourself all day, just driving around. Once you make regular, you're in the clear, but that might take a few years depending on your office. You can be career in a hard office in less than a year (more retirements/higher turnover). Some silly bitch I met took 5 years before she made regular.
Worst part is trucks breaking down mid route, getting called in on your day off, getting hit by old people, mail getting misrouted, etc. Something goes wrong at least once a week.
My buddy works in a pretty big office and they have a Days Without Accident board, which never goes to double digits.
And yes, it is very hard to get fired, especially as a career employee.
>>1067510
My dad has worked in the same govt agency for 40 years. Every few years they have a reorg. Nobody is fired, instead positions are eliminated. If your position is eliminated, you can take any lower position in the agency that you are qualified for,and that is held by someone with less seniority. Then they take a lower position, and so on down the the ladder, until they get to the lowest guy and there are no positions left. That guy is essentially fired,but technically there's just no position for him to hold.
In this way, lots of older guys who stopped working hard years ago manage to stick around until they max out their pensions. My dad is one of them, he was ready to retire about 6 years ago but will just reach his optimal pension payout this year.
>>1067798
Was it hard to get the job?
What did you have to do?
>>1067830
No. They'll literally hire anyone. Turnover rate is super high. All you have to do is apply. Application consists of a personality test (multiple choice agree/disagree), one pre-hiring drug test, a memory test (which you need to practice for), and an interview. Your driving record should be clean for the last few years.
If hired, then you attend a few couple of days of soul-sucking orientation slideshows, driver training, driver test, and a day of training academy.
The memory test is the hardest part, but it's still pretty easy with some practice. if you google USPS 473 test, they have practice tests.
There are a few things you can do during the test to make it easier as well, but they won't make sense explaining until you actually look at the exam.
>>1067510
The government agency I work for is a union
It's almost impossible to get fired here, and I've heard some pretty bad stories
