Shouldn't the lesson be that you don't have to pay anything to get a job, period?

Though I'd like to know the price of that cat in the box...

@unobservant: Indeed, the only money that should be changing hands with a job is the company's money. (That said, if you're buying materials to START a business, not to WORK for a business, that's another story. There's still scams in that though.)

@unobservant: I know, it's a pwetty kitty. Okay...taking my babyish voice off now and moving on...

Another Reminder: Using a Priority Mail box as a litter box is against USPS regulations. :)

DO WANT.

(kitty, not the bogus postal job supplies.)

So that's where Nermal ended up. i was wondering why my contact in Abu Dhabi said he never arrived.

apparently, all consumerist readers want is cats.

so... bank of america, aig, walmart, best buy... just send people cats. they will be placated!

@Cocoa Vanilla: "... the only money that should be changing hands with a job is the company's money."

So true, it's the golden rule! Unless, of course, they send you money to cover interviewing expenses but then claim to have overpaid and ask you to wire some of it back. ;-)

What company is this? Did T.J. find them or was he marketed to?

The job company is Career Source Online

is it just me, or is it scary that the USPS and comcast.com/careers both use the same job search application?

Pay to get paid? Seriously? Is that the best the idiots can do?

@Cocoa Vanilla: "the only money that should be changing hands with a job is the company's money."

When I first graduated from university I had more than one place ask me for an original transcript in a sealed envelope directly from the registrar at my school. It was basically like paying $10 to have them reject me, which was awesome.

Then why is the USPS building that giant monstrosity in Eagan?

I'd like to add to this, I used to work a private rural route contractor delivering mail to a place the post office refuses to deliver. It was a legit job, but I had to pay for them to run a background check which really turned me off since I found the job on craigslist and it was VERY sketchy(I thought it was another one of those take your money and run), but I ended up getting the job. So if you have any means of checking out the company there's a chance it's legit, but if it's just an 800 number saying they can get you working for the POST OFFICE *AS* a *FEDERAL* employee, and not as a contractor and want you to pay for materials and training, then obviously it's a scam.

You would be surprised by the things people do for "jobs".

I was standing in line last week for the Good Morning America Job Expo thing in Detroit. Behind me were two individuals who were discussing previous jobs. One lady was discussing how she purchased supplies for a company only to have them over-charge her and the products just never worked. Half of my spirit wanted to just turn around and explain that any job you take should't involve you purchasing anything that you shouldn't reasonably already have (Resume, Suit, Transcript if necessary).

The cat in the box has got to be shipped in USPS new flat rate boxes... so i'm guessing something like $13.50 domestic $31.30 for Mexico or Canada

@Lucky225: Why won't the postal service deliver there?

@Eldritch: The Postal Service routinely sells routes to private contractors in very rural areas where it can be miles between customers. My aunt had the same sort of job in a very rural part of Utah, where the local high school has a graduating class of about 30.

@katieoh: Creditors can pay debtors in cats, and debtors can pay creditors in spider drawings.

@katieoh: Pretty much.

@unobservant: Well, we had this call center here (Dell) where you had to pay $300 or something to take their mandatory computer course (through a post-secondary institution) if you were hired. You got it back if you stayed with them for 1 year.

@warf0x0r: As a concentration camp for old postal workers. They have worked the demanding post office job for decades, and that has kept them in peak physical condition, so they aren't going to die anytime soon, so they have to figure out a way to keep them from bankrupting the pension and social security systems.

Rule to live by - if you call about a job you saw in the want ads and they ask "will you pay by cash or credit?", HANG UP!

@unobservant: Well he's prolly a ten pound cat and it's two dollars a pound to ship...

@Shoelace: Sorry, I missed the link.

@warf0x0r: Most of the USPS's servers are housed in Eagan. They must be building some new facilities to try and further consolidate the location of the servers.

But seriously the Post Office isn't hiring anyone anywhere. It isn't a good time to be looking to join the Post Office. There may not even be any Christmas season temp jobs this year with them.

Dude, try watching the news once in a while; the postal service has been cutting back since last October: [www.federaltimes.com]
Seriously, did you just find out we are in a recession too?

We almost got taken by one of these scams last year. My wife called an 800 number about postal service jobs in the area and the woman who answered explained that we needed to buy test supplies. My wife continued to get information, but when the woman on the other end said, "How do you want to pay for this?" that's when we got suspicious. So we hung up and did some googling. Yep, total scam.

@Kogenta: So it's reimbursable as an expense report after the first year. And you only have to take it if you're hired. That is not bad. I work for a Fortune 500 company. If we are required to take classes, we pay for them and are reimbursed, however, if we quit within 12 months of the class, we have to pay the company back (it's deducted from the last paycheck.)

@Julia789: Well, I guess, little different than your case since you simply did not get it back at all until you hit your 12 months. I think it may have bit them to do it that way since it was causing a lot fewer applicants than they'd hoped for. Plus they ended up closing the call center last summer. It had only been open a couple of years.

I can see how a lot of people would be taken in by this - a lot of jobs like this do have exams you have to pass before you can be hired (don't know if postal worker is one). If you're desperate for a job, and someone says hey - postal service is hiring, have you seen what they pay? - I can see people being eager to jump on that band wagon, and if there is a civil service test you have to pass for that job, then all the more likely that people will prey on that. Same with any other job where the civil service test may be required (though I think many of those jobs are not so entry level...but I'm in academia, so I'm hardly the expert).

I work for the Post Office and want to second TurkeySpam's comment. They are indeed talking about massive cutbacks. My other point is almost everyone taking the Post Office test DOES need to buy and practice for the test with a study guide. USPS says you do not need it. Baloney. Get the guide, learn a system for memorization, and practice the test, more than once. Not that they will ever give the test again.

I talk to my postman almost every day and he says the USPS is coming up with an awesome sorting machine that will replace a lot of humans someday. And when that happens, goodbye high paying federal job :P

@Kogenta: I never understood having to pay to take a mandatory course OFFERED by your employer. Tuition reimbursement for outside classes, maybe, but Dell did that? Wow.

It's like having to pay for your own uniform. Sure, I buy work clothes, but not through my EMPLOYER. They want me to wear what they want? They should foot the bill.

@Lucky225: Smaller companies having you pay for the background check isn't all that uncommon, actually. It sucks, though.

@brainswarm: I feel like a nitpicker, but a HS graduating class size says nothing of how big/small a town is. I live in Shanghai, beepin' China and my graduating class was some 20 people. The whole high school was invited to prom (and some alumni too), else tickets would have been too expensive for individual students to go. And this is a city with a population of 20-odd million. So a small graduating class size could also be due to the local area having way too many schools.

@Wendy Sloan:
Union regulations will require hacks to supervise the machinery.

@GenerousHelpingOf_GitEmSteveDave:

WIN!

@Eldritch:

It's considered Single Point Drop Delivery, too many transient residents for the post office to keep up with, so they let the complex sort it out, the complex in turn turns to contractors to sort it out so they can get on with life and not worry about sorting their resident's mail every day.

@RayDelMundo: So true!

Unions: keeping the unemployable employed and off the streets

I wonder how many people I offended with that comment?

Yep. I signed up for one of these services back in the 80's and it was a total scam. They offered a money-back guarantee but I got no response from them when I repeatedly tried to contact them for a refund. Stay away from these groups.