I applied to a number of companies in Knoxville that are hiring environmental professionals. I tried calling them today to follow up on my resume submittal. The first place I called was my last choice. The operator answered, "Shaaawww Environmental"

and I said "Good Morning. May I speak with a recruiter?"

"We don't have one."

"May I speak with Human Resources or someone you can recommend?"

"Ok."

"Hello"

"Good Morning, may I speak to someone about my resume submittal last week?"

"Uh.......... "What position?"

"Engineering Technician"

"The person you need to talk to does the hiring for the Engineering and he's in California"

"Ok, I understand, what's his number?" .....

Left a message with some guy in California about a position in Knoxville advertised on their website.


Next place, a place recommended by colleagues.

"Arcadis Environmental"

"Good Morning, may I speak with a recruiter?"

"There's no Human Resources in this office."

"Ok. Can you forward me or suggest a phone number of who I might contact?"

Put on hold.

She comes back on the phone "You might try calling the corporate office."

"Ok. Where are they located?"

"Mariaville, PA"

"And what is the number?"

I called there. "Hello, I understand this is the Human Resources for Arcadis?"

"No, this is the Corportate Office."

"I understand. Is there someone I can talk to about submitting my resume online if possible?"

"Are you online now?"

"Yes"

"On the website you can submit your resume"

"I already have. I'm calling to follow-up and learn more about the position."

"There's no one to field your phonecall."

"I understand. Have a great day"


and I'm thinking, that's why I left in the first place. I want to tell them, if this is how you treat your prospective employees, I can only imagine how you treat your clients. Large corporations are so horrible to work for, now I remember why I tried a different aspect of geology. But that didn't prove much good either. Guess I'll try the National Park Service. I'm just looking for something for a couple of years while we get Soul 11 off the ground.


On another note, I read about EPA grants today and it look like there are a number of grants we qualify for with Soul 11 related to conservation and sustainability. Just need to get the non-profit established. Fortunately, with the government grants, Dana's friend was working for a consulting group that's established a rating system for business plans. Once a rating is determined, they help improve the business plan to get a higher rating, up to 5. This system is being used to help grantors know which plans are solid. She helped on a contract with the US Navy and they rated 2! But since working with them, they have made some changes and now they are rated 4. To apply for a rating, it costs $15,000. Some grants are only being awarded to groups with ratings of 4 or higher. That's out of our league but she gave us the paperwork to do our own rating. So we might not have an official rating, but atleast we'll have a solid plan which is the most important of all. But it is difficult. It's very tedious. I'm in the process of writing our business plan and using this tool.