At the Lansing 2010 Census Office, recruiters are offering something that Mid-Michigan desperately needs right now, jobs.
Assist and Manager for Recruiting at the Regional Census Center, Charles Ford, says, "Eight-hundred to 1,000 jobs directly here in Lansing. Total all around the county, probably more than that."

Some of the positions they are looking to fill include census takers who conduct personal interviews with respondents in their communities, crew leaders who train and supervise census takers, crew leader assistants, census clerks who perform administrative duties in local census offices and recruiting assistants who help spread the word in their communities about employment opportunities. Ford says the jobs are part-time and full time and typically last about two to six weeks. .

Ford says, "The pay is pretty nice. I think it's pretty nice, it's from $13.50 to $14.50 an hour and you also get paid for your mileage also."

Office Operations Supervisor for Field Operations and Recruiting Jeanine Bogdan says she was job hunting for quite some time before she landed her position with the census in February. She says, "I was unemployed for almost about 2 years until I got this job. It's just been great."

Bogdan says there are a number of people just like her who will be looking for work this year. With Michigan's unemployment so high, hundreds are already filling out the application and are applying for the latest wave of jobs. Thousands more are expected to turn in applications. Ford and Bogdan say it's important that you apply as soon as you can. Bogdan says, "Last year, we processed about about 12000 applications, we'll be doing another 8,000 here shortly."

Charles Ford says, "We're doing a lot of testing now for people. So, if you want to get a job, just call us, that's the first step to start testing."

The bulk of hiring will occur in the spring of 2010. But, it's important to take the skills test right now because Ford says the better your score, the more consideration you'll get for employment and you can retake the test as many times as you'd like.

For more information and to apply for a position, please call 1-866-861-2010. Additional information also can be found at http://2010censusjobs.gov.