Examinations for the postal service usually are held in the fall, about the first Wednesday or Saturday in November of each year. Prospective applicants should write to the secretary of the civil service district in which they reside—a list of these will be found in the chapter under that heading—for the exact date and place of the mental test and the time when applications may be had. The blank, a copy of which is given elsewhere in this book, must be carefully and correctly filled and all questions must be answered. This requirement must not be overlooked, as to do so would mean the sending of the application back to the applicant for correction, thus causing loss of valuable time. All answers must be written in ink, the application in the handwriting of the applicant and the vouchers in the handwriting of the signers. There must be no discrepancy in the name of the applicant in any part of the application or in the vouchers. For New York:[21] Physical examinations take place after the mental examinations, and only when called for appointment.
To make this point clear, applicants must see that all names are signed alike in every part of the application. For instance: John Doe must be John Doe everywhere and not J. Doe in one place and John Doe elsewhere.
Applications or vouchers which are executed or dated more than six months before the date of filing will not be accepted. After the blank is properly executed, it must be filed with the secretary of the local board of examiners. So far as possible file applications personally. If circumstances are such that the application must be mailed, register it and obtain a receipt for same. All applications must be sworn to before a Notary Public.
Whenever extra examinations may become necessary, to meet the needs of the service, due announcement will be made of the dates and places of such examinations, and also of the time allowed for the filing of applications.
A person cannot at the same time be an applicant for or eligible from examination for more than one first-class post office for which examinations ordinarily are held annually in November. This restriction will not apply, however, when an examination is held for[22] any of these offices on a date other than that of the regular annual examination.
A person who passes an examination can not be examined again for the same post office within approximately one year of the date of the examination he has passed. A person who fails in an examination may take the next examination regardless of the time intervening.
A request for a change in the designation of the position desired by an applicant must be made in writing and be received by the district secretary on or before the date set for the close of receipt of applications, otherwise no change will be made.
The postmaster is required to make selection for a vacancy from not more than the highest three names on the appropriate register, and for the next and any additional vacancies from not more than the highest three remaining which have not been within his reach for three separate vacancies. The name of an eligible must have been within reach for three separate vacancies in a position before it may be passed over in making selection for appointment to that position.
When an eligible’s name is borne on both the clerk and the carrier registers and has been three times certified (considered) for one of the two positions, but not selected, his name will not be further certified for that[23] position, but his standing on the register for the other position will not be affected. Neither will declination of appointment when selected for one of the positions affect the eligible’s standing on the register for the other position. Appointment to either position will remove the eligible’s name from the registers for both positions.
An eligible who has been within reach for three separate vacancies in either the position of clerk or of carrier in his turn may subsequently be selected for the position, subject to the approval of the Commission, from the certificate upon which his name last appeared, if the condition of the register has not so changed as to place him in other respects beyond reach of certification.
In the Post Office Service appointments are usually made to the position of substitute clerk or substitute carrier. Substitutes are promoted in the order of their original appointment to the first vacancies occurring in regular positions. Declination of appointment as substitute will remove the name of the eligible from the register from which selection was made, and it will not be restored for consideration in connection with appointment to a regular position only.
Auxiliary employees are paid for actual service at the rate of 30 cents an hour. They are required to work not less than two hours daily, and may serve as[24] substitutes. They are eligible for appointment as clerks and carriers of the first grade.
All promotions of both clerks and carriers will be made at the beginning of the quarter following the expiration of the year’s service in the next lower grade. No promotion will be made except upon evidence satisfactory to the Post Office Department of the efficiency and faithfulness of the employee during the preceding year. When a clerk or carrier fails of promotion because of unsatisfactory service, he may be promoted at the beginning of the second quarter thereafter, or of any subsequent quarter, upon evidence that his record has been satisfactory during the intervening period. Clerks and carriers of the highest grade are eligible for promotion to the higher positions in their respective offices.
Any male clerk in an office in which both clerks and city carriers are employed, is eligible for transfer to the position of city carrier, and any city carrier is eligible for transfer to the position of clerk. Male clerks and city carriers are also eligible for transfer to the position of rural carrier.