Some Thoughts on Part-Time Employment

by Pa Rock
Retiree

I officially retired in the early days of 2014, and, for the most part, have enjoyed the freedom that comes with not having to punch a clock.  But I moved to a small farm and managed to encumber myself with plenty to keep me busy, along with a schedule of chores that demand my attention – so I still answer to both a clock and a calendar – and I stay plenty damned busy.

Even though it seems like I am always rushing to stay caught up, lately I have also been giving some thought to getting a part-time job.  I am a licensed clinical social worker, and there are some interesting temporary gigs available that would even allow for a bit of travel,  but I’m not sure that I want to get back into the trauma and drama that comes with serious social work.

Another possibility is the once-in-a-decade flood of part-time work that is opening up with the census.  I have received numerous emails about work with the census, and I have even gone so far as to submit an on-line application.  As with many things associated with the government, the process is cumbersome and complicated.

My application is complete and has been acknowledged.  Now it is sitting in a cyber pile somewhere awaiting action by a person who is currently in no great hurry – but will one day jump into a panic mode and will be demanding all sorts of quick responses by emotionally scarred applicants.  It will eventually get sorted out, and several hundred thousand temporary workers will begin scouring the countryside looking for people who did not mail in their census forms.

I attended an information briefing yesterday to learn more about the job and the hiring process.  Actually it was just one representative of the Census Bureau and myself.   She told me that the Census Bureau was hiring full and part-time, and that mapping positions – those where people go out and record new residences as well as residences which no longer exist in order to give the bureau a more accurate list for mailing the forms in the spring.  

Why don’t they just use Google Maps?

The actual census itself will begin next April and at that point they will also be hiring people to go in search of non-responders.  I’ve heard people say that they could not do that because they feared going in stranger’s homes.  That’s understandable, especially out here in the woods where every other hovel and rusted-out mobile home harbors miscreants engaged in some form of criminal activity.  But as a former state child protection worker, I’ve been in most of those homes, and dealt with awful people in tense situations, and I’m hard to shock or scare.  I’ve also been up and down most of the dog trails and dry creek beds that serve as driveways and private roads in Howl County, so I know how to get into the remotest of settings – and, more importantly, how to get out!

So if the folks at the Census Bureau are serious about finding and counting everyone, as is their Constitutional mandate, they are going to have to find and hire some real hillbillies to get the job done.  

The lady at yesterday’s briefing told me that the pay for my county was fourteen dollars an hour and fifty-eight cents a mile for transportation.  Paid training is also included.

That’s good pay for this area, but, even so, the faint of heart should not rush to apply!