Adele Ferguson - Thinking about a job as a census taker?

GIVEN ANY thought to applying for a job as a census taker?

OK, answer this question which is in the practice test you have to take before they give you the real thing which could lead to your hiring as a field employee or a supervisor.

.41 + 21.4 +6.3 +280 (one of the following) A. 48.498. B. 59.8 C. 308.11 D. 450.

Didn’t get it? Neither did I. But that was an example of what they will ask to determine your number skills. Now try this one that tests how well you read.

“Census takers who visit homes to collect census information are called enumerators. They are told to use any person who owns or rents the housing unit as the ‘reference person’ and to list the relationship of every household member to the reference person.’ When an enumerator interviews at 1105 Low Street, he talked to Mr. Sanchez. Mr. Sanchez says that both Mr. and Ms. Morales own the house and all three are household members. Who should the census taker list as the reference person?”

A. Either Mr. Morales or Ms. Morales. B. Mr. Morales. C. Ms. Morales. D. Mr. Sanchez.

It happens I got that one right. I can’t say the same for the rest of the questions which are divided in five categories with multiple choice answers: Clerical skills, reading, number skills, evaluating alternatives and organizational skills.

As an example of interpreting information and evaluating alternatives, they have drawn a neighborhood with houses in it. Where the boundary is a road, the boundary line runs down the center of the block.

QUESTION: If you went from the corner of Bruce Street and Tannen Road to the corner of Spring Avenue and Suitland Road by the shortest way, how many houses in your assignment would you pass? A. 5 B. 6 C. 10 D. 12 E. 4.

I missed that one, and I’ve got the map.

You are supposed to set your watch or a timer for 30 minutes before starting the test. Now, first off, I am not applying for a job as a census taker. I’m still writing the column although I lost a few customers. J have a friend, however, who is jobless and decided to give it a whirl although receipt of the sample test and a go at it has dimmed her enthusiasm. She gave me her copy of the practice test.

“I called up the man and said I can’t pass this test,” she told me. “He said. ‘I didn’t pass it the first time either. Just keep trying.’ The trouble is I’d have to pass 75 percent of the test to even be offered a chance at the real thing, and I can’t do it, certainly not in 30 minutes. Only about half of the questions make any sense.”

HOW MUCH would they pay you if they hire you? I asked.

“You don’t find that out until they offer you a job,” she said, “but I heard it was $13 an hour. That would be for the person who goes after the information. I don’t know what the supervisors do. But you aren’t supposed to go into the house to get the information.”

Well, there are other jobs, I said. I remember during World War II when my mother and I answered a call for workers at a place where they made nose bomb fuses. Right off the bat a few of us were asked to step to the side. Everyone but us was to be a seated tester, pulling the fuse to make sure it worked and we the set asides were to walk down the line behind them watching to see they did it right. I was thrilled that they recognized my abilities until I learned they made the tallest ones the inspectors because they could see over the seated worker better.

Oh, the answer to the first question above was C.

(Adele Ferguson can be reached at P.O. Box 69. Hansville. Wa., 983340.)