Job opportunities - Census Bureau

socks

15 years ago

My friend told me the Census Bureau is hiring. She said she knows one person who has been hired already.

Here is a link that might be useful: Census Bureau

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Comments (18)

gneegirl
15 years ago
Thanks for sharing; I'm passing it forward to some friends that are desparately looking.
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workoutlady
15 years ago
I know of a couple of people that had interviews. I haven't heard if they got it yet though.
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Jerseygirl gives some good info. I recently hired 7 people and despite the large number of resumes I received, it took months to do so-- I had very little luck with posting to dice.com. The FLOOD of resumes was unmanageable and very few received the personal attention they deserve. I did, however, search the dice listings-- and that is what the services are suggesting employers do. Definitely post your resume if you have not already. I hired 1 of the 7 employees from Dice. All the other new hires came through personal connections (2) and a local staffing company (4 contract to hire). I recommend that you NETWORK and check out some of your local staffing companies. More and more organizations are using the staffing orgs. Research them-- who is placing the most people right now? My company works with just one (Tek Systems) and we have for years. While we complain about their rates, the reality is that their screening saves us a lot of valuable time (and likewise, saves the candidates a lot of time). While it is frustrating for you sending out your resumes and getting no response, it is just as frustrating for understaffed employers to read them all and to go through numerous interviews. These staffing services really help push the process along for all parties. And if you use one, be sure to make a good impression with your recruiter-- they are very involved with placing the right person in the right job and tend to push their best candidates to their most reliable companies. One more thought on staffing companies-- many offer training courses. Use your downtime now to beef up your skills. What skills are being sought after in your area? I wish you luck-- but the reality is that in the good times finding a job is a full-time job. In these times, you absolutely need to put ALL the energy you can spare into your search. Don't look for the perfect match or the work from home gigs-- look for the companies that are hiring and impress them-- then try to find the best match for you in their organization. I, for instance, am very generous with my work from home policy with my staff-- but I absolutely would not hire someone who walked into an interview asking about telecommuting/working from home. I need a team player-- if I hire someone who has all the skills and characteristics I need for a position then I would absolutely trust them to work from home. If someone walks in the door asking to work from home, my first impression is that they are either a slacker or not interested in being a part of the organization-- neither of which would encourage me to hire the individual over the next guy or gal. Finally, make SURE your resume and cover letter are well written and contain no spelling or grammatical errors. This sounds like a no brainer but I can't tell you how many resumes and cover letters are littered with errors. Nothing moves a resume or application to the "no, thank you" list faster than poor grammar/spelling errors. Good luck to you and all others looking for work.
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It's the GOVERNMENT, people-- the government BUREAUCRACY. You're not really supposed to be able to decipher it! Just think about when you filed your tax forms this year--how long did it take you to understand some of the new rules? (And I'm not talking to the people who took it to H&R Block). Really, some of you are acting ridiculous. What do you think "verify" means? Have you never had to verify your name and address when contacting a utility company or your credit card company? You've all been reading too many scare stories about identity theft. Nobody is going to steal your identity and open up 100 credit-card accounts on the basic info that the census people are supposed to ask you. And if you should happen to get that caller who is really a scam artist and asks you for your bank account number, then you hang up. But just do your civic duty--help the census work! Help tell the government where they need to put funding for your state! I don't get some of you: You filled out a form and perhaps talked to someone at the front door, but you won't take 10 minutes to complete the process? And, from Lowspark's example, these are the questions that make you think it's some con man, or that this is so intrusive and a waste of your valuable 10 or 20 minutes? Really, I think the Oprah show and even this chat board can wait a few minutes. This sort of questioning is suspicious? Did you fill out the form correctly? What is your name? Did you fill out the form? What is your address? My god! I can go to the reverse-directory at my library and get this info in 10 seconds! And anybody wanting to plan to burglarize your home and wondering if you live alone can just sit on your block for a couple of hours and figure that out. Are you also peeking out your curtains to make sure this isn't happening? There are some bad apples in every bunch, but pls, use your intellect. (And when you take a trip on a plane, when the check-in clerk asks you if you packed your bag yourself, does that make you feel as if they've intruded on your privacy?) The gov't has already spent a ton of money on this. It's not going to spend more to send some other kind of form to guide you through this last step. There is a lot of official census bureau info you could check, if you can spare that 10 minutes to do the research. You've crossed the line from cautious to paranoid. Not everybody is out to get you. This posting makes me livid.
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cynic
15 years ago
They've been talking about it a lot on the news. They're having trouble finding people. So it sounds like they're taking most anyone.
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Cherryfizz
15 years ago
Is this a job where you would be a census taker? I can understand why they would have trouble finding people. I did the job a couple of times here in Canada and never again, I don't care how desperate I was for a job. I would rather clean somebody else's toilet than be a door to door census taker. LOL I have held some rotten jobs in my day, this was by far the worst.

