Guidelines for posting external vacancy announcements, including those requiring entrance examinations, are in 421.1 through 421.4.
Announce vacancies when necessary to meet Postal Service staffing needs. When you are authorized to fill a vacant position externally, use the competitive selection process (see Chapter 2). The hiring official starts the process to post the vacancy. Post external vacancies on www.usps.com/employment.
Human resources is responsible for ensuring that external announcements are posted on www.usps.com/employment for a minimum of 5 calendar days.
In order to educate applicants about the job, the announcement should include statements that describe it. Applicants will want to know whether the position is career or noncareer, about benefits, if any, the work hours and number of hours per week as well as the duties, for example, “temporary,” “limited benefits” or “no benefits.” When restricting the area of consideration, see 421.4.
To attract qualified candidates, it is beneficial to partner with the National Diversity Initiatives office (see 122,124, and 22).
Announcements must be posted online. To generate widespread publicity, announcements may also be distributed strategically for posting in:
- Public and employee bulletin boards in Post Offices and in installations covered by the announcement.
- Public bulletin boards in Post Offices and postal facilities in the local area.
- Public bulletin boards in local, federal, state, and municipal buildings, as appropriate.
- Federal job information centers in the local area.
- State employment offices in the local area.
An eligibility statement regarding the area of consideration may be used on external postings. When limiting consideration to a specific geographical area, include a descriptive statement such as “must be willing to participate in screening at the local office,” and include the following statement (see 421.41 and 421.42):
Note: Veterans who are entitled to veterans’ preference or covered by the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act may apply for any posted position.
Alternative arrangements must be made as necessary for an individual performing military service.
Applicants who are entitled to veterans’ preference or covered by the Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (see 421.42) may apply for any externally posted vacancy regardless of the applicant’s geographical location. Human resources personnel are responsible for determining the eligibility of individual applicants and justifying any rejection based on the eligibility statements.
The Veterans Employment Opportunities Act (VEOA) provides that agencies must allow veterans’ preference eligibles (see subchapter 48) and other eligible veterans to apply for all positions announced externally without regard to geographic limitations.
To qualify as a VEOA eligible, an applicant must be either: (a) a “preference eligible”; or (b) a “veteran separated from the armed forces after 3 or more years of continuous active service performed under honorable conditions”; or (c) a veteran who was released shortly before completing a 3-year tour.
Active service, as defined in Title 37 U.S.C, means active duty in the uniformed services and includes (a) full-time training duty; (b) annual training duty; (c) full-time National Guard duty; and (d) attendance, while in the active service, at a school designated as a service school by law or by the secretary of the military department concerned.
