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Does USPS Hire Felons?

Does USPS Hire Felons

United States Postal Service or USPS in short is an independent federal authority in the United States. It helps in delivering the packages from one coast to another within the country and its territories. It was established back in 1775.

People still trust USPS despite the following services coming up in the United States:

  • FedEx
  • UPS
  • DHL
  • LoneStar
  • Dart Courier Services

USPS has almost 500,000 full-time employees and more than 150,000 contract employees.

Hiring Felons

Felons are one of the most marginalized when it comes to jobs. People don’t trust felons and hence employing them in private or government entities is not an easy task. There are however always some companies that support second chance initiatives.

Is USPS A Part Of Those Companies?

The answer is yes. USPS does support second chance initiatives. They do evaluate felons who are convicted or have pending charges against them. The rehabilitation efforts of certain candidates are checked. This helps in deciding whether they are suitable for the job or not.

does usps hire felon

Screening

Every candidate will be judged depending upon his or her merits. They are then chosen for the job based on their skill. This means that although the felons are convicted, they have a good chance of getting a federal job if they show outstanding rehabilitation efforts.

Job Security

The felons will have job security which they don’t have in the private sector. This paired with career growth and a lot of benefits opens up new avenues for felons. The one thing however that felons must remember is they don’t get hired everywhere. The hiring rules keep changing depending upon the region.

Ban The Box Campaign

When talking about hiring felons, this is the first thing that one has to look for. Ban the Box campaign means removing all the boxes from an interview application that discusses the criminal record of an applicant. This campaign will allow the employer to know the capability of the candidate without any bias.

Fair Chance Business Pledge

Apart from the Ban the Box campaign, USPS also supports the Fair Chance Business Pledge. According to this pledge, the employer won’t question candidates about their criminal record until the end of the interview.

Both of these campaigns will help an employer understand the candidate without any distractions. These campaigns were introduced by the Federal agency during Obama’s presidency. This gives a fair chance for the felons to prove their eligibility without any issues masking them.

Background Check

USPS does conduct a thorough background check of the candidates who are applying for the job. Although they have some rules and follow some campaigns, they ensure that only employees with good rehabilitation records are hired.

Most of the people who are convicted for some minor felonies won’t face a lot of challenges in getting a job at USPS. They should however be eligible for the job. USPS doesn’t have a separate hiring process for felons. A felon can directly apply for a job on their site.

Odds Of A Felon Getting Hired

If you want to know the odds of a felon getting hired at USPS, the answer is neutral. USPS has hired felons in the past and that is not a big issue at all. The agency is going to consider any felon on a case by case basis.

USPS looks for better qualifications in a candidate first and then looks at their past. If the felon has committed some minor mistakes in the past or has a good rehabilitation record, there is a good chance of them getting hired into the company.

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Entry Level Jobs for Felons

Most of the felons are hired for entry-level jobs at USPS. The main reason for this is their educational qualification being lower than others. Some of the most common positions for which USPS hire felons are:

  • City Carrier
  • Mail handler
  • Sales associate
  • Mail processing clerk
  • Distribution associate

USPS needs a lot of employees to work with the organization on daily basis to deliver the mail. Starting from the mail driver who delivers the parcels from different post boxes to the city carrier, different jobs must be done without fail. The organization hires felons to get the entry-level work done.

Hiring Process of USPS

Now that you know that being a felon doesn’t stop one from getting hired at USPS, it’s time to explore their hiring process.

Here is how a felon should prepare for his or her interview.

1 Start with visiting the careers page of the USPS official website.

2 Check all the vacant positions that are present there.

3 Pick the position that you want to apply for and then proceed with it.

4 You don’t have to log in to check the job vacancies, however, login is mandatory when applying for the job.

does usps hire a felon

The basic requirements of USPS that you have to meet are:

  • You have to be 18 years or more during the time of appointment or 16 years with a diploma from high school.
  • Give your recent employment history
  • You should be a US citizen or permanent resident of the US or its territories.
  • You have to pass a background check, drug test, and medical assessment.
  • If you are looking for a driver job, then you should have a clean driving record.

If you meet the above criteria, you can apply for the jobs that are listed on the USPS website. You can click on the job and check all the required details before proceeding further. You have to complete the assessment questionnaire before you take any further steps.

Postal Exams

For entry-level positions, you must sit through 473 Postal exams. For higher-level exams also, there will be a different written exam that you have to attempt. The entire interview process will be done by the local authorities and you should ensure you are sharing all the correct details to the point.

Preparation is the key here. You have to ensure you learn everything that is required for the exam and interview.

Crimes That May Disqualify Felons

Certain crimes will disqualify an application for any role in USPS. Although there is no such forbidden list, there is some anecdotal evidence that one cannot ignore.

1 Felons who were part of theft or robbery have higher chances of getting rejected. It is hard to trust them with people’s parcels.

2 Next in line would be sex offenses. Sex offenders are not considered fit for delivering packages. The areas that have schools and playgrounds are forbidden zones for felons.

3 If a candidate has committed any vehicular offenses, then there are high chances of him not getting a job as a driver.

4 Any acts of treason or mail fraud are some of the felonies that USPS steers clear of. People who have committed these felonies may be rejected.

The duration however since said the felony occurred and the rehabilitation efforts of the candidate are also taken into consideration. If the candidate has been at his best behavior, he may get hired by USPS.

Conclusion

USPS is a great option for felons to pursue a career. Apart from getting job stability, they will also have some of the best perks and have a high chance of getting hired too. There is however high competition for jobs and one should be extremely talented and qualified to get it.

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