Marilyn Chan, 69, stood in a computer lab at the St. Anthony Foundation and stamped her foot — only partly in jest. “I want that job now,” she said to Robin Hill, a U.S. census field manager.

“That job” is census taker, or enumerator, going door to door to interview households that don’t respond to the 2020 census form this spring.

With unemployment in California at a record low and the national rate also at its lowest in decades, the Census Bureau is going all-out to line up thousands of temporary workers. It has 5,000 recruiters holding workshops at libraries, colleges and retirement communities. It’s partnering with community groups; advertising on radio, transit and social media; and handing out postcards at street fairs and stores as people line up to shop.

“The decennial census is the largest mobilization of a temporary workforce in peacetime,” said Hill, who was overseeing a census job application workshop at St. Anthony’s. “Enumerators are very crucial positions, and we need lots of them.”

Throughout the Bay Area, the census will need about 12,000 workers. Nationwide, the figure is half a million. That includes some jobs for temporary supervisors, recruiters and clerks. The census hires people as employees, not independent contractors. Workers’ compensation and disability coverage are available, but not health and retirement benefits.

The intermittent jobs pay well compared with retail and restaurant work, ranging from $21 an hour in Solano, Sonoma and Napa counties to $30 an hour in San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara counties — the highest in the nation.

Census officials acknowledge they’ll have to work extra hard to recruit here given the historically low unemployment rate, now 2% in San Francisco. Bay Area applications aren’t coming in as fast as those elsewhere in the country, so “we are making a hard push to get word out” here, said Tim Olson, associate director for field operations.

It’s a sharp difference from the run-up to the 2010 census, when the country was emerging from a recession and the Bay Area’s unemployment rate was around 10%.

The criteria are simple: Candidates must be U.S. citizens, older than 18, have access to transportation (mileage is reimbursed) and pass a fingerprint background check. Being bilingual is a plus.

“Census taker jobs are a really good option for people to get some work experience on their resumes, get some cash in, network,” said Abby Snay, executive director of Jewish Vocational Service in San Francisco. “It’s always better to be working already if you’re looking for work. And the pay is good.”

The online application at 2020census.gov/jobs doesn’t ask for a resume, references or job history. Instead it poses 33 personality questions, including true/false statements such as “I notice little things that others do not notice” and “I do not like for people to rely on me.”

The questions were developed by industrial psychologists to determine whether people can interact with the public, Olson said.

“Assuming they can, they will be considered qualified applicants,” he said. “The selection process is very fast and furious.”

In other words, most people who apply will get hired.

The census will start filling jobs soon on a rolling basis. Most work will be in the spring and early summer, but there will be paid training sessions early this year, as well as a count of the homeless population in late March, so it encourages applying as soon as possible.

The average enumerator will work six to eight weeks, setting his or her own schedule, generally about 20 to 25 hours a week, often a few evenings plus Saturday and sometimes Sunday, Olson said.

Most census takers will get assignments within their home ZIP code.

“We like people working in their own community,” Hill said. “They know the geography, the population. It’s easier for an insider to gain access so we get better results.”

Exactly how many workers are needed will depend on how many households skip the official census form and need to be contacted in person. Next year is the first time the census will offer an option to respond online, which could boost participation. But publicity about the Trump administration’s desire to ask about respondents’ citizenship status could deter some people from answering, even though the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June to block the question.

Census officials want people to know that the head count benefits them and their community via billions of dollars of federal funding for highway construction, transportation, health care, schools, food stamps to student loans. It also impacts elected representation, helping determine boundaries for congressional and state districts.

“The outcome from the decennial census will affect how all of us live for a decade,” Olson said.

California is spending millions of dollars to encourage residents to participate in the census, stressing how people benefit from federal funding linked to population size.

Census takers have relied on paper forms since the first count in 1790 by U.S. marshals on horseback. Next year marks the first time that the door-to-door workers will be armed with digital technology: smartphones with one app to record answers and another to log hours. “There’s no paper at all,” Olson said.

Carlos Peeler, 55, who came to the St. Anthony’s workshop to check on the status of his application, said he valued the civic contribution that the census makes, as well as the work itself. He was previously a security guard and a hotel front desk clerk.

“I like to have contact with people and talk to them kindly and politely,” he said.

Carolyn Said is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid