COEUR d'ALENE - Can you carry a clipboard and ask questions? Don't have any issues with the FBI?

There's a job opening you can fill.

In fact, a lot of openings.

Currently the U.S. Census Bureau is more than 40 percent below the number of qualified applicants across the country needed to conduct the decennial census.

And there's only four weeks left for folks to vie for those empty slots.

"The last phase of hiring has begun," said Kris Grimshaw, assistant manager for recruiting at the Boise Census office.

In the local census office region, which includes the area from Ada County up to the Canadian border, the Census Bureau has hired 400 Idaho residents for the country's 23rd population count.

"We'll be hiring probably another 1,500 to 1,600 more," Grimshaw said.

That includes more than 300 to still be hired in Kootenai County, she added.

The process takes time, she said, as most applicants are weeded out because of varying circumstances, whether because they can't make the training sessions or don't pass background checks.

"We're actually right on schedule," Grimshaw said. "National statistics show that for every seven people we test, we are able to hire one."

Applicants must be 18 to be hired for the census. They need only to pass a "common sense" test - given at alternating locations - and clear an FBI background check.

The majority of those hired will be hoofing it for the non-response follow up in May, when they track down locals who didn't fill out the mailed questionnaire.

Employees will be paid for the 40 hours of training beforehand, Grimshaw said.

Most will be required to work when people are at home, according to the U.S. Census Bureau Web site, which includes evening and weekends.

Grimshaw emphasized that employees will be trained on how to stay out of harm's way.

"Most of these people will be working out in the field in their own neighborhoods," she said. "They know these people, they know the specifics about that area and how the neighborhood congregates. They're more successful when they go door-to-door."

There is also one scheduled day where census workers head to homeless shelters to get a count of those with no addresses, she added.

"There is a specific 24-hour period that this happens around the nation," she said.

All census jobs are short term, ranging from four to 10 weeks. The pay is $12.25 an hour, and folks will be reimbursed for mileage if they do any driving.

Testing will continue through the end of March, Grimshaw said, and most will be hired by the end of April.

To find local testing locations to work for the census, call (866) 861-2010.

There will also be a road bus tour coming through Kootenai County this month to educate locals about the census process.

The tour will be at the Coeur d'Alene Public Library from noon to 2 p.m. on March 16, and at the Post Falls City Hall from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on March 17.

The 2010 census form - one of the shortest in history with only 10 questions - has already been mailed out. Idaho residents should expect to receive them in mid-March.

Constitutionally required, the count has myriad purposes. The tally determines the apportioning of congressional districts, as well as the allocation of federal funding for hospitals, law enforcement, job training centers, schools, senior centers, highway projects and emergency services.

For every one person counted in Idaho, Grimshaw said, the state will receive $1,400 every year for the next 10 years.

"Let's say hypothetically in Hayden we miss 100 people," she said. "That adds up to $140,000 not coming to the state to support schools, roads, emergency services."

It is legally required to fill out a census form.

And folks don't have to do it with a stranger at their door, Grimshaw said.

"If more people would send their surveys back in the mail, it is much more efficient for all of us to get the numbers correct and in a timely fashion," she said.