THE APPLICATION process for 5,000 census enumerator jobs opened yesterday after 21,000 people pre-registered their interest in the temporary positions.
By yesterday evening, more than 6,500 people had officially turned those pre-registrations of interests into official applications in what the census office called a “pretty hectic” response.
The positions being offered involve 10 weeks of work, from March to May, for an average payment of € 2,200.
Although the application process is not due to close until Tuesday, January 11th, it may be finished sooner than that, should 15,000 job seekers apply prior to that date.
As census enumerators, the successful candidates’ main tasks will include depositing and collecting census forms to and from each household in their allotted area along with compiling a population summary of that area.
Speaking about the recruitment process, Deirdre Cullen from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) said they were looking for 5,000 enumerators who are geographically spread across the country in order to complete the census which takes place on Sunday, April 10th 2011.
“Enumerators are a vitally important part of the census process. We have found, for the most part, that enumerators find it a very rewarding experience and many have done more than one census,” she said.
“Given the extensive contact that they have with the public, it is important that enumerators have patience, tact and consideration.
“They must also be able to read maps and understand detailed instructions.
“It can be helpful if they have some survey, market research or practical social work experience, but this is not essential,” she added.
Anyone hoping to secure one of the much sought-after jobs will also have to be able to provide a secure storage space for census documents.
In addition to this, applicants from rural areas will need a full driving licence along with the full-time use of a motor vehicle.
The tasks involved will take an estimated 22 hours per week to complete, but the specific hours can be worked at the enumerators discretion.
However, because of the necessity to make personal contact with all householders, enumerators will typically need to work five to six evenings every week and at least one day every weekend, according to the census office.
Application forms for the jobs can be found online at census.ie where further information about being a census enumerator is also provided.