Postmasters and Mail Superintendents
Plan, direct, or coordinate operational, administrative, management, and support services of a U.S. post office; or coordinate activities of workers engaged in postal and related work in assigned post office.
Most important skills
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Speaking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Coordination
- Time Management
- Management of Personnel Resources
- Critical Thinking
Key knowledge
- Administration and Management
- Public Safety and Security
- English Language
- Production and Processing
- Customer and Personal Service
- Education and Training
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Mathematics
What the work involves
- Organize and supervise activities, such as the processing of incoming and outgoing mail.
- Direct and coordinate operational, management, and supportive services of one or a number of postal facilities.
- Resolve customer complaints.
- Hire and train employees, and evaluate their performance.
- Prepare employee work schedules.
- Prepare and submit detailed and summary reports of post office activities to designated supervisors.
- Negotiate labor disputes.
- Monitor employees' work schedules and attendance for payroll purposes.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Enterprising, Conventional, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (62.1% of respondents)
- Related experience
- None (27.1%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 1 month, up to and including 3 months (27.1%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Postmasters and Mail Superintendents is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 96% of occupations compared | 96% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 92% of occupations compared | 79% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | Very high | Higher on teamwork than 86% of occupations compared | 66% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Low | Lower on freedom to make decisions than 66% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 99% of occupations compared | 93% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Very high | Higher on conflict situations than 97% of occupations compared | 45% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 97% of occupations compared | 47% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 76% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: very high
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 4.08%
- Constant contact with others: 95.92%
n = 28, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 6.85%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 3.57%
- Very important: 11.06%
- Extremely important: 78.52%
n = 28, Incumbent 07/2016
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 0%
- Important: 0%
- Very important: 34.09%
- Extremely important: 65.91%
n = 28, Incumbent 07/2016
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 9.65%
- Limited freedom: 24.1%
- Some freedom: 25.45%
- A lot of freedom: 40.79%
n = 28, Incumbent 07/2016
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 1.4%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 5.41%
- Every day: 93.19%
n = 28, Incumbent 07/2016
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 6.85%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 16.25%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 32.31%
- Every day: 44.59%
n = 28, Incumbent 07/2016
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 3.57%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 6.85%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 47.14%
- Every day: 42.44%
n = 28, Incumbent 07/2016
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 30.47%
- Fairly serious: 17.93%
- Serious: 40.98%
- Very serious: 0%
- Extremely serious: 10.61%
n = 27, Incumbent 07/2016
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O*NET-SOC 11-9131.00 · SOC 11-9131 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8