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Who says you can’t find a job these days?

The Temple-Inland paper mill in Bogalusa will be accepting applications soon, and the U.S. Census Bureau is in the process of hiring about 1,000 people, officials said.

The paper mill is conducting its regular application process next month, said Ellis Sampson, the mill’s human resource director.

“We take applications like that about once every two years,” he said.

Temple-Inland is asking all interested job seekers to fill out applications and conduct brief interviews for entry-level positions. The application process will take place at St. Matthews Episcopal Church Parish Hall, 208 Georgia Avenue, in Bogalusa. The times are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on March 4 and 5, and 9 a.m. to noon on March 6. Applicants should be 18 years old or older and have a high school diploma or GED.

The event allows Temple-Inland to replace their pool of applicants needed when current employees leave or retire, Sampson said.

The mill intends to hire six to eight positions in April, and perhaps another half-dozen in the fall, he said.

“I’m hoping we get a great bunch of applicants, which we always have,” Sampson said.

In normal years, about 300 to 500 people apply, he said.

Meanwhile, as 2010 approaches, the U.S. Census Bureau is looking to hire 1,000 people for the upcoming population count, said John Alston, supervisor at the Louisiana Job Center at 438 Avenue B in Bogalusa. Tests for the Census Bureau jobs are currently being done at the Job Center, as well as locations in Varnado and Franklinton. For more information, call 732-6630.

Other companies who have recently been hiring include Barriere Construction and Cargill in Franklinton, Alston said. And, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on March 9, the Job Center will host a job fair for Sitel, a telecommunications company in Bogalusa.

Sitel will be “interviewing people that are interested in customer service,” Alston said.

On March 19, another job fair will take place at Louisiana Technical College Sullivan Campus in Bogalusa. It’s the college’s ninth annual job fair, and will go from 9 a.m. until noon.

Representatives of more than 30 businesses and agencies will be on-site to provide information on a wide variety of employment opportunities, said LTC-Sullivan’s Dan Hardy.

“Job Fair 2009: The Ultimate Job Connection” will be open to the general public as well as to LTC students from the Sullivan, Hammond and Florida Parishes campuses.

All things considered, it’s hard to say if Louisiana is experiencing the same type of recession going on in other parts of the country.

Locally, “It’s kind of been up and down,” Alston said. Since Jan. 1, his office has helped about 30 people find jobs, and countless more have used the web site, www.laworks.net, to find work.