• Highlights

• With 181,898 positions, enrollment for enumerators begins next Tuesday (23) and will close on March 19.
• Candidates should have completed primary education.
• Enrollment rate is R$25.77 and can be paid through the Internet or in any bank.
• Objective tests will be applied face-to-face on April 25 for enumerators, following the health protocols against Covid-19.
• As enumerators earn according to their output, the IBGE released a simulator that calculates the compensation, according to the municipality and the number of hours worked.
• Enrollment with 16,959 positions for supervisor census agents (ACSs) and 5,450 for municipal census agents (ACMs) remains open until March 15.

On Tuesday (23), the IBGE began the enrollment for the selection process to hire 181,898 enumerators, who will work in the data collection for the 2021 Population Census. An online simulator is also available, in which the candidates can calculate the compensation, since professionals will earn according to their output. Enrollment can be made at the Cebraspe website, company in charge of the selection process, and the simulator is available at the 2021 Census hotsite.

Enrollment for enumerators will end on March 19 and candidates should have completed primary education. 5,297 municipalities have positions available. When enrolling, candidates can select the work area and the city in which they will do the tests. The enrollment rate is R$25.77 and the tests will be applied on April 25.

Enumerators are the professionals who will visit all the households in Brazil, interviewing their residents. As they will be paid by productivity, the IBGE prepared an online simulator that calculates how much the professionals will earn according to the number of households visited and persons enumerated, also considering the compensation rate of each enumeration area, type of questionnaire applied (either basic or sample) and the record in the data collection control. The recommended working time for the enumerators is 25 weekly hours, at the very least.

In order to estimate the compensation, the municipality and the number of hours they intend to dedicate to the work should be entered. Bruno Malheiros, coordinator of Human Resources, explains that the compensation rate varies according to a number of factors. Among them, the access to the enumeration area, which is the place where the visited households are located.

"For instance, enumerators who work in an urban area move easier than enumerators who will visit households in an isolated riverside community," explains Bruno Malheiros. "The higher the number of households visited and persons interviewed, the higher the compensation. Enumerators can work anytime, especially when they can find residents at home, including weekends and holidays," adds him.

Using the simulator, candidates can check, for instance, that enumerators who decide to work in the municipality of Carauari, in the middle of the Amazon Forest, where they can only arrive by boat or plane, can earn an average monthly compensation of R$1,853.12, working 25 weekly hours. On the other hand, enumerators working the same hours can earn R$1,629.76 per month in São Paulo, the most populated city in Brazil.

IBGE prepared a workbook to help candidates in the studies for the tests

The candidates for enumerator will be selected through an objective test, of eliminatory and qualifying nature, including 10 questions of Portuguese, 10 questions of Mathematics, 5 questions of Ethics in Public Service and 25 questions of Technical Expertise. The test will be applied on April 25.

"The test contents are detailed in the public notice. The IBGE also developed a workbook of technical expertise, so candidates can get the knowledge needed to answer the questions on the census operation. The workbook and the IBGE´s Code of Ethics are available at the Cebraspe website," states Bruno Malheiros.

In addition to the test, candidates will receive a face-to-face and online training, of eliminatory and qualifying nature, lasting five days, eight hours per day. Candidates who attend at least 80% of the training load will receive an allowance for transportation and food. They will be hired right after that. The fieldwork of the Census will begin in August.

Candidates not following health protocols against Covid-19 can be eliminated

All the 2021 Census steps, including tests, training and data collection will follow health protocols against Covid-19. Bruno Malheiros explains that candidates who do not follow the protection measures during the tests will be eliminated from the selection process.

"Candidates should bring a transparent black ballpoint pen, proof of enrollment and original photo id. Health protocols against Covid-19 will be published in details in a specific public notice on the test venues. Masks will be required, as well as safe distancing between candidates and supervisors. Alcohol gel will be available in every test venue and everyone should follow the measures to avoid crowding, respecting the local legislation," according to the IBGE´s HR coordinator.

The same procedures should be followed in the face-to-face training of the enumerators.

2021 Census data will be collected face-to-face, through telephone and through the Internet

In view of the pandemic, Cimar Azeredo, IBGE´s deputy-director of Surveys, adds that the IBGE is developing protocols to assure the security of enumerators and residents during data collection. In addition to the security procedures, like use of masks, alcohol and minimum distancing, the residents will be allowed to answer the enumerators face-to-face, through telephone or even filling the questionnaire through the Internet.

