Photo: Spring and summer is when census workers knock on doors to interview people who don’t respond to the census.
By Tanya Terry
It’s happening now! The U.S. Census Bureau is on the move and on track to hire workers who not only want to help their communities receive monies they are entitled to, but also be compensated fairly for such meaningful work. Beginning in 2018 the U.S. Census Bureau began recruiting for more than 2.7 million people from throughout the United States.
“The hiring of hundreds of thousands of temporary workers for the 2020 Census – often described as the nation’s largest civilian mobilization is now underway,” Charmine Yates, media specialist MI, U.S. census bureau.
The 2020 census jobs website allows applicants to apply for a range of census positions, which can be a good fit for individuals with a variety of skill sets and interests. These positions include recruiting assistants, office operations supervisors, clerks, census field supervisors and census takers. Jobs for the 2020 census offer competitive wages, which are paid weekly, as well as paid training. The pay for a census taker position in Genesee County, for example, is $18 an hour. Census takers also receive reimbursement for work-related mileage and expenses. The positions will be located across 248 area census offices nationwide and offer flexible work hours, including daytime, evening and weekends.
Recruiting assistants travel throughout geographic areas to visit with community-based organizations, attend promotional events and conduct other recruiting activities. Office operations supervisors assist in the management of office functions and day-to-day activities in one or more functional areas, including payroll, personnel, recruiting, field operations and support. Clerks perform various administrative and clerical tasks to support various functional areas, including payroll, personnel, recruiting, field operations and support. Census field supervisors conduct fieldwork to support and conduct on-the-job training for census takers and/or to follow-up in situations where census takers have confronted issues, such as not gaining entry to restricted areas. Census takers work in the field. Some field positions require employees to work during the day to see addresses on buildings. Other field positions require interviewing the public. For this work, employees must be available to work when people are usually at home, such as in the evening and on weekends.
Once an individual applies with the U.S. census bureau, that individual is in the bureau’s system. As the bureau hires in the Flint area, if you’re in the system it’s very likely you may be contacted, according to Yates. Yates said most of the bureau’s hiring for the 2020 census is occurring now in the spring of 2020. The census bureau does not have an exact number of employees it will hire right now because the need is constantly changing and the number will also be determined by the response rate of the census.
“Spring and summer is when census workers knock on doors to interview people who don’t respond to the census. So, in the spring of 2020, the census bureau will launch the largest 2020 census field operation, known as nonresponse follow-up.,” Yates said.
Those who are being considered for a position will receive a telephone interview. If offered a job, they will receive instructions on next steps via email. Applicants will need to complete paperwork online and make an appointment to get fingerprinted for the background check. Once they are offered the job, there will be a period of time before their start date to allow time for the background clearance process. Most applications will remain active throughout the 2020 Census and may be considered as positions become available.
For more information, contact 1-855-JOB-2020. Applicants may also contact the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. To apply for jobs in Michigan visit http://www.census.gov/about/regions/chicago/jobs/michigan.html. To search for possible management positions, go to USAjobs.gov. Those who apply can go also online to check the status of their application at: http//recruitment.2020census.gov/ats/careersite/census.aspx?site=1&c=census.
