Pros
The pay rate was very good for a temp job. Hours were flexible. Interesting work for someone who is well organized, detail oriented, and can think on their feet.
Cons
A large number of people were hired with a minimum of screening, many more people than would have been needed if the applicants were screened properly for relevant skills. Training was very basic and did not cover how to handle difficult cases (mostly people who refused to cooperate). Staff was whittled down through a Darwinian process. If you could solve problems yourself, and produce results, you worked the entire 4 months, as I did -- some people only worked a week or two. Training of crew leaders and supervisors wasn't much better. The entire process came off as poorly organized. Many respondents were hostile because they had been visited by numerous Census employees and felt harassed. There was little or no outreach to landlords or property managers before the start of operations. Even if you do an excellent job on the decennial operations you have almost no chance of obtaining a full time job with the Census Bureau.