CSO seeks 'motivated' people to work on census

MOTIVATED, FIT and organised individuals are being sought by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to work on the 2011 census.

MOTIVATED, FIT and organised individuals are being sought by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to work on the 2011 census.

A call was issued yesterday for 5,000 enumerators who should – among other things – be “comfortable around dogs”, capable of tolerating “people who may be irate, confrontational or very unpleasant” and able to cope with frustration “when people refuse to answer the door or speak to you”.

Successful applicants will receive a flexible short-term contract and be expected to deliver and collect census forms to 400 homes in their assigned area and compile a localised population summary.

“The enumerator must carry out a visual survey of their area and verify the location of all the dwellings listed in their record book; they must also locate and mark on the map any dwellings not already listed,” the CSO said.

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The application process opens on January 4th and closes on January 11th. It is limited to 15,000 people and regional capacity quotas will apply. A pre-registration service is now available on the census website.

Those selected to fill the positions must be available to work between March 8th and May 13th, for a minimum of 22 hours per week, most of which will be in the evenings and at weekends.

Training will be provided and enumerators will be paid an average of €2,200 over the 10-week period.

Materials required for the job, such as a mobile phone, calling cards, record book and a high-visibility jacket, will be provided by the CSO. Candidates must have space at home to securely store census documents and applicants living in rural areas must have a full driving licence and access to a vehicle.

For further information see: www.census.ie

Steven Carroll

Steven Carroll

Steven Carroll is an Assistant News Editor with The Irish Times