Student Cooperative - Southern Area Field Office (SAFO)

About the role

The United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General (USPS OIG) is seeking students enrolled in college/university programs to fill our Student Cooperative position in the Office of Investigations, Southern Area Field Office (SAFO), located in Birmingham, AL. This opportunity is for those interested in a career as a Federal Law Enforcement Special Agent within USPS OIG.

The Student Cooperative Program is available for continuous employment throughout the year, while enrolled in school.

What you will do

• The USPS OIG's mission is to promote integrity, accountability, and efficiency of the U.S. Postal Service.
• In support of the mission, the Office of Investigations has special agents stationed all across the country conducting investigations in contract fraud, financial fraud, narcotics, mail theft, official misconduct, health care provider fraud, health care claimant fraud, and cyber crimes.
• To learn more about the USPS OIG Office of Investigations, visit: Office of Investigations | Office of Inspector General OIG This is a paid student co-op position!
• Bring your skills and voice to our team!
• The USPS OIG uses a Pay Banding system, which is equivalent to the Federal GS scale.
• Grade and salary determinations will be made based upon a candidate's education and professional experience.
• This position is being advertised at the Administrative Band level.
• The salary range for this position is $19.78 - $23.83 an hour and includes locality pay.
• Sophomore $16.73 per hour plus locality pay Junior/Senior $17.78 per hour plus locality pay Graduate or Law Student $20.15 per hour plus locality pay Please note that the duties and responsibilities associated with this position may vary based upon the area of assignment.
• The successful candidate will assist in gathering data and conducting limited inquiries regarding individual case assignments; assist in case development including, surveillance, forensic analysis, researching assembling, compiling, tabulating information, and preparing memoranda of activity, for agents use in developing search and arrest warrants, and further assisting agent's in evaluating evidence for administrative, civil, and criminal hearings or trials.
• The following description of major duties and responsibilities is only intended to give applicants a general overview of the expectations.
• The student cooperative performs specialized duties with continuing responsibility for projects, questions, or issues that arise in the area of assignment/curriculum.
• Each assignment typically consists of a series of related actions or decisions prior to final completion.
• Addresses a wide variety of problems or situations common to the segment of the program or function to which the employee is assigned.
• Decisions or recommendations are based on the development and evaluation of information that comes from various sources.
• Identifies and studies factors or conditions and determines their interrelationships as appropriate to the defined area of work.
• Takes or recommends actions that are consistent with the objectives and requirements of the program or functions.
• Recognizes the dimensions of the problems involved, collects the necessary information, establishes the facts, and takes or recommends action based upon application or interpretation of established guidelines.
• Travel Required Occasional travel You may be expected to travel for this position.

Education

Education must be accredited by an institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. Applicants can verify accreditation here: ***

Special Instructions for Candidates with Foreign Education: Education completed outside the United States must be deemed equivalent to that gained in U.S. education programs.

You must submit all necessary documents to a private U.S. credential evaluation service to interpret equivalency of your education against courses given in U.S. accredited colleges and universities.

For further information visit: ***

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above. The Human Resources Office will review your resume and supporting documentation to ensure that you meet the minimum qualifications required for this position.

You will no longer be considered for this position if you: Receive a zero (0) rating on any evaluation factor Fail to attach all required documentation Submit a resume that exceeds the two-page limit If your application materials indicate that you are not minimally-qualified for this position If you fail to qualify on the interview Only the top-rated candidates will be referred to a review official or the selecting official for further consideration.

Top-rated applicants may be required to participate in an interview. Your rating may be further adjusted or rated as ineligible by the review official or the selecting official based on your interview performance. Once all applicant scores are finalized, the selecting official will make a final decision.

NOTE: If you receive a zero (0) rating on any evaluation factor or on the interview, you will be considered NOT MINIMALLY QUALIFIED for the position and rated ineligible. In addition, top rated applicants will be referred to participate in a structured interview. Applicants for this position may be interviewed one or more times as part of the hiring process.

During interviews, applicants may not use any AI tool or virtual assistant (such as ChatGPT) to help them answer questions, except for accessibility tools used as part of a reasonable accommodation. Applicants who fail to follow these rules will be disqualified from the hiring process.

Documents you must provide

• You must submit all required documents by 11:59 PM EST on the closing date of this announcement, Vacancy Announcement EX 27-21B-13109156-DR, by closing date Friday, November 20, 2026.
• RESUME - Required, IMPORTANT UPDATE: Your resume must not exceed two (2) pages.
• You will no longer be considered for this announcement if your resume exceeds the two-page limit.
• Your resume MUST reflect that you have experience, knowledge, and/or skills in each of the Evaluation Factors.
• It is essential that your resume and supporting documentation provide sufficient information to substantiate your qualifications for the announced position (categorize as "Resume").
• Additional guidance on writing a federal resume can be found at: USAJOBS Help Center - How do I write a resume for a federal job?
• Make sure your page margins are 0.5 inches.
• The recommended font styles are Sans-Serif, Calibri, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana, Open Sans, Source Sans Pro, Roboto or Noto Sans.
• Consider using 14-point size font for titles and 10-point for the main text in your resume.
• Your resume must be 5MB or less.
• We recommend saving and uploading your resume as a PDF to maintain formatting and number of pages.
• The resume builder can help you create a resume using these recommendations and uses the information in your USAJOBS profile to help you get started.
• COMPLETE OCCUPATIONAL QUESTIONNAIRE.
• Click the "Apply Online" button and follow the prompts to complete the Occupational Questionnaire.
• (Required: You must click on "Submit My Answers" button at the end of the Questionnaire to complete this process) 3.
• TRANSCRIPTS - Required, from an accredited college or university.
• The information presented in the transcript must be verifiable and should contain the name of the institution, applicant's name, list of completed courses, semester hours, GPA, date and type of Bachelor's Degree issued.
• Education completed outside the United States must be deemed equivalent to that gained in conventional/accredited U.S. education programs to be acceptable for Federal employment.
• Attach document verifying that it has been deemed equivalent.
• For further information visit: ***
• (Required: Upload and save as "Transcript" document.) 4.
• UPLOAD SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS which may include: Certificates or Licenses, if applicable.
• Upload and save as "Certificate " or "License" document.
• Veterans Preference Documentation.
• If you are claiming veterans preference you must submit the Member 4 copy of your DD-214 Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty, and/or other proof of veterans preference eligibility including your VA letter, form SF-15 (***) and all required documents related to your SF-15 claim.
• Veterans can request the Member 4 copy of their DD-214 at *** and can download a copy of their VA letter from ***
• (If applicable to you, you are required to upload each veterans' preference document and categorize as "DD-214" or "SF-15" or "Other Veterans Document") SF-50 - Required, if you are or have been a Federal employee to demonstrate tenure and competitive/excepted service for eligibility purposes.
• (If applicable to you, you are Required to upload each applicable SF-50 and categorize as a "SF-50" document.)

What to expect next

Once the Occupational Questionnaire has been received you will receive an acknowledgement e-mail that your submission was successful. After a review of your application package has been completed, you will be notified of your rating and/or referral to the Selecting Official.

Visit our careers page Learn more about what it's like to work at Office of the Inspector General, USPS, what the agency does, and about the types of careers this agency offers visit: About Us | Office of Inspector General OIG

Additional information

Student Cooperatives are not eligible for USPS OIG Employee Benefits. This agency provides Reasonable Accommodations to applicants with disabilities. If you require accommodations for any part of the application and/or hiring process, please send an email to ***.

The decision on granting an accommodation request will be made on a case by case basis.