Courier Service Jobs Overview

When people need to deliver messages, letters, products, packages from one place to another, they use the courier services. It is advantageous to send the delivery through courier services as they are speedy, secure and they deliver at the time specified. The other important characteristics of courier service are individualization of services, tracking system and the fact that they deliver to the addressed person after proper authorization. This makes the service not only reliable but also the most preferred. Hence, the jobs in this field are considered to be of importance for the kind of customer services that they offer. This article will help you to understand the details of this job.

Job Description

There are no mandatory educational qualifications required for courier service jobs. However, a high school diploma is desired. The job requires the messengers to deliver the messages to different departments in the same organization, different buildings in the same locality, different localities and to different cities too. Hence a valid driver's license is also needed by those aspiring to do this job. Bicycles and motor bikes are additional bonuses. The following list will make the job description easy to understand.

• Go to the address where the messages and packages need to be delivered at the stipulated time.
• Use bicycles, motor bikes, vans or other public transport to reach the destination. If the address is close by, then the person could be required to walk to the place.
• Load the van with the correct packages and load all the packages that are to be delivered on the same route, in one van.
• Obtain the signatures after proper verification and the payments for the services delivered.
• Record all the information related to the delivery like the time of delivery, the comments of the clients etc.
• They also need to open the incoming mail, sort it out and deliver it to the right people.
• The couriers are responsible to collect the outgoing mail, seal and close the envelopes.

Apart from this, the job involves the loading and unloading of the packages and parcels from the delivery van and sorting them to be delivered to the right people. The courier is also expected to know all about document management, as handling documents is an important aspect of the job.

Defense Courier Service
Defense courier service is responsible to deliver highly classified messages and packages. This delivery takes place under physical escort. This service is a worldwide delivery of defense related materials with a courier escort. As this job requires handling of government and defense documents, the people working for this service need to be reliable, they should not have any criminal records and should be eligible to pass whatever tests the department has in store for them.

Air Courier Service
Air couriers are hired when a person/organization needs to delivery the messages and packages to foreign destinations. There are no custom delays with the right paperwork and this is a speedy way to get the packages delivered. Also, there are no illegal items that can be sent through the aeroplanes. In order to be an air courier, you need to be 18 years of age holding a valid passport. After the 9/11 attacks, the government has become extra careful, hence all your paperwork should be in the right order. Another requisite of this job is that these people need to travel alone as only one person in required to complete the job. Generally, older people are preferred for this work as they have no schedule to keep and as they are more than willing to go abroad to explore the places at discounted air fares.

Salary
On an average the job pays around $28,000 annually. The salary depends on the size of the organization, the messages delivered, the localities of delivery, employee credentials, experience etc. An air courier gets the benefit of paying low airfares to the destinations. They may also get paid some commission based on the nature of messages and the time of delivery (if the delivery is to be done urgently, then the commission is more).

I hope this article has helped you to understand the nature of work expected in the courier service jobs. It is a good career opportunity, if you want to take it up. These jobs will also be able to provide you with tips to start a courier service after you take them up for a few years.