Anne
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jewels_ks
15 years ago
I did it one time and I only called people who did not finish the paperwork rightI. I might try to do it again.
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breenthumb
15 years ago
I worked the 2000 cesus and it wasn't bad. I think it depends a lot on the area you get. Most of my area was nice but a few places were really creepy. DK how they get people to go into some areas though.
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oldrustybucket
15 years ago
Passing along to friends who have lost their jobs...will consider myself...thanks for posting.
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trinitytx
15 years ago
Thanks, always can use a lead on work!
I took the cencus test in 2000, but was never called.

Trin
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kayjones
15 years ago
If you take a job doing the actual door-to-door recording, please BE CAREFUL - in Kansas City, where I'm from, a pretty lady, age 54, disappeared while doing this job - she just vanished in broad daylight - they found her body along a creek two years later.
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maryanntx
15 years ago
I've worked for the census several times and enjoyed the work. I did the door-to-door the first year, I think that was in 1970 and I had houses in the country. Last time I worked for them in 2000 I only checked out houses that had been reported empty to verify that no one lived in them.
I don't think I would like doing the job in a big city.
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lydia1959
15 years ago
I wouldn't want to do it. I'd be afraid of people's dogs (and some of the people too!).
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kittiemom
15 years ago
I've never done it, but you never know when it might lead to another opportunity. I know this is probably rare & depends on the people you are visiting, but below is a true story.
A census taker visited our home in 2000. I got to talking with the guy & discovered that he knew network wiring, etc. He was working odd jobs & hoping to find a full-time job in networking. DH & I had a business doing wiring & we needed a supervisor for our crew so DH could focus on other things. I told DH about the guy & ended up hiring him. He was a great employee.
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bigfoot_liz
15 years ago
aside from the security issues of walking neighborhoods they are only averaging $11. per hr. not worth bothering w/ for most. our pet sitter gets almost double that lol ~ liz
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breenthumb
15 years ago
$11/hr plus good mileage reimbursment puts more food on the table than not working at all. And if I remember correctly, it was tax free. Rural settings are a piece of cake.

Or is this another one of those jobs Americans "won't do"?
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moonie_57 (8 NC)
15 years ago
hmmm... think i'll put in my application with liz! :)
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bigfoot_liz
15 years ago
alot of people collecting unemployment will not get off just to get $11 per hr. i think if $11 is all you can find then take it but for most that is certainly not what they need to make it. i have never collected unemployment and don't even know anyone who ever has either. i have never gone a day since i was 13 w/o a job (since 18 w/o full-time work) but there are alot of people who are not like that and who are just willing to collect what they consider their dues and not take a job beneath their normal pay. i have definitely read on this very forum people say they are going to collect their till it runs out, not trying to find a job...of course that's a big reason sooo many are collecting right now plus no one prepared ahead w/ their 12 months of expenses in cash on hand.

$11 pr hr is also not much for metro areas. during 2006-2007 when i did high end residential landscape design, foreman made atleast $18 per hr and laborers $15. of course we could never find non-mexicans willing to do that backbreaking work for only $15 per hr LOL. even in the nursery group i work for only mexicans are willing to work outside and we pay well, w/ benefits and OT.

so yeah i'd say maybe working the census is not exactly a job most want, especially in southside chicago, gary IN, south miami...detroit... i think the work, aside from having a bad territory would be interesting but i have a well paying job i earned tht is secure, so i would not take $11 per hr. i support myself & DH while he works on an honors masters in engineeering, plus 2 big old dogs & a cat. i could not pay the house, food, cable/internet, cell phones, utilities, tuition/books, insurances, on and on w/ $440 a week. we saved cash up for yrs to afford to continue our lifestyle as it is while DH doesn't work and i make no appologies for being overly financially prepared for the worst case senarios... ~ liz
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Cherryfizz
15 years ago
I have found going door to door in a upscale neighbourhood looking for census information is by far worse than going into a lower income neighbourhood to get the information. In Canada every 5th house gets the long census form. I have found that the people who have "money" don't want to divulge any information to you. They sometimes just get downright nasty and territorial. You don't receive the census information from them you have to go back maybe 3 or 4 more times and they don't like that. Some of our workers were physically harmed, beaten up, thrown bodily off property, owners having their dogs threaten you. One of my good friends, a retired teacher was hit in the face and thrown onto the ground by a householder. You should have seen his face. I was so shocked that this could have happened to him.

I found that in the poorer neighbourhoods people were willing to divulge their information because they knew that somewhere down the line it might help them.

I found apartment dwellers were more apt to give you all the information you needed without any problems.

When it comes to giving out census information you will be surprised at the people who won't co-operate.

I was offered the job as a "supervisor" for census. Sometimes that is even worse that being a census taker. Cleanup (getting information that the census workers couldn't get)is a b'tch and your job isn't done until you get that information.

Also passing the test can be hard - so it isn't a job anyone can be hired to do. I was also surprised at the number of professional people I knew who failed the test.

I've done many door to door jobs in my life - enumeration, selling dog tags for the city, election work. Census taking is not a job I would ever do again. Did it once - poor me, did it twice -how stupid was I, do it again for the third time - smack me upside the head. LOL

Anne
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carol_in_california
15 years ago
I think you would have to speak fluent Spanish in our area.
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Job opportunities - Census Bureau

Comments (18)

gneegirl

workoutlady

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