My name is Paula Bigornia, and I’m a mailpiece design analyst for Pacific Area. I help business and residential customers create mailpieces that are the right size and shape to meet their needs.
For example, if a business customer wants to send a square mailpiece, I let the customer know he or she may be charged more. I also advise the customer that the barcode might be placed in a spot that isn’t optimal.
An important part of my job is to help customers create mailpieces that can move seamlessly through the automation process, which helps USPS reduce costs. If a mailpiece doesn’t bend or isn’t uniform in thickness, for example, it might jam the equipment or get damaged.
My job has changed a lot in the 37 years I’ve been with USPS. There used to be one or two mailpiece design analysts in every district, but now there are only five for each area.
I love my job and know I’m going to retire doing this. It’s one of those jobs you don’t want to leave. I enjoy that I get to be proactive, helping customers fix their mailpiece and have it right the first time to avoid issues down the line.
My husband, Jon, is a retired USPS employee. We’ve been married almost 28 years. We have three adult sons and three grandchildren that we spend most of our free time with. Our grandkids are involved in cheerleading and T-ball and we enjoy watching their activities.
I’ve been very lucky. We put one son through college, and the other two are finishing up. If it wasn’t for USPS, we couldn’t have done what we’ve done.
“On the Job,” a series on individual employees and their contributions to the Postal Service, appears regularly in Link.