Flexible Jobs in Illinois with U.S. Census

The U.S. Census Bureau is offering flexible jobs to local residents in Peoria and throughout Illinois.

The organization is recruiting temporary, part-time census takers for the 2010 census. The positions available offer good pay, flexible hours and paid training.

The Bureau has undertaken a nationwide effort to help locate households and conduct brief, personal interviews with residents.

About 1 million people throughout the country will be hired under the initiative. The majority of the positions involve going door-to-door to interview residents.

The jobs could last through 2010 and some employees could eventually be sent to other communities to complete additional counting.

Those chosen for the positions will earn between $10.25 and $16.50 per hour. Employees can choose to work during the evening or during weekends.

In order to qualify, applicants must be able to read, write and speak English, as well as be at least 18-years old, be a U.S. citizen, have a valid driver's license and have a clean criminal background.

Applicants also must take a pre employment test, which includes a written test designed to measure knowledge, skills and abilities required to perform a variety of Census jobs.

The purpose of the 2010 census is to determine the distribution of about $400 billion in federal funds to be distributed each year to state and local governments.

Of those funds, about $14 billion are distributed throughout Illinois each year. Peoria receives about $135 per person based on census figures, but researchers predict that the state will lose about $12,000 for each uncounted person during the next 10 years.

"With so much at stake in the 2010 census and with elevated nationwide unemployment, the job opportunities offered by the Census Bureau are particularly valuable for Peoria," Peoria City Councilman Ryan Spain, chairman of the 2010 Peoria Complete Count committee, told the Peoria Journal Star.

According to the Illinois Department of Employment Security, the Peoria metropolitan area currently has an unemployment rate of 11.7 percent.