NOVEMBER 26, 2009 ISSUE
Local Census Bureau Hiring Temp Workers
A census enumerator interviews a mother with two children for the 1950 census. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau, Public Information Office In a time when North Carolina ranks No. 42 of all states in the nation for unemployment, temporary jobs are currently available through the U.S. Census Bureau Local Census Office in Boone.
About 20 people have already been hired to work in the local office, located at 148 Highway 105 Extension, Suite 105, in Boone, and more staff members are being hired every week, said Local Census Office Manager Ceylon Barclay.
The Boone office, which occupies 6,000 feet, or half the downstairs of the new Boone Point building, is supporting 2010 Census operations in eight counties—Ashe, Avery, Burke, Caldwell, McDowell, Mitchell, Watauga and Yancey.
“We anticipate an office staff of 50 to 60 people,” Barclay said, adding that most of those jobs will last until summer or fall 2010, depending on the form return rate.
Other job opportunities are available for positions that include field managers, field crew leaders and enumerators, who go door-to-door. The majority of the people hired will work as enumerators, and Barclay expects that those jobs will last for a month to six weeks, he said.
A practice test for those interested in employment is available by clicking to http://2010.census.gov/2010censusjobs.
About 336,000 people reside in the eight-county area covered by the Boone office, and it is estimated that about 100,000 will not mail in their census forms, Barclay said.
Enumerators will visit these people, help them fill out forms and explain that the information provided is safe; “the President himself can’t look at it,” Barclay said. “This is particularly important for the undocumented people we have living here.”
Enumerators will receive $11.50 per hour plus 55 cents per mile, he said.
Applicants for jobs with the Local Census Office must be 18; a U.S. citizen or legal resident; pass a background check; be fingerprinted; and pass a written test of basic skills.
Nationally, the U.S. Census Bureau must interview and test more than 3 million people to find about 1.4 million people qualifying for the positions, Barclay said.
Barclay expects the national statistics to hold true locally, meaning that management will sort through 6,000 applicants to fill the 1,100 field positions available in the eight-county area.
Applicants are hired based on their test scores and where the geographical need is, Barclay said.
“We’re trying to find people in every county, so people can call on local people to help [them] fill out forms,” Barclay said, adding that it is important for the Local Census Office to hire people from every village because there are “pockets of hard-to-count areas in every county.
“We encourage minorities to apply because we’re trying to reflect the face of America,” he added.
Beginning in January, Barclay expects the current office hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday to Friday to expand to night hours and weekends, he said.
Employment—for both office staff and field workers—with the Local Census Office offers flexible hours, including nights and weekends, and weekly pay, he added.
Regional offices in Asheville, Charlotte, Fayetteville, Greensboro and Greenville opened in 2008 to prepare for the census, and 10 local offices, including the Boone office, have recently opened or soon will open across the state. The other local offices are located in Asheboro, Concord, Durham, Gastonia, Hickory, Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Wilmington and Winston-Salem.
Mayors, commissioners and other elected officials from the eight counties whose census operations are supported by the Boone office will attend an open house at the office on Thursday, December 3, Barclay said.
For more information about the census, click to www.census.gov. For more information or to schedule an employment test, call 828-832-5906.
Importance of the Census
“[The census] is about money and power,” said Tony Jones, regional media relations officer with the Census Bureau, in an August High Country Press interview.
The census, mandated by the Constitution, provides numbers that will help determine how more than $435 billion in federal funds will be distributed back to towns, cities and municipalities in coming years.
The money goes toward improving infrastructure, building schools, hospitals and fire stations and funding everything from senior centers to school lunch programs.
Census questionnaires will be mailed in mid-March and the target date for people to have returned forms is Census Day, April 1.
“It’s important to the community for everyone to be counted,” Barclay said. “It’s safe and secure and we need everyone to [turn in their forms].”
In addition to determining federal funding allocations, census figures are also given to the individual state legislatures, who in turn, redraw congressional and political lines according to where the people are, Jones said.
“The lines will probably be redrawn in 2011, once the numbers are out,” Jones said.
As a result of the 2000 census, North Carolina gained a seat in Congress for District 13, Jones added.
For census purposes, the place of residence is where a person lives for the majority of the year, Barclay said.
For those who regularly live six months in one place and six months in another, their place of residence for census purposes is where they live on April 1, Barclay said.
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