Postal Assistant / Sorting Assistant

Postal Assistants work at post office counters. They handle money, savings schemes, speed post, parcels and computer-based banking work. Sorting Assistants work mainly in Railway Mail Service (RMS) offices, sorting and dispatching mail. Both do office and record work.

A day in the work
You reach the post office or RMS office on time, open your counter or sorting case, and check cash and stock. At the counter you serve a queue: someone posting a speed-post parcel, an elder depositing in a savings account, a farmer's son asking about a scheme. You enter every transaction on the computer and match your cash at the end. In a sorting office, your day is bags of mail, sorting by destination, and catching the dispatch van or train on time.

1. Step 1 · Class 10–12Finish Class 12 from a recognised board. Any stream is accepted (reported). Build basic computer skills, typing speed, and the skills the CHSL paper tests: reasoning, English, maths and general awareness.
2. Step 2 · Around age 18Watch the SSC notice and apply online. In the CHSL 2025 notice, the age limit was 18–27 years: born between 2 Jan 1999 and 1 Jan 2008. Applications ran from 23 June to 18 July 2025. Relaxation in the upper age limit applies to reserved categories. Reports disagree on whether PA/SA posts were listed in every recent CHSL, so read the post list in the notice before you apply.
3. Step 3 · Tier-IA computer-based test with four sections of 25 questions each: reasoning, general awareness, quantitative aptitude and English. It has 100 questions in all, and wrong answers lose 0.50 marks (reported). (reported — check with the official body)
4. Step 4 · Tier-II and skill testA second computer-based stage, plus a typing or skill test for the posts that need one. Check the notice for which posts have a typing test and whether it only qualifies you or counts for marks. (reported — check with the official body)
5. Step 5 · Document check and postingYour certificates are checked: Class 12 marksheet, ID, and caste, EWS or disability certificates if you claim them. Without the right certificate, a reservation or age-relaxation claim can be rejected. Posts are spread across 23 postal circles, so you may be posted away from home.
6. Step 6 · Induction trainingTraining at a Postal Training Centre. The Department's training plan says 48 working days (about 8 weeks). The 2022 rules require successful completion of this training. Older rules say you must score at least 60% in the tests, with retests allowed. Since 2020, new recruits may be allowed to join first and be sent for formal training within a year (reported). (reported — check with the official body)
7. Step 7 · ProbationDirect recruits serve a two-year probation under the 2022 Recruitment Rules, subject to completing the training. Under a 2015 Department order, probation can be extended by six months if you fail tests or your conduct is unsatisfactory. After that, you are confirmed in service. Later promotions go through seniority and departmental exams.

• Open competition (SSC CHSL or Department exam)Class 12 pass, age 18–27 with relaxations. You compete in a national written exam. This is the main route for students and the one described in the steps above.
• Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS)Under the 2022 rules, some posts are filled by a competitive exam limited to GDS of the same circle who have worked regularly for eight years. If these posts are not filled, they go to open competition the next year.
• Departmental exam for serving staffPostal staff in lower levels (MTS, Postman, Mail Guard) can become Postal Assistants through a Limited Departmental Competitive Examination, after the required years of service.

Fees from: SSC notice: Combined Higher Secondary (10+2) Level Examination 2025 (PDF copy) · Department of Posts training plan for PAs/SAs. Fees change every year — check the college's own fee page before you pay.

Pay follows a fixed government scale, so it rises mainly with years of service, promotions and allowances, which vary a little by city.

Reservation and age relaxation for SC, ST, OBC, EWS, PwBD and ex-servicemen apply as per the notice, and you must submit the right certificates at document verification. In the CHSL 2025 cycle, women, SC, ST, PwBD and ex-servicemen candidates did not pay the application fee (reported). Which disabilities suit the PA/SA posts is listed in each notice.

• Class 7–9Visit your nearest post office with a parent. Watch how the counter works and ask which savings schemes and services it offers.Open link ↗
• Class 10–12Practise typing for 15 minutes a day and learn basic computer skills such as spreadsheets and documents. Also read one short English passage and solve a few reasoning puzzles each week.
• College or afterRead the full text of the latest SSC CHSL notice. Note the age limit, the post list and the selection stages, and check whether PA/SA is included that year.Open link ↗

• Posts are Group C, non-gazetted, ministerial jobs in the Ministry of Communications. Posts are spread over 23 postal circles, so transfers and postings away from home are possible.
• Postal Assistants can later be promoted to Lower Selection Grade and Higher Selection Grade, and can try the departmental exam for Inspector of Posts after about five years of service (reported).
• Which posts are in each year's SSC CHSL list changes. Always read the latest notices on ssc.gov.in and indiapost.gov.in before you plan around one exam. Dates, vacancies and fees on this page are from the 2025 cycle.
• Only 12th-pass students from any stream are needed, so you can also keep Class 12 results strong for graduation or other exams as a back-up.