Signing Up

I was laid off from my job at a listener-sponsored radio station in December 2009. My Dad suggested I seek work in the 2010 census, adding that it paid decent (he thought $17/hr) and was not permanent. I told him I'd give it a shot, but I didn't rush over to the internet to apply.

Today I stumbled upon a guy tabling at the downtown Berkeley farmer's market, getting folks to sign up to work the census. I didn't need convincing. He had a little sign with BIG LETTERS emphasizing that the pay was just over $22/hr which is more than I made in the job I lost.

He was happy to hear I was from Oakland (I think we are employed to walk door to door in our own neighborhoods - and I guess he had plenty of applicants from Berkeley already). I put my name and info on his sign up sheet. He told me to expect a call soon for an interview. Then he gave me a pamphlet and a sample test.

He looked me in the eye with a serious smile and told me the test was hard, but I didn't loose confidence at all. I consider myself almost a total failure in the adult world, and the process of "job hunting" makes my stomach hurt, but if there's one thing I learned in school it was how to take a test. He suggested I make sure to practice and to use a clock to time myself to improve my chances of doing well.

PRACTICE TEST FOR FIELD EMPLOYEE POSITIONS

for instance:

Alphabetize these folders for filing.
1. (1) FOS
(2) AOS
(3) OOS
(4) FOA
(5) DOM
(6) OOA

and then there's:

25. Ms. Jones can't remember the year of her birth but she knows that she was born in the month of September. If it is now May 2010, and Ms. Jones tells you she is 78 years old, in what year was she born?

Fun times.