Census Bureau prepares for 2010 census

Friday, December 11, 2009

The U.S. Census Bureau is looking for people to help work the 2010 census. Hortencia Wilcox works in the Springfield office and said it is a good way to help your community and yourself.

"It's very interesting work," Wilcox said. "It's ideal for retirees, students, or homemakers. It's neighbors counting neighbors, everyone who works in an area lives in that area."

The work is also important Wilcox said. Many decisions about funding are made using census data, for all levels of government.

"How much money a community gets depends on the census," Wilcox said. "It impacts money that goes to the schools and local communities. It's important to have a complete count so no one loses money."

Wilcox said the Southwest Missouri area comprises 19 counties including Barton, Bates, Cedar, St. Clair and Vernon counties and the census needs many people to cover the area.

"I can't say how many exactly but it's in the hundreds," Wilcox said.

Wilcox said the jobs are temporary but they can be a way to enhance future chances of permanent employment.

"The jobs we have are just temporary, but they can help in the future," Wilcox said. "The jobs can open the door for government jobs that become available in the future."

Wilcox said she was a temporary worker for the 2000 census and had returned for the 2010 census.

"I'm someone who worked the census 10 years ago and I'm back again," Wilcox said.

Successful applicants will be informed and then it is just a matter of time.

"After the background check the assignments will come a couple of weeks after that," Wilcox said. "They don't need to call us, we'll call them when something is available in their area."

There are five types of workers needed, four out in the various counties; census takers, crew leaders, crew leader assistants, and recruiting assistants; and one, census clerk, that is needed in Greene County where the local census office is located.

Census takers locate households, conduct interviews with respondents, explain the purpose of the census, and record responses. Crew leaders train and supervise census takers and crew leader assistants, meet daily with census takers to review their assignments and approve their payroll records and ensure that census procedures are followed. Assistant crew leaders perform delegated tasks from their crew leaders and perform some of the same field work as census takers. Recruiting assistants serve as local representatives who get the word out about census jobs in the communities they are assigned. They promote census jobs to recruit new applicants; locate, setup and run applicant employment testing sessions; ask community organizations to donate space for testing and training; review and send applicant's materials to and from the local census office. Census clerks work in a local census office. They answer applicant calls and schedule tests, support recruiting assistants, process employee payroll and personnel actions, provide administrative support to field staff, and use a computer to perform their work.

Wilcox said the census has a special Web site for those interested in working the census, 2010censusjobs.gov, and other information can be found online at 2010.census.gov.

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