Links from my Chaska Herald column on "The Great Job Search"

For those of you who have been reading my column in the Chaska Herald, below are a list of links to various resources mentioned:

Starting Links

www.mnwfc.org - MN Workforce Center

www.deed.state.mn.us/oldwkr/owpprov1.htm - Carver County MN Workforce Center

www.uimn.org - State of MN Unemployment Insurance

www.health.state.mn.us/healthcare.html - State of MN site with healthcare information

www.mchamn.com - MN Health care for those with pre-existing conditions

www.jobtransition.net - Wooddale Church Job Transition web site (great resource!)

www.beyourownheadhunter.com - great job search information site with lots of links

www.mnwfc.org/hennepinsouth/jobsupportgroups.htm - list of Job Transition Groups

www.sonicwall.com/phishing/ - Phishing test!  Don’t be scammed!

 

Job Boards

www.dice.com - Dice (mostly for technology folks)

www.monster.com - Monster.com

hotjobs.yahoo.com - HotJobs

www.careerbuilder.com - CareerBuilder

www.craigslist.org - Craigslist (free want-ads)

www.usajobs.gov - Government jobs (official job site of the Federal Government)

www.minnesotaworks.net - State of MN job site

 

Job Board Aggregators

www.indeed.com

www.simplyhired.com

 

Social Networking

www.linkedin.com - LinkedIn

www.facebook.com - Facebook

www.myspace.com - MySpace

www.twitter.com - Twitter

 

Business Journals

twincities.bizjournals.com – Twin Cities Business Journal

www.tcbmag.com - Twin Cities Business Magazine

www.startibune.com - 

The Elections Are Over - Now What?

Now that the elections are finally over, we can all take a deep breath and a sigh of relief that we won't be in the line of fire for the the bitter, embrazened mudslinging and attack ads that we've been bombarded with over the recent weeks.

In the local election, at least for our ward, it was close -- really only 144 votes would have tied it up. In the truest sense of American democracy, every vote counts!

At this point, I'm just glad that its over.

I've learned a tremendous amount over the past couple of months -- about running a campaign, the history of Chaska, what is important to people, and what it takes to get there. This is all stuff that will be helpful to me as I move forward, and possibly look into running for office again in the future.

But I'm not done yet. I still fully intend to be active in our community's development, and to remain focused on doing what I can to ensure that the people of the community live in a city they can be proud of.

Debates are Done!

Like many people, I find some of the Presidential and Vice Presidential debates have both entertainment as well as a informative value.  But it is another thing entirely to get up there yourself and have a debate (or even a disussion) in front of a room full of people knowing it will be broadcast on television.

This past Wednesday and Thursday, I was honored to participate in candidate forums with the Chaska Area Chamber of Commerce and the Eastern Carver County League of Women Voters.  Both events had all six candidates for Chaska offices -- Mayor, City Council Ward 2 and City Council Ward 4.

Considering that I really had not engaged in a formal discussion/debate/forum such as these since, probabaly high school, it was a bit nerve-wracking.  The good news is that I don't believe I stuck my foot in my mouth, and (I think) I gave relatively coherent responses to most questions.

For those of you interested in seeing them, they will be broadcast on Chaska Cable channel 15.  Here's the URL to Chaska TV:  http://www.chaska.tv/.