Mail Handler

Your job as a Mail Handler is to help letters, magazines, and other pieces of mail get where they need to go. You’re the one who separates and sorts the mail, answers any questions customers might have, and sells stamps and other mailing products. In fact, the term “Mail Handler” is a title for anyone who works in the actual post office. Everyone else (like the Letter Carrier who goes from door to door) goes by a different title.

Mail in the post office comes in large canvas bags.As the Mail Handler, you dump out these bags and then, depending on the size of the office you work in, you either manually sort the mail by area or pour it all into an electronic sorter. Once the mail is sorted, you bag it up according to region and send it on its way, putting it on trucks, boats, or mail cars. From there, it gets delivered to individual homes or businesses.

While sorting, you look for packages or letters that have come undone or need extra postage. These are either repaired, or sent back to the sender for better packaging or extra stamps. When not organizing letters, you might work with customers, answering questions or selling packing materials and stamps. You give them information relating to postage rates, mailing restrictions, and insurance rates.

Be aware that this job is going electronic. Although the position won’t disappear, the number of vacancies will begin to decrease in coming years.