Instructions & Tips  The application process is basically a duplicate of your account profile with a few extra steps thrown in. Some duplicate steps may be fully or partially pre-populated from your profile. Others you must complete again to assure accuracy. New steps you must of course complete from scratch. An application includes the below steps that we will discuss in detail. (See Chapter 3 for details on the account profile.)

• Job Search

• Personal Data

• Work Experience

• Education / Training

• General Eligibility

• General Willingness

• Questionnaire

• Veterans Preference

• Cover Letter

• Attachments

• Summary of Accomplishments & References

• Driving History

• Authorization & Release

• EEO & Disability

• Send Application

• Application Acknowledgement

• Exam Notification

Job Search Before you can apply, you must search for and find an open job to apply for. Once you find a preferred posting, you can begin the application two different ways. (See Chapter 1 for job search details.)

• When viewing a table of job search results, there is an “Apply” button at the

lower left corner of the page. By highlighting a posting and clicking the “Apply”

button, you can begin an application for that job.

• Clicking on a posting in a results table will take you to a detailed job

description for that position. While viewing the job description, there is an

“Apply” button at the top left corner of the page. Clicking the “Apply” button will open an application for that job.

Personal Data The first step in the application is the Personal Data section which you have really already completed. When creating an account, you provided all the Personal Data requested, and it was retained in your online account. So this section “should” automatically be pre-populated for you. However, “should” is a dangerous word.

Check any pre-populated section of the application closely to assure that all your info is indeed there and accurate. In some cases they intentionally leave certain items blank and require you to respond all over again. And they may throw in a few new questions that were not included when creating your account. Bottom line … You need to review all the information closely in any pre-populated steps and respond to any blank or new questions

Work Experience This is another pre-populated section. You already gave your work history when creating an account. But again, you must review the information closely and respond to any blank or new questions. Make sure the info entered adequately demonstrates the KSAs required by the job. If you apply for different position later that has different KSAs or that has different qualifications, you may want to edit the Work Experience section, particularly the Description box, to emphasize skills and experiences that are more relevant to the new job.

Education / Training This is again a pre-populated section that you must review for accuracy and respond to any blank or new questions. And again, if your current information does not adequately demonstrate the KSAs required by the job you are now applying for, you may want to edit some entries to emphasize education or training that is more relevant to that job.

General Eligibility

Same story … review the pre-populated information and respond to any blank or new questions.

General Willingness To assure you are willing to meet the demands of a Postal job, in this section you are asked to confirm willingness to adhere to regulations, work certain shifts, perform particular functions, work with various types of people, accept supervision, etc. There are 15 questions, and you must answer “YES” to each of them. If you answer “NO” to any question, you will be disqualified and your application will be declined.

Questionnaire The title of this section is simply “Questionnaire”. Although the title does not say this, it is a questionnaire about your driving history that consists of the below seven questions. You must answer honestly because they will check your driving record if you are considered for job. It will not go well for you if false answers are discovered.

1. Do you have a valid state drivers license? 2. Have you held a valid state drivers license for the past two years?  (Note: If you had a learners permit during this time you should answer NO.)3. In the past 3 years, has your drivers license been suspended or revoked?4. In the past 3 years, have you been convicted of reckless or careless driving? 5. In the past 5 years, have you been convicted of any driving related conviction involving the use of drugs, alcohol, controlled substances, etc.?6. In the past 5 years, have you been involved in 2 or more at fault accidents?7. In the past 5 years, have you been convicted of a hit and run offense?

Veterans Preference Here you again review the info pre-populated from your profile and respond to any blank or new questions.

Cover Letter You do not have to include a cover letter, but you absolutely should do so. This is your chance to shine, your chance to add substance to a cold and indifferent application, and another chance to demonstrate mastery of KSAs for the particular job being applied for. Failing to include a cover letter would be a big mistake.

As with resumes, you can find much info online about cover letters. It would be good to do some research to assure a professional presentation and relevant content. Following are some tips about content.

A cover letter is a sales tool. The product being sold is you. You need to sell them on the idea that your qualifications enable you to meet or exceed their needs. Postmasters are completely self-centered. All they care about is having their needs met. The only thing they care about you is whether or not you can meet those needs better than other applicants.

To paraphrase former President John F. Kennedy … “Ask not what the Postal Service can do for you; ask what you can do for the Postal Service.” This entire situation - everything about this application - is about what you have to offer the Postal Service. What they have to offer you is irrelevant.

Sales pros talk about features and benefits, and as of now you are a sales pro. You have features to offer, but the more important aspect is how those features will benefit the Postal Service. So that is what you need to sell - the benefits you will provide as an employee.

To do all this, first look back at the posting, the job description, and the KSAs for the position you are applying for. This is where they tell

you exactly what they need, what they want, and what they are looking for. The specific words and terms they use are very important. Using their own words (within reason), you want to highlight your mastery of the job responsibilities, KSAs, etc.

Be brief and concise. With cover letters, less is more, meaning that you should make your points in a professional but brief fashion. A long boring letter with unrelated content is a big turnoff. A few high impact paragraphs should do the job.

Start out by saying in your own words how excited you are about the job and the chance to work for the U.S. Postal Service. You might mention how this has long been your goal and how thrilled you are that it may now be coming to pass. The tone should be upbeat displaying excitement, eagerness, motivation, etc.

Always conclude by thanking them for the opportunity to apply and mentioning how much you are looking forward to an interview to explore ways that you can contribute to their operations. Remember, it is all about them and what you can do for the Postal Service. It is not about you.

