Looking for a Part-Time Gig: Become a 2020 Census Worker
Category: Work and Volunteering
October 16, 2019 — The U.S. Census Bureau is looking for 500,000 temporary workers next year to help it complete the 2020 census. It is the perfect job in many ways for retirees – it is temporary, has flexible hours, gets you out meeting people, and pays reasonably well ($13.50 to $30 an hour). Many workers in past censuses say they really enjoyed the work, and liked meeting people later on in the course of their neighborhood travels.
The flexible hours can include days, evenings, and weekends. Generally, unless there is good public transportation, you to have access to a vehicle and a valid driver’s license and an internet connection.
About 50,000 of the Census temporaries will be census takers. These employees (enumerators) will follow up with households who don’t respond to online, phone, or mail requests in person. Their job will be to ask residents questions from the census form, such as demographics, number of people who live in the home, etc. The controversial citizenship question will not be asked. There are also jobs relating to recruiting and supervision.
To get one of these jobs you can apply online at 2020Census.gov/jobs. You can also can call the Census’ toll-free number, 855-JOB-2020, for more information.
Let us know. If you end up applying for one of these jobs, and especially if you get one, we would love to hear about your experiences in the Comments section belwo.
Comments on "Looking for a Part-Time Gig: Become a 2020 Census Worker"
Elaine C. says:
I signed up for it last week. The application asks the usual questions, and next there is a questionnaire asking about work-related opinions and skills. The day after I submitted, I got an email saying I had passed to the next level, to be interviewed in three weeks or so. I think it would be fun, and I'll learn about the census process. I like serving my country, even in this small way.
Jemmie says:
I was impressed during the last census in 2010 when a young lady showed up at our cabin in the woods in Pennsylvania for the census count. She was looking for a home adjacent to ours that I assured her didn’t exist, as ours was the only one around. But she was determined and showed up the next day not willing take “no” for an answer-she insisted there was a home where X marked the spot, and she needed to find it. So with her map in hand we walked to the spot and after clearing some brush and doing some digging we did find the foundation. She was very relieved and explained she had to account for every home within her assigned area. So I have a lot of respect for census takers, it can’t be easy work.
Greg C says:
My wife and I just finished working the first leg of the Census process - address verification. We put in 40 hours, but really, any amount was fine with the bosses. You basically had from 9am until sundown to get hours in. You could work, take a break, run an errand if you needed to, then go back on the clock. Government work, so mileage paid, and overtime and weekend premium pay. That part is over, and now are waiting for the next phase to kick in. We got some surprising negativity from folks, who clearly have some feelings about government intrusion, but I feel they were just uneducated as to what the Census accomplishes.