Testing for some 300 to 400 temporary jobs with the U.S. Census Bureau are scheduled throughout the North Olympic Peninsula beginning this week.
The pay starts at $13.25 per hour and can go up to $16.25 per hour for field operations supervisors, with a gas allowance of 50 cents a mile.
“We are rapidly hiring people,” said Brian Maule, regional manager based in Silverdale.
“If someone’s looking for a job, it would benefit them to get tested as soon as possible.”
Workers will be hired in March and April for a variety of jobs, Maule said.
The Census Bureau will hire about 1,500 throughout the entire Olympic Peninsula — an area that is defined as Clallam and Jefferson counties, as well as Grays Harbor, Kitsap and Mason counties.
In Clallam and Jefferson counties, 300 to 400 people will be hired.
“Now is the time” to take the test, Maule said.
Applicants are eligible for employment within a couple of days of testing.
Some testing times and locations have been scheduled. Others are expected to be added in mid-March.
Scheduled testing times and locations are:
Forks
• 6 p.m. March 1 — State Department of Natural Resources, 411 Tillicum Lane.
Port Angeles
• 2 p.m. Tuesday and 10 a.m. Thursday — Worksource, 228 W. First St.
• 10 a.m. Wednesday — Port Angeles Library, 2210 S. Peabody St.
Sequim
• 2 p.m. every Wednesday through March 24 — Sequim Public Library, 630 N. Sequim Ave.
• 10 a.m. Saturday and March 6, 20 and 27 — Dungeness Valley Lutheran Church, 925 N. Sequim Ave.
• 10 a.m. March 13 — Sequim Community Church, 950 N. Fifth Ave.
East Jefferson County
• 5 p.m. Tuesday and March 2 — Port Ludlow Fire Station, 7650 Oak Bay Road.
• 10 a.m. Thursday — Quilcene Community Center, 294952 U.S. Highway 101.
• 2:30 p.m. Thursday — Worksource Port Hadlock, 207 W. Patison.
• 10 a.m. March 1 — Tri-Area Community Center, 10 West Valley Road.
• 11 a.m. March 3 — Brinnon Community Center, 306144 U.S. Highway 101.
Potential applicants must be at least 18, pass a basic skills test — math, reading, map reading — that takes about 30 minutes, and undergo four days of paid training.
Applicants must show identification at the test sites. Those with valid passports or photo tribal identification need only one form of identification.
If any other type is used, then two forms are needed, such as a driver’s license and a Social Security card.
Medicare cards and library cards are among the types of identification that are not accepted, Maule emphasized.
Applicants can take a 28-question online practice test, and when they take the real thing, they are expected to score “in the high 90s out of 100” to be considered for employment, said Deni Luna, spokeswoman for the Census Bureau’s regional office in Bothell.
Those with the highest tests scores will have an advantage in hiring, Maule pointed out, so those who have already taken the test but felt they didn’t do well are welcome to take it again.
“They can take it as often as they want,” he said.
Space should be reserved in advance. To make a reservation, phone the Census Bureau jobs line at 866-861-2010.
To get results of tests, phone 360-447-4470.
For more information, go to www.2010.Census.gov and click on “job seekers.”