When you upload a cover letter, it is stored as part of your application for that particular job, but it is not permanently retained in your online profile. And this is good because, if you apply for another job, you need to write another cover letter that deals specifically with the demands of that job. A generic cover letter that you think will cover any job is the worst cover letter in the world. Each cover letter should be specific to the job in question. However, you should save a copy of the cover letter on your computer so you can use it as a starting point next time.

Attachments As noted when we were creating your account, attachments are not required unless requested, and typically they are only requested for professional corporate jobs like engineering, healthcare, etc. Also as explained when creating your account, this is the step where you

should attach a resume regardless of the job being applied for.  As with the cover letter, your resume should be updated when applying for different jobs to emphasize skills and experiences that relate to that particular job and its KSAs. This is also where you should attach awards or certifications from prior jobs that relate to the job description.

Summary of Accomplishments & References

This is a rather mysterious section. It talks about describing qualifications and accomplishments that demonstrate your grasp of the job requirements. And it talks about references. But mostly it leaves a great deal unsaid.

If you are applying for a technical position that demands particular skills, training, or education, it is easy to understand the importance of your qualifications and accomplishments. But most people apply for normal mail processing and delivery jobs. Are you supposed to complete this section if you are applying for a regular non-technical job?

What about the references? Are you only supposed to give references for people who can confirm the qualifications and accomplishments you claimed? If you do not include any information about qualifications and accomplishments, are you supposed to leave the references blank too?

It would be nice if you could contact the Postal Service to ask questions like this, but you cannot. They do not want to hear from you - period! Nobody in the word does a better job of hiding from the public than the good old U.S. Postal Service. Fortunately, we can answer those questions for you.

It would help to first hear a bit of history for the current online application system. It started out as an internal system used only by Postal employees applying for transfers or promotions. Over time it was decided that this system would be an efficient way to handle public applicants as well, so an external version was developed. The external version is similar, but it does not come with the abundance of

instructions provided to internal applicants. We happen to have the internal instructions. Some of extra details we provide come from these internal instructions … including the below information on the Summary of Accomplishments & References section.

Applicants for technical jobs should absolutely use the Summary of Accomplishments section to demonstrate mastery of KSAs. Applicants for non-technical jobs may or may not need to display mastery of KSAs in this section. We have already talked about exhibiting education, training, qualifications, and experiences related to KSAs in other sections of the application. If you have already offered all your possible info about KSAs in other sections, there is no need to duplicate it here. But if you have additional info to offer related to KSAs, by all means put it here.

It is recommended that you provide references whether or not you include a Summary of Accomplishments. You can include up to three “personal or professional references that can support the information in your application”. Even though the references can be personal or professional, support for info in the application will likely come from professional references. You should therefore try to use professional references if possible, but do include three references whether they are professional or personal. You should provide a name, title, phone number, and email address for each reference.

Driving History You have already answered one questionnaire about driving, but you must complete this one also. As a matter of fact, the first two questions in this section are identical the first two questions in the previous driving questionnaire. In this section you are to answer the following four questions.

1. Do you have a valid state drivers license? 2. Have you held a valid drivers license for at least the past two years? 3. Have you been found guilty of a moving violation within the last 5

years? (Do not include parking violations.)4. Have you been in an accident in the last 5 years?

If you answer yes to question 3, you must provide the below information for each violation:

• Charge (speeding, reckless driving, etc.)

• Date

• Place (city, town, state)

• Law Enforcing Authority (city police, state police, etc.)

• Action Taken (fined, forfeited, collateral)

• Was permit or license revoked or suspended?

If you answer yes to question 4, you must provide the below information for each accident:

• Place (city, town, state)

• Date

• How did the accident happen?

• Damage to your vehicle? (%)

• Damage to other vehicle? (%)

• Who made the damage payment?

• Was anyone killed?

• Were you judged at fault?

• Court or legal body that made judgment

It is imperative that you answer honestly because they will check your driving record. If you did not answer honestly with full details, you may be disqualified.

Authorization & Release Three subjects are covered in this section:1. If you have ever used other names, you are to provide those names along with dates used. 2. You are to list previous addresses for the last five years. 3. If you have ever been convicted of a crime, if you are now under charges for any offense against the law, or if you were ever convicted

by special/general court martial while in the military, you are to provide full details for any such incident.

EEO & Disability In this section you are asked to voluntarily answer questions about your ethnicity, race, sex, and physical or mental disabilities. You are not required to answer the questions, and your responses will not be considered part of your application and will have no impact on your potential employment. The purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of their effort in promoting an equal employment opportunity policy and in identifying and eliminating barriers which impede that policy.

Send Application In this final section you (1) review a PDF recap of your application and edit if necessary, (2) agree to the Postal Data Privacy Statement, (3) release your profile so the Postal Service can consider you for other jobs in addition to the ones you have applied for, and (4) click “Send Application”. You are now finished with this stage of the process. You application has been submitted.

Acknowledgement of Application Almost immediately after applying, you will receive an email message entitled Acknowledgement of Application. This message will thank you for applying and explain that “you will be considered under the competitive procedures for this vacancy”.

Can you apply for a job without creating an account? It is indeed possible to apply without creating an account. But when doing so, you are actually creating an account without knowing it. To apply without having created an account, follow the same application instructions given above with one exception … none of the application sections will be pre-populated. So, you will need to provide all information from scratch.

The first step in applying without an account is a page where you (1) provide your name and email address, (2) agree to their Privacy Policy, and (3) click “Save and Continue”. What you just did was create an account without realizing it unless you read all the fine print. As you continue with the application, unknown to you, your information is retained for your account. After you apply, they will email you a temporary username and password for the account you created without even knowing it. You are instructed to login with these temporary credentials and then select your own permanent username and password.