INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has a job opportunity that will immerse you in Indiana State Parks.
“We are opening our pools this year thankfully much to our relief and the relief of many of our guests,” said Brandt Baughman, deputy director of operations for Indiana State Parks.
This summer 10 of the state’s pools are opening and they need lifeguards on duty.
“I started at Spring Mill State Park as a lifeguard," Baughman said. "I was a lifeguard there for about three years and then I worked my way up to the pool captain."
He credits his job as a lifeguard for leading him to his first professional experience.
“It's a serious job. It's a lot of responsibility that's put upon high school and college students in many cases and it builds confidence," Baughman said. "It creates accountability and responsibility that a lot of other jobs don't have and, again, there's a few positions at each park that are supervisory in nature, so it develops leadership skills as well."
Ten of the state’s 12 pools will open on Memorial Day weekend and Baughman said they are concerned they won’t be able to fill all of the positions to safely open all the pools.
“If we aren't able to do so, we might have to go to reduce hours at some of our pools, but we're hoping that's not the case. So we're really again looking for people that are going to be available and that are very comfortable in their abilities,” Baughman said.
The pay to be a state lifeguard starts at $9.50 an hour. Jobs are available with the state, along with pools at state park inns.
To qualify for these positions, you need to have lifeguard training and be CPR, first-aid and AED certified. People should make sure their lifeguard certification is up-to-date because most pools were closed last year.
The Red Cross has in person and online courses posted right now, click here for a schedule.
