USPS hiring and exam glossary

Virtual Entry Assessment (VEA)

Also called: VEA

The family of online tests USPS uses to screen applicants for entry-level roles. Exams 474, 475, 476 and 477 are all Virtual Entry Assessments. You take it remotely, on your own device, within a window USPS sets. Exam 474 study guide.

Exam 474

Also called: VEA 474, Postal Exam 474

The assessment for city carrier and other delivery roles that involve direct contact with customers. It has three parts: Work Scenarios, Tell Us Your Story, and Check for Errors. Free practice test.

Exam 475

The assessment used for mail handler positions, which are focused on moving and processing mail inside a facility rather than delivering it.

Exam 476

The assessment used for clerk positions, including Mail Processing Clerk and PSE roles. It overlaps with 474 but leans harder on speed and accuracy.

Exam 477

The assessment used for customer service and automotive positions, including Automotive Technician and some window-service roles.

Work Scenarios

The section that presents workplace situations and asks how you would respond. It is testing judgment: reliability, following procedure, safety, and customer service. Extreme answers in either direction tend to score poorly.

Tell Us Your Story

Also called: Personality assessment

The section covering your work history, habits and preferences. It checks consistency across the whole section, so inventing a persona is detectable. Answer honestly and keep your answers consistent with each other.

Check for Errors

Also called: Coding and memory

The section that asks you to compare addresses, names and numbers and spot the differences, under time pressure. It is an attention task, so fatigue affects the score directly.

Candidate profile

Also called: eCareer profile

The account you create on the USPS careers site. It holds your applications, your assessment invitations and your status updates, so the email address on it needs to be one you check.

Assessment window

The limited period after your invitation in which you must complete the assessment. Miss it and you generally have to reapply, so diarise the exact deadline when the invite arrives. Exam-day checklist.

Veterans' preference

Additional consideration in federal hiring for eligible veterans, which can affect your position on the eligible register. You claim it in your candidate profile and must supply supporting documents.

Pre-Hire List

The pool of candidates who passed the assessment and are being considered for a specific posting. Being on it is progress, not an offer; candidates are generally contacted in score order. What happens next.

Eligible register

Also called: Hiring register

The ranked list of candidates eligible for a role, ordered by score. A higher score generally means being contacted sooner.

Conditional job offer

Also called: CJO

An offer that depends on you clearing the remaining checks, typically the background screening, drug screening and medical assessment. It is not final until those come back clear.

City Carrier Assistant (CCA)

Also called: CCA

A non-career delivery role, often the entry route into a career carrier position. Exam 474 is the assessment normally required.

Rural Carrier Associate (RCA)

Also called: RCA

A substitute carrier on a rural route, covering for the regular carrier on their days off and during leave. Usually assessed with Exam 474.

Postal Support Employee (PSE)

Also called: PSE

A non-career clerk role covering window service and mail processing. Usually assessed with Exam 476.

Mail Handler Assistant (MHA)

Also called: MHA

A non-career role loading, unloading and moving mail within a processing facility. Usually assessed with Exam 475.

Career vs non-career

Career positions are permanent, with full federal benefits and bidding rights. Non-career positions such as CCA, RCA, PSE and MHA are a common way in, and often convert to career roles with time.

Scheme / scheme training

Learning the sorting plan for a specific delivery area or facility. It comes after hiring, not during the assessment.

Bid / bidding

The process career employees use to apply for a different route, shift or facility, usually settled by seniority.