Ryan Dillman

Job hunting in Indiana

When people are job hunting, they traditionally go to sites like Career Builder or Monster, often forgetting that there are local job sites to check out as well.  Your first stop, if you become unemployed in Indiana, should be to visit the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.  At this website, you can file for unemployment benefits, as well as apply for various job postings.  This website has eliminated the need to drive to your local employment office and stand in long lines.

Another website you should have bookmarked is the Indiana State Personnel site, where you can apply for state employment.  State jobs include police officers, correctional officers, medical personnel, school teachers, government office workers, DNR employees, road workers, and much more.  Government work is steady and comes with good benefits, so this is definitely a site worth checking out if you’re in the process of job hunting.

Indiana Voter Registration

The 2007 elections may be over, but it’s not too early to start thinking about 2008.  If you aren’t registered to vote, you can visit Indiana Voters to find out how to register for the next election.  You can’t register online, but you can print out the form online and mail it in from home.

This website is also useful during election time as a quick reference to find the location of your polling place.  Just type in your county, first and last names, and date of birth and the site will return the address of where you need to go to vote.

Indiana State Parks

My wife and I usually go camping at least a half dozen times a year, which is why I find the DNR State Park Guide so invaluable.  Even though camping is all about getting away from technology and experiencing a simpler way of life, there’s no reason you shouldn’t make use of modern technology to plan your outdoor vacation.

On the Indiana State Parks website, you can search properties, find out if there are available campsites, cabins, rooms at the park inns, or picnic shelters available, as well as make instant reservations for any of the aforementioned amenities.  During busy times of the year, such as holidays and the changing of the leaves in autumn, you will definitely want to make reservations or you risk not being able to get a campsite at all.

Indiana Leaf Cams

Autumn is almost over but be sure to bookmark the Indiana Leaf Cam website for next year, as it’s a great way to keep an eye on the changing colors throughout the Fall.  Right now, there’s still some nice color in Brown County, although all the leaves shown in the Connor Prairie cam seem to be on the ground at this point.