Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
What Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service Do
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.
See full salary breakdown & percentiles →
Career Outlook
National employment outlook, 2024–2034.
- Related work experience
- None
- On-the-job training
- Short-term on-the-job training
- Self-employed
- 2.1%
Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.
How Much Preparation Does This Take?
Job Zone 2 of 5Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Experience
- Some occupations may need little or no previous experience; others require several months to a year of experience.
- Education
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
- Job training
- Ranges from a few days to one year of on-the-job training.
Source: O*NET Job Zones.
Key Knowledge Areas
Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.
- Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.9/5
- English Languageimportance 3.4/5
- Mathematicsimportance 3.0/5
- Law and Governmentimportance 2.5/5
- Education and Trainingimportance 2.5/5
- Administrativeimportance 2.5/5
- Administration and Managementimportance 2.4/5
- Public Safety and Securityimportance 2.3/5
Work Environment
What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.
- Indoors, Environmentally Controlled5.0/5
- Telephone Conversations4.9/5
- E-Mail4.7/5
- Frequency of Decision Making4.7/5
- Contact With Others4.6/5
- Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams4.5/5
Careers With Similar Skills
Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.
- Slaughterers and Meat Packers94% skill match
- Food Cooking Machine Operators and Tenders92% skill match
- Coil Winders, Tapers, and Finishers92% skill match
- Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive Firers92% skill match
- Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine Operators92% skill match
- Packers and Packagers, Hand92% skill match
- Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity92% skill match
- Reinforcing Iron and Rebar Workers91% skill match
Transferable Skills
Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.
- Time Managementimportance 3.0/5
- Coordinationimportance 2.9/5
- Operations Monitoringimportance 2.9/5
- Operation and Controlimportance 2.9/5
- Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 2.9/5
- Social Perceptivenessimportance 2.8/5
- Service Orientationimportance 2.6/5
- Quality Control Analysisimportance 2.4/5
Software & Technologies
Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.
Hot Technologies
Other Software Used
Work Style
Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.
- Dependability
- Attention to Detail
- Integrity
- Cautiousness
- Cooperation
- Stress Tolerance
- Self-Control
Career Interests
This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.
- ConventionalHigh
- RealisticMedium
- EnterprisingLow
- SocialLow
- InvestigativeLow
- ArtisticLow
This page includes information from the O*NET 30.3 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Where This Career Is Most Concentrated
Metro areas where mail clerks and mail machine operators, except postal service make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).
- 1Topeka, KS6.88× national avg
- 2Hagerstown-Martinsburg, MD-WV5.49× national avg
- 3Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY3.08× national avg
- 4Springfield, IL3.05× national avg
- 5Tulsa, OK2.79× national avg
Possible Career Moves
A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.
- Postal Service Mail Sorters, Processors, and Processing Machine OperatorsLateral Move
- Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, HandCareer Change
- Bus Drivers, Transit and IntercityCareer Change
- Railroad Brake, Signal, and Switch Operators and Locomotive FirersCareer Change
See the full career path from Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service →