thanks david i'm near asheville nc, yeah i'll have to check when that 473 is given. why are you glad you switched to PTF?

nc-confused,
You have to look to see when test 473 is being given. Are you a vet by any chance? Yes, it is a diff. test than RCA. I switched to a PTF about a year ago and i am glad i did.

Doesn't surprise me at all. I like you, had gone through the app, drug test etc.. came back a few weeks later to have interviews with PM's from some of the offices that needed PTF's. They were all about 1 hour from me, and i live in the 'big market'. I passed since i still had a good job.

2 months later i get a phone call offering me a spot at an office in a mid size city 10 miles from home. I was then told that my medical would be at 830 AM the next day.....What?? same spot as you. I should have seen that as a sign. But it was my day off so i went. Was then told that i would start the following monday and this was a thursday. Nothing like screwing you current employer over. Espically since i was the boss at the old job.

I don't regret the move as do most. I actually am in a better office. Who knows about the future though.

Thanks Iluvmail for your input. Can you believe that today I received a phone call at my present job at 2:30 PM from the USPS to extend a job offer to me and that they needed me to show up at 8:00 AM tomorrow??? How much more of a short notice can they give a person especially since I spent most of Monday going through the same BS that I went through a few months ago to be turned away! Holy cow! How ridiculous!

m/2722--Thanks to everyone who gave me advice. Turns out that before i filed a grievance on not being paid overtime for leave and hours worked, I just looked at my check and they did pay me overtime and did not credit the leave back as they had initially told me (the computer won't let them). I will still look into this as this may have been a fluke on thier part.

Where in NC?

Joy,
  Only advise I can give to you is *DO NOT QUIT YOUR CURRENT JOB!* Working for the USPS is like being in either a war zone or kindergarden! I am currently in my 4th year and left a great job for this one. True, I make an okay salary but, the hassles take years off your life. I look at carriers (God bless them) that have carried mail for 20+ years and would kiss the gound that they walk on everyday!!!!

Edited by author 05-15-2008 03:11 PM
I also have a question. I'm an RCA in NC, we just got a new supervisor in from new york and she told me i should look into being a PTF. I'm wondering where i need to start? Do I have to take another exam? Is it a better job anyway? Would she be trying to get rid of me for any reason?

I have a question. As you know the mail is lite right now. I'm at an AO with only 2 city routes. So I'm just covering days off and and monday help. There is another AO close to here that has an RCA doing what I'm doing, covering the days off. Can I take those hours?

Yes. I think I will stay in my current job. After reading several of the postings, the USPS sounds like a really big political mess. They have the DOD beat! The starting pay is only $1 an hour more than I make now and with my next step increase and COLA at the beginning of the year, I should be a lot better off (and less hassle). Thanks for all your help.

I am not surprised that they backed out on the PTF offer- most places are only hiring TEs (disposable employees) and have no intention of hiring more career employees. If you take the TE job, I don't think it will disqualify you from the hiring roster for PTFs, but the TEs are the lowest on the totem pole in so many ways. Not a great job. Guess you should stay where you are. :-p

Joy in NJ /m2741 -- jerked around by the USPS? Hard to believe.

Thanks again NE carrier. I went today for the pre-orientation and come to find out that there are no PTF's available. They said they would keep me on the roster but to keep in mind that new exam scores would be coming up and merged with the existing scores which may lower mine. I was previously at a pre-orientation last year for the non-career transitional carrier position but I was not interested in long term temporary work. I was however scheduled to take the driving exam but then later cancelled after discussin it with my husband. This time they did not even bother with that portion. I feel like I am being jerked around to say the least. Any thought?

Joy- you do not have to join the union, ever, and it makes no difference in pay or promotions. Pay increases come with time, not merit. At some point (after about 10 years) you reach top step. Right now, for example, I make about $23/hr; OT is at time and a half (from 8hrs to 10 hrs) and double time (from 10-12 hours). If you can, talk to carriers from the office where you are getting interviewed. Talk to a union steward, any carrier should be able to tell you his name/number. You can move to other stations after 18 months, you can move to other crafts (like clerk, maintainence, even management), there are lots of opportunities.

Thanks you both NE carrier and underdog47 for 2 different perspectives...I really do like the idea of exercise and very little supervision...that part rocks but there are pros and cons with every job especially those with the government. Is is a requirement to be part of the union as I guess that would help with the regular increases or is it based more on performance? I am just trying to gather as much info as posssible because this is all new to me...regards.

Joy do not leave your current job!!!! Today really bit the big one. The food drive pivoting an open route in direct violation of the contract a third bundle and it was a Sat...