FlightWay / Careers / Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service

Government

Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service

Prepare incoming and outgoing mail for distribution.

Sector: Government
Preparation: Zone 2 — some preparation needed
O*NET code: 43-9051.00

What you'll actually do

The activities O*NET rates highest for this occupation, most important first. Numbers are out of 100.

Performing General Physical Activities

a regular part of the work — rated 69/100 for importance.
Handling and Moving Objects

a regular part of the work — rated 68/100 for importance.
Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or Subordinates

a regular part of the work — rated 65/100 for importance.
Getting Information

a regular part of the work — rated 65/100 for importance.
Controlling Machines and Processes

a regular part of the work — rated 63/100 for importance.
Identifying Objects, Actions, and Events

a regular part of the work — rated 61/100 for importance.

Prepare incoming and outgoing mail for distribution. Time-stamp, open, read, sort, and route incoming mail; and address, seal, stamp, fold, stuff, and affix postage to outgoing mail or packages. Duties may also include keeping necessary records and completed forms.

What it takes

Two numbers per line: the level the work expects, and how important it is to doing the job well. Both are O*NET ratings, already on a 0–100 scale.

Skills

Critical Thinking

Needed at a basic working level (41/100), and rated 50/100 for importance.
Monitoring

Needed at a basic working level (41/100), and rated 50/100 for importance.
Speaking

Needed at a basic working level (39/100), and rated 50/100 for importance.
Reading Comprehension

Needed at a basic working level (37/100), and rated 50/100 for importance.
Time Management

Needed at a basic working level (37/100), and rated 50/100 for importance.

Knowledge

Customer and Personal Service

Needed at a solid working level (59/100), and rated 71/100 for importance.
English Language

Needed at a basic working level (42/100), and rated 59/100 for importance.
Mathematics

Needed at a basic working level (32/100), and rated 49/100 for importance.
Law and Government

Needed at an introductory level (28/100), and rated 39/100 for importance.

Abilities

Near Vision

Needed at a basic working level (45/100), and rated 60/100 for importance.
Oral Comprehension

Needed at a basic working level (43/100), and rated 56/100 for importance.
Finger Dexterity

Needed at a basic working level (45/100), and rated 53/100 for importance.
Manual Dexterity

Needed at a basic working level (43/100), and rated 53/100 for importance.

How people get in

O*NET places this occupation in Zone 2 — some preparation needed. That is a statement about what employers typically require, not a rule about you.

Education

A high-school diploma is the usual starting point.

Experience

Some prior work experience helps but is rarely required.

Training

Expect a few months to a year of on-the-job training.

How the work tends to run

Each line below is read off a single O*NET activity rating for this occupation — named, so you can disagree with it.

The work is physical — you are on your feet and handling things, not sitting still.From “Performing General Physical Activities”

How FlightWay scores your fit against this

No black box. Here is the whole method, factor by factor.

1. You answer a short quiz: Your answers build a profile across the same 161 O*NET dimensions this page is describing — skills, knowledge, abilities and work activities. Same axes, so the comparison is like-for-like.
2. We correlate the two profiles: Fit is a mean-centered cosine — a correlation between the SHAPE of your profile and the shape of Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service. Centering matters: raw similarity between any two occupations sits at 0.70–0.85 because all work shares a common profile, so without it every career would look like a match.
3. The number you see is personality fit only: "Would I want this work" and "am I ready for this work" are different questions, and averaging them answers neither. So readiness — what your résumé, coursework and projects prove — is scored separately and shown next to fit, never blended into it.
4. Every factor is visible: You can open any match and see which dimensions pushed it up and which pulled it down. If you disagree with the number, you can see exactly where it came from.

More in Government

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Occupational data on this page comes from the O*NET 30.3 Database, published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). O*NET is a registered trademark of USDOL/ETA. FlightWay is not endorsed by, and USDOL/ETA is not responsible for, anything built on that data — see our terms. What is ours is the comparison, the score and the plan.