Census Jobs?

[wnlbutterfly]

Anyone working for Census? I thought this would be a good chance to earn a little extra cash to pay down credit cards. It has been a hassle since day one. They have changed my training date and never called back with the new location, and when I finally had a call returned today (training is Monday), they told me my training was suppose to be this week (but THEY called and told me that training for me was postponed), then they told me that the training was full and I would have to wait until May. I got upset with them, I had already talked to two other people last week that said "YES, you are scheduled for training on Monday the 20th".

I finally got a supervisor, who gave me the sob story how difficult her job was. She tried to tell me they left messages (no answering machine), then she tried to say they had "called and called", and I told her I had caller ID (no calls since I spoke with the guy on Monday saying they didn't have the location yet, but would call back). THEN she said "we have detailed records of our calls", yet she didn't know who had called and told me that my training was postponed or the other guy who said "someone would call".

But she is doing me this HUGE favor and allowing me to train on Monday....the day I am suppose to train. I really have my doubts this is going to work out if my experience so far is any indication.

I was more upset I think because I had to cancel a week long substitute teaching job because they had postponed my training. I try to be very reliable for the teachers and I had to make the decision to cancel that job, and then they wanted to postpone my training again.

[swanson719]

Never have worked with the census, but if it's this dis-organized to start, one can only imagine how bad gerry-mandering will be considering the numbers won't be accurate by any means if there comes a court-case. It won't be the pollsters failure, but the people who record them such as this supervisor.

[wnlbutterfly]

I am concerned about that very thing as well.

But you must keep in mind, the test that I took was only 28 questions, and to pass and be on the list to be hired required you only to have 10 of them right. That means 36%. HMM????

We shall see.

[kork13]

But you must keep in mind, the test that I took was only 28 questions, and to pass and be on the list to be hired required you only to have 10 of them right. That means 36%. HMM???

I believe the philosophy they're following is "Set your standards low and you'll never be disappointed."

[zakity]

Um... I don't think I would take a census job. I have had two of them at my property already (within a few days). The next one will be asked to leave and not trespass again.

I really need one of those signs that say:

If you can read this, you are in range.

[swanson719]

Too bad I live in town, otherwise I'd have to get a sign like that too. My neighbors would probably call the cops, who would ask it to be taken down.

[wnlbutterfly]

If you have had two census vistors, you won't see another one (unless you don't send in your paperwork that comes in the mail).

The other interesting thing is they have one group out canvassing (checking addresses), then another group going out to verify 25% of what the first group did. Talk about a waste of tax payers money. But wait....they have 1 billion dollars extra to spend on this because that was included in the stimulus package too. So why not send out several people to ask the same questions??? UGH!

My DH thinks I won't be able to work this job very long, won't be able to deal with the incompetence.

[wnlbutterfly]

"Set your standards low...."

Yet, you wonder if these are the same people setting the standards for our education system???

[kork13]

"Set your standards low...."

Yet, you wonder if these are the same people setting the standards for our education system???

Yep.

Answers some questions, doesn't it?

[Ima saver]

I did the census in 1999. It was very interesting and I enjoyed it. The training was pretty easy.

[GrimJack]

I took the current test - it seemed to test what it was meant to test for, I had no problems with the test.
It took them about a month to get around to my name; I go in tomorrow for the intake (fingerprinting,direct deposit of checks,etc). Next week I start 3 days of classes. After that I wait for an opening so I can start. It pays $17.00 per hour - will give me some walking around money, I am on my 3rd extension wrt unemployment so that is getting real old.

I expect it will be fun.

[wnlbutterfly]

We are getting $14.75 here. My training was 4 days. VERY full days. But we had a big group and several that weren't getting the hand-held computers very quickly.

I did my first REAL day of Census today. It was fine. I should be able to finish up the area tomorrow morning. My crew leader figured it would take me "several" days because it was big area.

Here they said that the goal is to finish this phase by the end of May, but right now they are at 20%. I don't know if that is just statewide or nationwide. But to me...if you are at 20% now, and only have 5 weeks left to get 80%....not going to happen. It would just get extended out or they would start approving overtime.

Good luck.

FYI for those not wanting trespassers. We really don't have to walk up to the door to map the house, we can do it from the street or end of the drive (if you are rural). They would just like us to get as close as possible.

[kork13]

I've never fully understood, so I suppose I'll ask... What exactly is entailed in accomplishing the census? What (if anything) will I see of the process? Is someone going to come to my door asking how many people live in my house, or is it just a sampling of people? and... what's really the point/idea behind it all? In a word, WHY?

[GrimJack]

What is occurring right now is address verification. Every habitable structure is to entered into the database - the actual census happens later. The United States Census is a decennial census mandated by the United States Constitution. The population is enumerated every 10 years and the results are used to allocate Congressional seats (congressional apportionment), electoral votes, and government program funding. Some states or local jurisdictions also conduct local censuses.

I took the Oath on Thursday - it was almost identical to the oath taken by our President Obama; to be honest, it was an uplifting moment. You may be as cynical as you want but read the oath sometime.

From my 'Lister Manual'

Living Quarters are places where people live or stay or could live or stay. There are 2 types of LQs - Housing Units and other living quarters

It goes on to explain all the different ways to locate and identify living quarters. Listers go and verify each and every LQ, adding what is new and removing what no longer exists. Later someone will QC the lister's work. Come census time everyone will get a census form in the mail; if there is not response, someone will come by to visit. On census day, groups of enumerators will fan out and try to find and count all the homeless - actually, this happens in the evening when the various 'nests' are most likely to occupied

(Nota Bene - It is not a socialist plot to take away your guns - it is how our country works. The people who do this job are just people doing their job. If you actually shoot them or even shoot at them, the jack-booted thugs will hunt you down)

[snafu]

I've been the regional manager for two census projects which are 4 yrs apart. The district supervisors reported to me and the door-to-door census takers [crew] report to supervisors. The initial kick-off is usually pandemonium because everyone is new to their job with a training manual written in bureaucratic double speak and acronyms that no one understands.

The 1st time I looked at the manual I thought it was written by an English as a Second language committee...or a camel. The job is important because funding and 3 levels of government decisions are predicated on census numbers and information. The ridiculous thing is that by the time they crunch the numbers and publish the results, they are 10 yrs behind reality!

The check-backs are necessary because too many crews fudge the information. They are paid by formula...how many forms handed in in the required time and bonus for early completions& scores. I encouraged my group to hire university students on the premise that they could walk, talk and smile. Wrong! One large group sat in the park and put fake info on forms. I took photos when I caught them and they were angry with me. The offense was serious enough for them to be charged for a criminal offense but it was decided as too expensive and it wasn't in our budget.

Discovered, best supervisors and census takers were new citizens as they could see the value of what they were doing. Likewise they respect our laws even if they don't undertand them! Supervisors need tons of patience as their crews have more excuses for why the work wasn't done or wasn't done correctly than polititicans.