Around the holidays each year, the workload for a postal carrier becomes just a bit larger than the average 24 pieces of mail per household per week. Most of us contribute to this by sending holiday cards to every aunt, uncle and fourth cousin we haven't seen in years.

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Despite this, if you like to work relatively free of supervision, in the outdoors, and can drag yourself out of bed very early in the morning, a career as a postal carrier may be one to consider.

Most carriers begin the day in the office, organizing the mail on their route for delivery that day. They then deliver to the houses or businesses on their route either by foot or by vehicle. Rural carriers, whose routes tend to be spread over longer distances, normally use their own cars while city carriers are provided a "company truck."

They also collect cash-on-delivery fees and get receipts for certified and insured mail.

And you don't need to go $75,000 into debt or have a Harvard Ph.D. to get the training needed to be a postal carrier either. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, qualification for employment is based on a written test that checks a person's speed and accuracy in checking names and their ability to memorize distribution procedures. Applicants must be U.S. citizens, 18 years or older.

They must also pass a physical examination and drug test, and be able to handle mail bags weighing upwards of 70 pounds.

Because of the tight competition for openings, there is normally a one-to two-year waiting period after passing the exam before there is a position for the applicant to fill. For a schedule of these exams and employment opportunities call your local post office branch.

New workers are trained on the job by the "vets" and at many post offices they also receive intial classroom training.

The average full-time city-delivery mail carrier made $34,135 in 1996 while rural carriers had an average base of $35,000. Those rural carriers who use their own vehicle receive additional compensation at approximately 36 cents per mile traveled.

In spite of the boom in electronic communication, the U.S. Postal Service estimates the amount of mail it handles will grow over the next decade because of population growth and new households needing delivery service.

According to the Handbook, employment of mail carriers is expected to grow between 10 and 20 percent through 2006, or as fast as the average for all occupations.