Exam 460

Postal Exam 460 is used to fill part-time relief Rural Carrier Associate (RCA) jobs. RCA’s fill in for fulltime Rural Carriers when they are out due to days off, sick leave, vacation leave, etc.

A part-time RCA job can lead to a career position. When a fulltime Rural Carrier job becomes available, it is offered to the senior RCA employed at that particular facility … the RCA who has been there the longest.

Like most Postal exams, Exam 460 is offered on an as-needed basis, but it is generally offered more frequently than other exams. Most districts give Exam 460 about twice a year.

What's on the exam?

The 460 exam has an incredibly high failure rate. Contacts within the Postal Service tell us that over 70% of all applicants fail. The passing score is 70, by the way, and the highest possible score (without veterans preference points) is 100. Contacts also say that the average score for those who manage to pass is only a 76.

The speed required on this rigidly timed exam is inhuman. The scheduling package sent to Postal exam applicants states: "You will not be expected to be able to answer all the questions in the time allowed." This statement accurately portrays the immense pressure of time and the incredible demand for speed, but it misleads some applicants into believing that not answering all the questions is acceptable. Nothing could be further from the truth! You simply cannot achieve your highest possible score - the score you need to get a job within a reasonable period of time - without capturing every possible point by correctly answering every possible question within the limited time allowed.

The 460 exam consists of the below four sections.

The Address Checking Section has 95 questions, each consisting of a pair of addresses. You are given only six minutes to compare the address in all 95 questions to see if they are exactly alike in every way or if they are different in any way at all. This breaks down to less than four seconds per question. Comparing addresses may not seem terribly difficult, but doing it accurately at such an extreme rate of speed is next to impossible. Success on Address Checking calls for particular speed building strategies and extensive practice to develop the required skills and speed.

The Address Memory Section gives you a short period of time to memorize 25 addresses in five boxes. You are then given only five minutes to answer 88 questions from memory about these addresses. This is by far the hardest part of the exam and the biggest reason why most people fail. The biggest problem is the memorization. However, the speed required is even more demanding than in the Address Checking Section - you have less than three and a half seconds per question. Again, success calls for unique memorization strategies and extensive practice to develop the required skills and speed.

The Number Series Section gives you 20 minutes to answer 24 mathematical questions. Each question consists of a series of numbers whose elements follow one or more sequences. You are to identify the sequences within the series and then calculate what two numbers would accordingly follow in the series. Both mathematical skills and great speed are demanded. You have less than one minute per question to identify the sequences and figure out the answer. The Number Series section may not be challenging for math geniuses, but most of us need to learn unique mathematical strategies and to practice extensively to develop the required skills and speed.

The Following Oral Instructions Section lasts as long as it takes for a series of questions to be presented verbally either by the test administrator or by a recording. Each question is actually a set of instructions that prompt you to find the correct answer. You must overcome four challenging obstacles to succeed on this section: (1) The questions are intentionally long, tedious, technical, and terribly confusing. (2) You must answer exclusively based upon what you hear. Answering verbal questions rather than written ones is much more difficult than you might imagine. (3) You only have a few seconds after each question to find the correct answer and mark it on the answer sheet. Some questions have multiple answers that must be found and marked during this brief pause. (4) The answers must marked on your answer sheet in a most unusual fashion that does not correlate with the numbers of the questions. Contacts within the Postal Service tell us that over 60% of all applicants fail this section completely because they do not understand where and how to mark their answers. As with the other sections, success calls for particular strategies and extensive practice develop the required skills and speed. And, you need detailed instructions to assure that you fully understand how and where to mark the answers.

How to Prepare for Postal Exam 460

Four elements are needed to achieve your highest possible score: (1) knowledge of exam content; (2) effective test-taking strategies; (3) a quantity of authentic practice tests; and (4) extensive practice to master the necessary skills and speed. An up-to-date and effective study guide is essential for success (in the sidebar of this page).


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