Regarding township employment openings: By law the township has to post position openings in the designated papers around the city, however, they are allowed to post the job openings between departments first, allowing current employees to change positions. Also, I know someone who walked into town hall one day to put in an application and had not a single connection. She was given that position based on her education and strong background. Perhaps you should not doubt your city or yourself so much. You can't sit back and complain when you never tried.