"The three ways of data collection will be used during the 2021 Census operation. In any event, enumerators will have to go to the households, either for interviewing the persons face-to-face or for getting the telephone of the residents or for providing the link and the access key to the questionnaire, so that the residents themselves fill it through the Internet. The IBGE will visit more than 70 million households. We are working so as the survey that portrays Brazil is carried out safely for all," assures Azeredo.

"Working as an enumerator helps to know Brazil in depth"

The more than 180 thousand enumerators who will go to the field from August onwards will have the opportunity to know a country not always seen, tells Ruan Passos, who worked as an enumerator in the 2010 Population Census. Six years after that, he returned to the IBGE, then approved in another public notice for public servants. Now a 30 year-old person, Passos works in the IBGE´s State Unit in Salvador, Bahia.

"During that Census, I had the opportunity to interview persons living in high-standard houses and residents in very poor localities. I had direct contact with the Brazilian contradictions, I could know the deep Brazil and I keep these stories with much care," reminded him.

At that time, Passos studied Law at the Federal University of Bahia - UFBA. Coming from the Reconcavo Baiano, he foresaw an opportunity to improve the budget and develop new skills in the selection process of the 2010 Census. Yet, nothing was easy. He had to be persistent and even creative.

"I lived very unusual situations, like being invited to lunch or to see the view the resident had in his porch. Yet, I had difficulties to interview other residents. In a fancy building in the city, inhabited by famous residents, I had to get the support from the condo administrator to carry out the interviews. I even wrote a letter for each resident, telling my history to get the interviews," reminds him.

For Passos, working as an enumerator is a great opportunity for those looking for an extra income or who are beginning their careers. "Enumerators have a flexible working time, which allowed me to adapt the work to my routine. You develop a number of personal and professional skills. The compensation is also very attractive when you make a good number of interviews," recommends the former enumerator.

Enrollment for more 22 thousand positions of census agents is also open

The other selection process for the 2021 Census, which will hire 16,959 supervisor census agents - ACSs and 5,450 municipal census agents - ACMs remains open until March 15. Those interested should enroll at the Cebraspe website. The rate is R$39.49 and the candidates should have completed secondary education. Salary for ACMs is R$2,100 and for ACSs, R$1,700, working 40 weekly hours, being eight daily hours.

These two positions are in the same selection process. The best ranked in each municipality will occupy the position of ACM, who will be in charge of the coordination of the data collection of the 2021 Census in that city. In addition to their salaries, ACMs and ACSs will have meals allowance, transportation allowance, daycare center aid, vacation and a proportional Christmas bonus salary, according to the legislation in force and established in the public notice.

The tests for ACMs and ACSs will be applied on April 18. The candidates for these positions will take an objective test, of eliminatory and qualifying nature, including 10 questions of Portuguese, 10 questions of Quantitative Logical Thinking, 5 questions of Ethics in Public Service, 15 questions of Notions of Administration / Managerial Situations and 20 questions of Technical Expertise. The programmatic content is available in the public notice.

The tests for ACMs, ACSs and enumerators will last four hours and will applied in the afternoon. The preliminary results will be released one day after the tests at 7 PM at the Cebraspe website. The final result is scheduled to May 27.

Postponement of the 2020 Census and cancellation of the selection process

With the postponement of the Census for 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the selection processes for ACMs, ACSs and enumerators opened in 2020 were canceled. Those who enrolled in the selection process last year are not automatically enrolled in the selection processes this year. A new enrollment is needed, as well as paying the rate to participate in the new selection process.

Since May last year, those enrolled in the canceled selection process can request the reimbursement of the enrollment rate through the IBGE´s Call Center at 0800 721 8181. The call is free. The name and CPF should be provided to confirm the enrollment, as well as bank data (bank number, agency number and account number) to receive the reimbursement. In January, the IBGE started the third phase of the reimbursement of the enrollment rate.

2021 Census will visit all the Brazilian municipalities

Between August and October this year, nearly 213 million inhabitants in nearly 71 million addresses will be visited by the enumerators in the 5,570 Brazilian municipalities. The survey will unveil the characteristics of the housing units, ethnic-racial identification, nuptiality, family core, fertility, religion or cult, disability, domestic and international migration, education, commuting for study, work and income, commuting for work, mortality and autism, among other information. Carried out every ten years, the Population Census is the major reference source to know the life conditions of the population in all the Brazilian municipalities.