Thinking of transfering to a Mail Centre

[NWpostie]

Hi thinking of coming off delivery and transferring to MCs, what sort of work do you get in mail centres, what is it like ?

been on deliveries for a few years now and looking for a change.

Thanks

[britwrit]

I'm at Mount Pleasant here in London (and have worked at Nine Elms and the now-closed Paddington mail centre in the past.) I don't want to be unhelpful but there's a wide range of jobs, from easy and boring to... physically hard and challenging.

For example, my job is to stand at a table and help sort out huge piles of letters (between first and second class, those that can be automatically sorted and those too big/small/bulky to go through the machine.) I finish up my evening shift with 45 minutes of manually sorting letters into a frame divided into... I don't know?.. a 100 different slots for different postcodes around the UK (some are combined together.)

I wouldn't say it's a cushy job but it's one that's hard to be fail at. Other jobs at the mail centre involve feeding and retrieving work from the great automatic sorting machines, sorting packets into various sacks for distribution around the country and other sorting jobs. The worst jobs - unless you want to get into shape - are lifting sacks that weigh a billion pounds, slinging them into trolleys and pushing them throughout a crowded floor.

Other factors are: do you have a line manager who is decent or one who finds it neccessary to SHOUT ALL THE TIME? Are the people around you easy to get along with? (In my experience, they are. 97% of them are usually pretty talkative. 3% just never shut up. With all those hours to fill, you'll quickly learn the difference.)

Anyway, sorry to be unhelpful. Anyone else?

[banddy]

biggest change could be your shift pattern.

early shift
back shift
night shift

you might not get what you want?

you might have to do a mixture?

you might be a reserve and you won't know from week to week what your on the next?

you might end up bottom (for this year) of the holiday pick?

it can be a long shift indoors for 8+ hours?

[oldrope]

Hi, a good move if you ask me, nice dry and warm no pressure some ot/sa and after your shift go home.

[oldrope]

Hello a gain, holidays are done on a rota you might hit lucky and get the school holiday off then you might not, but you can swop them with someone else, you can also swop shifts, do a cover(that is to do part of someones shift for them) or someone can do part of your shift.

[kendo1]

Basics First,
First you need a mai center within reasonable traveling distance,will be a lot harder to find after this agreement,
You then need one that is not going to be closed down in the near future.
Then you need one that will accept you with the hours you want.
NOt easy and if like DO transfers you can be waiting months /years.