There are four Census Bureau offices around the state of California opening in January 2019, and one of them is right here in Bakersfield. The Federal Government is looking to fill over 300 jobs in Bakersfield, and they are accepting temporary jobs, now especially recruiting positions.
"We are promoting locally, we are hiring locally because you know your neighborhood and your neighbors know you if you are coming around and it all ties together," said Richard Rios a Recruiting Manager U.S. Census Bureau and a Bakersfield native.
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Q&A with Richard Rios, Recruiting Manager U.S. Census Bureau:
Where will the location of the office be in Bakersfield in January 2019?
"It will be on the corner of California and Mohawk at 5060 California Ave. and we'll employ over 300 people, and we need these people now, today."
What is the timeline after you apply?
"It varies, but by the time they are selected (after the online application) it is a 60-day process till their paid training and working."
What is the selection process?
"An applicant goes online to apply, and this is the first year to apply online. If you have a smartphone or a laptop, go on to 2020census.gov/jobs and put your application and you immediately go into the selection pool."
Do you need a degree to apply for one of the manager positions?
"If you are applying to a supervisory or managerial position, all we ask is for you to have experience in those fields."
What are the core requirements for all positions?
"You need to be 18-years or older, a U.S. Citizen and pass a background check. And we do give veterans preference."
Paid Training?
"When you are training for a job you don't always get on-the-job, and you don't get paid training they want you to already come with the experience. You don't need experience for most of the jobs, except for the managerial and supervisory positions you need the experience."
How long is training?
"Anywhere from a week and a half to four days depending on the job. You go to work right away."
How long would you work for?
"The office staff and managers around a year and a half, the field ops is anywhere from six months three months and sometimes six weeks it depends on the job. We say we have full-time jobs, part-time jobs, sometimes jobs. You know if you have a college student that needs to earn some extra money, they can work 10 to 20 hours a week. If a newly graduated high school wanted to get some experience they could work part-time and still go to school. We have jobs you have work during the day and jobs you can work in the evenings and on the weekends. so very flexible hours and again all depends on the job that you are doing."
Do you need to be an extrovert to work for the Census?
"Not at all, you read the questions and get the questions, and you're good to go."
Requirements for the job?
"I think it's good to have a car unless you are doing your neighborhood. I think for the individual I think it would be easier if they had a car. If you want to work and you don't have a car, I don't see any reason why they couldn't take a bus to certain areas where they know they have to verify those address and then the next day a different bus to the next area."
Dress Code?
"Casual professional, khaki pants, even nice jeans, and button up shirts. No holes, tears, or half shirts."
Is there a drug test?
"No"
What are the interviews like?
"They will be called on the phone and told they are selected and get a summary and over view of what they applied for. They go over the pay and the start date. If they agree to that, then they meet face-to-face, and it goes from there. If they are selected, they are contacted every way to know when training starts. It's very easy very straightforward, and by being a part of the Census you are making history, and this is in the constitution this happens every ten years. Being able to participate and help your community, by making sure everyone gets counted once and in the right place, helps Bakersfield and the community helps us get our fair piece of 675 billion federal dollars of funding that come to her for schools, hospital, local services, and public works. And with everyone being counted we ensure we are part of that. We feel it is very important to recruit from your own neighborhood."
Do you go into people's homes? Is it safe?
"We don't recommend going into someone else's home, and we go over that in training. They are very strict on safety and very serious about keeping us safe and keeping the information we gather safely. They have safeguards in place for that. They take gathering information very seriously."
What can you expect to make?
"Pay ranges from $15.50 an hour to $18.50 an hour, and they are pretty competitive wages."
BREAKDOWN OF JOBS</span></strong>
OVERVIEW
- 10+ Managers: Office Manager, Administration Manager, IT Manager, Recruiting Manger and Census Field Managers.
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30+ Support Staff: Specialists, Clerks, Office Supervisors
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300+ Field Staff: Census Field Supervisors & Enumerators
AVAILABLE JOBS
- 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, so employees must be available to work when people are usually at home, such as in the evening and on weekends.
ADDITIONAL CONTACT INFORMATION:
Applicants will be placed in an applicant pool for 2020 Census field positions for positions they qualify for and are available in their area.
For more information, contact 1-855-JOB-2020. Applicants can also contact the Federal Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. Please visit the 2020 Census Jobs page or the Census Bureau’s Facebook, Twitter and LinkedInpages.
