You could do a college course to learn some of the skills and knowledge you need in this job. Courses include:

• customer service
• principles of customer service
• retail skills

Entry requirements

Entry requirements for these courses vary.

You may be able to apply to do an apprenticeship with a Post Office shop or counter service. Options include:

• Customer Services Practitioner Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship
• Retailer Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship

These can take around a year to complete and combine on-the-job training and time spent with a learning provider.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

• some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship

You'll need a good standard of education with numeracy and literacy skills, alongside good customer service skills, to apply for jobs.

You will be given training in Post Office products, services and computer systems by your employer when you start.

Many post offices are run as a franchise and are part of shops selling other goods and services. Each franchise will have its own recruitment and selection methods.

You'll need:

• customer service skills
• excellent verbal communication skills
• the ability to work well with others
• persuading and negotiating skills
• to be thorough and pay attention to detail
• the ability to sell products and services
• good maths skills
• active listening skills
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently

You'll need to:

• pass background checks

As a Post Office customer service assistant, you could:

• serve customers and deal with parcels, letters and stamps
• sell financial and retail products and services to meet targets
• pay out pensions and benefits
• accept bill payments
• deal with vehicle registrations and car tax
• check passport and driving licence applications
• sell travel insurance and foreign currency
• carry out stock checks and order supplies
• complete admin tasks and follow security rules

You could work at a store.