Consumer Alert - Obsolete Postal Exam 473 Study Guides

Obsolete Postal exam 473 study guides remain a widespread problem. Since exam 473 is the most popular Postal test and is the test used to fill over 90% of all fulltime Postal jobs, this is a very serious problem. In some cases, it is simply a matter of obsolete guides innocently remaining on bookstore or library bookshelves. However, in other cases, obsolete guides are knowingly and falsely misrepresented as being up-to-date with the new 473 exam. Before buying or using any study guide for the 473 exam, check the below items closely to assure that it is truly up-to-date.

1. The guide should be specifically written for exam 473, not exam 470. The 470 exam was retired at the end of 2004 and replaced by new exam 473. These two exams are completely different and have nothing whatsoever in common. It is impossible to prepare for exam 473 using a book written for exam 470.

2. The copyright/publish date should be 2005 or later. Exam 473 was launched at the end of 2004. Guides published earlier are necessarily obsolete. However, even if the date seems okay, you must look further. There are obsolete guides being sold that have been reprinted with a false copyright/publish date to make them appear to be up-to-date.

3. The guide should include all four sections, and only these four sections, of new exam 473:

The old 470 exam contained different sections (Address Memory, Number Series, and Following Oral Instructions) that do not appear on the new 473 exam. If the study guide includes any of these sections from old exam 470, it is obviously obsolete.

4. However, one of these older guides can be successfully used to prepare for exam 460, a current test still being given nationwide to fill part-time Rural Carrier Associate jobs. Exam 460 and old exam 470 were identical in content. These twin exams were called by different names and given on different occasions because they were used to fill different types of jobs. Typically, one of these older study guides would carry the names of both exams 460 and 470 on its cover, and it would prepare an applicant for either of these exams. So, you can use one of these older guides to prepare for exam 460, but you absolutely cannot use it to prepare for exam 473.

See Pathfinder's Fraudulent Postal Exam Preparation Services Consumer Alert for more helpful advice.


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