212 Recruitment Options

212.1 General

When career vacancies cannot be filled internally by employees being reassigned, promoted, changed to lower level, or converted to career (see 232.4), external hiring may be authorized. External hiring may be noncompetitive or competitive (see 212.2 and 212.3).

212.2 Noncompetitive Hiring

Noncompetitive hiring options include the following:

  1. The reinstatement of eligible former Postal Service or federal employees (see 233.33);
  2. The transfer of career or career-conditional employees from other federal agencies (see 233.33);
  3. The appointment of veterans with 30 percent or more disabilities, or the appointment of Veterans’ Readjustment Appointment (VRA) eligibles (see 233.35 and 233.36); and
  4. The Postal Service’s program for employment of persons with severe disabilities. For more information, see 235.4, Noncompetitive Career Hiring of Persons With Severe Disabilities, and Handbook EL-307, Reasonable Accommodation, An Interactive Process.

Regardless of the choice of action, the appointee must meet the qualification standards of the position.

212.3 Competitive Hiring

Applicants who apply on www.usps.com or www.usajobs.gov for externally-announced vacancies compete for selection.

  1. Recruitment activities (see 22) may be planned and coordinated to attract qualified applicants.
  2. Applicants are ranked by final score and selections are made from a Hiring List (see 623).
  3. Selected applicants must:
    1. Be qualified for the position’s requirements;
    2. Be determined as eligible for employment; and
    3. Meet the suitability requirements (see Chapter 6).

If the applicant claims veterans’ preference, their qualifying basic score is increased by 5 or 10 points, if appropriate (see 48, Veterans Preference).