DEAR JOYCE:

I must find a job -- and soon!

A buddy told me to apply to the post office.

He offered to sell me some guaranteed training materials for $80 that he bought for $160 but never used.

Is this a good price, and will the materials really guarantee I'll get hired?

-- T.R.

Don't bite on this one.

The postal job materials you mention are the product of a fraud. (Browse: FTC Stamps Out Postal Job Scam.) A leading expert on getting hired for federal employment agrees:

"For at least the last five years, many postal job scams popped up online and in classified ads, listing toll-free numbers and charging fees ranging from $70 to more than $200 for exam study guides. That's outrageous!" says author Dennis V. Damp in his fifth edition of "Post Office Jobs: Explore and Find Jobs, Prepare for the 473 Postal Exam, and Locate ALL Job Opportunities" (BookHaven Press).

Damp's thoroughly researched revision has the distinct advantage of timing, thanks to the U.S. Postal Service's recent overhaul of the way it hires workers.

OLD OUT, NEW IN.

In January, the U.S. Postal Service switched to a new eCareer hiring system, a process by which you start on the Internet and apply for a specific job, rather than apply for any open job.

"The Postal Service made significant changes including the elimination of the recurrent postal exams that were administered across the country every one to two years for all major metropolitan areas," Damp explains. "You now apply for each vacancy as it occurs. You take a part of the required exam when you apply online and do the remainder at a local testing facility within the next 14 days."

The hiring modernization renders older postal job books obsolete, making.

Damp's new edition of "Post Office Jobs" the only book available that covers the Postal Service's new system and includes a study guide for the revised 473 Postal Exam. This is the comprehensive tool you need if you want any type of job in the Postal Service.

The book's companion Web site, postalwork.net, reveals all sorts of information you probably never thought to ask about, including observations on the Postal Service's current hiring freeze for many jobs (not all), and what its recent downsizing means for job seekers now and down the road.

With a cover price of less than $25 -- frequently discounted by booksellers -- Damp's book is not only the real deal, but it also costs a fraction of the pricey scam products the Federal Trade Commission described as "worthless prep materials for post office jobs that didn't exist."

Thousands of job seekers got taken because they hoped for the best but researched the least.

The Library Journal has selected the fifth edition of "Post Office Jobs" as a "Must Buy" addition to libraries across the nation.

Are you out of work and out of budget? If you need this book, Damp says you don't have to buy it: "There's a good chance you'll find it at a local library."

DUE DILIGENCE FOR JOBS.

Scammers seem to be around too many corners in this economy. Before parting with money, remember this tongue twister: "Do your due diligence."

The term "due diligence" typically is applied to financial investment decisions.

If it were to be applied to jobs and careers, I'd describe it as the care that a reasonable person exercises under the circumstances to avoid harm to his or her employment prospects and career management choices.

E-mail career questions for possible use in this column to Joyce Lain Kennedy at jlk@sunfeatures.com; use "Reader Question" for subject line. Or mail her at Box 368, Cardiff, CA 92007.

(C) 2009 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

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