What does a Couriers and Messenger do?

Pick up and deliver messages, documents, packages, and other items between offices or departments within an establishment or directly to other business concerns, traveling by foot, bicycle, motorcycle, automobile, or public conveyance. Day to day that includes work like deliver and pick up medical records, lab specimens, and medications to and from hospitals and other medical facilities and Obtain signatures and payments, or arrange for recipients to make payments.

What skills should a Couriers and Messenger put on a resume?

O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Time Management, Critical Thinking, and Reading Comprehension among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.

What software should a Couriers and Messenger list?

Software recorded for this occupation includes Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, and Route mapping software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.

What other job titles cover Couriers and Messenger work?

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Courier, Driver, Laboratory Courier, and Messenger. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

What qualifications does a Couriers and Messenger need?

In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 74% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

Will this resume pass an ATS for a Couriers and Messenger role?

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Couriers and Messenger resume example

A resume for a Couriers and Messenger needs to show the work itself: pick up and deliver messages, documents, packages, and other items between offices or departments within an establishment or directly to other business concerns, traveling by foot, bicycle, motorcycle, automobile, or public conveyance. Day to day that means work like this: deliver and pick up medical records, lab specimens, and medications to and from hospitals and other medical facilities; obtain signatures and payments, or arrange for recipients to make payments. Recruiters and applicant tracking systems both read for the tasks and tools this role actually involves, so the strongest resume names them in your own experience rather than describing the job in the abstract. Below are the tasks O*NET records for this occupation, the software and tools it uses, the titles it is advertised under, and the skills worth naming if they are genuinely yours.

Also advertised as

The same job is posted under many titles. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.

Courier
Driver
Laboratory Courier
Messenger
Mail Carrier
Mailroom Courier
Security Messenger
Transporter
Vehicle Delivery Worker
Bank Courier
Bank Messenger
Bank Runner
Bicycle Messenger
Bill Distributor
Bill Hiker
Bill Peddler
Call Person
Call Worker Person

O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation in total.

What this work actually involves

Tasks recorded for this occupation, in O*NET's words. If your experience covers one of these, it belongs on your resume in your own words.

Deliver and pick up medical records, lab specimens, and medications to and from hospitals and other medical facilities.
Obtain signatures and payments, or arrange for recipients to make payments.
Record information, such as items received and delivered and recipients' responses to messages.
Receive messages or materials to be delivered, and information on recipients, such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, and delivery instructions, communicated via telephone, two-way radio, or in person.
Load vehicles with listed goods, ensuring goods are loaded correctly and taking precautions with hazardous goods.
Walk, ride bicycles, drive vehicles, or use public conveyances to reach destinations to deliver messages or materials.
Sort items to be delivered according to the delivery route.
Deliver messages and items, such as newspapers, documents, and packages, between establishment departments and to other establishments and private homes.
Unload and sort items collected along delivery routes.
Plan and follow the most efficient routes for delivering goods.
Check with home offices after completed deliveries to confirm deliveries and collections and to receive instructions for other deliveries.
Perform routine maintenance on delivery vehicles, such as monitoring fluid levels and replenishing fuel.

15 tasks are recorded in total; these are the most central.

Example bullets for this role

Built from this occupation's own tasks. The brackets stay empty on purpose: we will not invent a number for you, and a fabricated metric is the fastest way to lose an interview you had already won.

Deliver and pick up medical records, lab specimens, and medications to and from hospitals and other medical facilities, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Obtain signatures and payments, or arrange for recipients to make payments, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Record information, such as items received and delivered and recipients' responses to messages, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].
Receive messages or materials to be delivered, and information on recipients, such as names, addresses, telephone numbers, and delivery instructions, communicated via telephone, two-way radio, or in person, for [who or what it served], at [what volume].

Software used in this role

Recorded for this occupation by O*NET. An applicant tracking system matches the exact product name, so write the tool the way the posting writes it.

Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Office software
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Word
Route mapping software

Tools and equipment

The physical equipment this occupation is recorded as using. Worth naming when a posting asks for it by name.

Bank deposit bags
Bicycles
Computer data input scanners
Copy machines
Delivery trucks
Document shredders
Envelope sealers
Global positioning system GPS devices
Handheld radio frequency RF scanners
Hard hats
Hazardous material packaging
High-reach forklifts

Skills an ATS reads for

Worth naming only if they are genuinely yours. Keyword overlap is one input to a resume's score, not a verdict.

deliver items
sort mail

What this job rates as most important

O*NET rates every skill for importance to this occupation. These are the highest rated, in order.

01Active Listening
02Speaking
03Time Management
04Critical Thinking
05Reading Comprehension
06Service Orientation
07Writing

Knowledge areas

The subject knowledge this occupation draws on, rated by importance.

Customer and Personal Service
Transportation
English Language

What qualifications people in this job have

From O*NET's survey of people doing this work. This is what postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.

74%High School Diploma, or the equivalent
13%Associate's Degree
9%Post-Secondary Certificate, awarded for training completed after high school

What level this role is pitched at

O*NET places this occupation in “Some Preparation Needed”. These occupations usually require a high school diploma.

Some previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is usually needed. For example, a teller would benefit from experience working directly with the public.

Common questions

What does a Couriers and Messenger do?: Pick up and deliver messages, documents, packages, and other items between offices or departments within an establishment or directly to other business concerns, traveling by foot, bicycle, motorcycle, automobile, or public conveyance. Day to day that includes work like deliver and pick up medical records, lab specimens, and medications to and from hospitals and other medical facilities and Obtain signatures and payments, or arrange for recipients to make payments.
What skills should a Couriers and Messenger put on a resume?: O*NET rates Active Listening, Speaking, Time Management, Critical Thinking, and Reading Comprehension among the most important skills for this occupation. Name the ones that are genuinely yours and show where you used them. A resume that lists skills you do not have is weaker than one that lists fewer.
What software should a Couriers and Messenger list?: Software recorded for this occupation includes Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Office software, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, and Route mapping software. Applicant tracking systems match on the exact product name, so write the tool as the posting writes it rather than describing it in general terms.
What other job titles cover Couriers and Messenger work?: O*NET records 40 titles for this occupation, including Courier, Driver, Laboratory Courier, and Messenger. Searching only your own job title hides most of the openings you could apply to.
What qualifications does a Couriers and Messenger need?: In O*NET's survey of people doing this job, 74% reported their level of education as "High School Diploma, or the equivalent". That is what current postholders reported, not a requirement any single employer sets.
Will this resume pass an ATS for a Couriers and Messenger role?: No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer's system is configured, including ours. What you can control is that the resume parses cleanly, names the work in the words the posting uses, and does not claim anything you cannot back up.

Related roles

Occupations O*NET records as closest to this one, and worth looking at if this search is not moving.

What this page cannot tell you

No tool outside an employer can tell you how that employer’s ATS is configured, including ours.
This page makes no claim about pay, demand or how many people hold this job. O*NET does not publish that here and we will not estimate it.
Keyword overlap is one input to a resume’s score, not a verdict on you. A resume that names skills you do not have is worse than one that names fewer.

If this is the job you are aiming at, the guide to tailoring a resume covers how to aim one posting properly, and building and exporting a resume here is free.

Occupation data from the O*NET 29.1 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under CC BY 4.0. O*NET is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. SpartanResume is not endorsed by USDOL/ETA.