The people in Sangerhausen finally answered my email, apologizing for the delay. I had tried to resume the questions from the forum members in 5 points and these are Mr. Hawel's answers (I translated them as best as I could): "1. Tea roses in Sangerhausen overwinter strictly in the open. Our stock is 99% grafted, so, the grafting spot is covered generously with soil and the parts of the plant still sticking out are protected with fir or spruce brushwood. During the recent, fairly mild winters these measures were sufficient to prevent tea roses from being damaged, but this year temps. dropped to  23°C so there might be some losses. Besides, I have noticed that tea roses tolerated very well the extraordinary heat spells of recent years (e.g. May 2008), reacting with an amazing vegetative growth during those hot periods. This proves that tea roses do not find optimum conditions in our continental climate. 2. In addition to the cultivars that you already mentioned (Lady Hillingdon, Le Vesuve, Duchesse de Brabant, Hermosa) I would probably suggest ÂComtesse de NogheraÂ, ÂClementina CarbonieriÂ, ÂCatherine MermetÂ, ÂFrancis DubreuilÂ, ÂSouvenir de Thérèse Levet and ÂTroja as teas doing fairly well in our climate. The same is true for ÂNiphetosÂ, despite its reputation in literature as a tender tea rose. In general, during harsh winters tea roses here can suffer from bad freezes only to start sprouting nicely right after the spring pruning (often immediately above the grafting point). We are much more worried by the susceptibility to fungal diseases observed in many tea roses. 3. There is a wide range of age in our teas. While the less vigorous cultivars are grafted afresh each year to be substituted in the following year, other cultivars can stay bedded in their spot for over 10 years without requiring any rejuvenating. 4. The information on the Âhelpmefind website has not been officially provided by the Europa-Rosarium. The lists of cultivars shown there have probably been drawn by committed private persons from some of our published rose lists and then inserted by them into the web-page. In this connection IÂd like to say that our notions on many roses are subject to frequent changes, especially teas are rather problematic in this regard. Therefore, we are planning to publish by the summer of 2009 an official rose list that will be directly available from us. 5. The visitors at the Europa-Rosarium have free access to our greenhouse. We keep there a number of roses that would have trouble when grown outside, exposed to our climate."

I don't see where it would hurt to take a portfolio with you when you drop in to talk to them. I really urge you to try to make personal contact with them and not just shoot them off a letter and resume' or call them on the phone, unless they've made it clear that is the only way to contact them about a job. I think you would make a really good candidate, but right from the get-go you may be faced with some hurdles, depending on their personal paradigms. I had studied horticulture and then ended up going into a completely unrelated field when I had to relocate. Before that, I was in another completely unrelated profession. Both white collar. To get back in to hort, I had a lot of bias to overcome. By getting to talk to my prospective employer face to face, I could zero in on exactly what he wanted in an employee and concentrate on telling him how I could deliver just that. I was offered a full time position, at one fourth my previous salary. What I didn't tell him was that I would have PAID him for the chance to work there for the practical experience. This was an entry level position because anything other than that in my area is/was non-existent. I figured I could work my way up if given a chance, at least coming away with a practical education, if not a fat paycheck. I have my own business now, but I'll never forget the biases I have seen in the industry concerning newbies with education, previous white collar work experience, or age over thirty on entry. You may run into it, you may not. When I hire in seasonally, I don't need someone with my qualifications, and when I get "power" resume's I answer them .....always and try to steer the candidate toward other growers in this part of the state who can use their qualifications. IOW, you'll know when you get to that point in an interview when (or if) to share, and if you decide to, you'll be ready. I guess I'm just saying delicately that some prospective employers get nervous about people they "think" won't be happy in a job because they (fill in the blanks) have never done it before, are overqualified, are used to higher salaries, are too old at thirty five........or all they need is a minimum wager person. IOW won't even give someone a chance, because they have preconceived notions about what their typical employee should be. What I look for more than anything is enthusiasm, common sense and good work ethic.

The first salary response in Sandy's post is excellent and exactly appropriate for the cover letter. I worked in HR for years, and while we sometimes asked applicants for salary requirements in their initial contact with us (yes, as a way of weeding out), a lack of specificity was never an automatic "cut". If anything, it showed us that smarter candidates were more interested in first getting a fuller picture of the scope of the job and more detailed information about the company. You can get into salary details at the interview (preferably, towards the end of the interview, unless the interviewer brings it up first), but what you really want is THE INTERVIEW. That's your real chance to sell yourself. I don't agree with Gibby, as I feel the cover letter is often quite revealing. Generally the resume isn't revised for each job application so it's usually a very polished product. However, if there are typos or misspellings in the cover letter, or if it's a "canned" product that shows no relevance to the position applied for, I won't even bother reading the resume. I have a really excellent interview tip for you, especially since it's been 20 years since you've been in the interview "hot seat." Make a list of strong "action" words, like MANAGED SUPERVISED ACCOMPLISHED ACHIEVED etc., and use those words to describe yourself in the position you've had. Write down a list of all the skills and talents that you know you bring to the job. Write down your proven accomplishments. Sit yourself next to a mirror with those notes and talk to the mirror as though you were being interviewed. Do it over and over again until you feel comfortable describing yourself in a very positive way. Look online for interviewing skills or tips. Many many times interviewers ask the same questions: What is your greatest strength? What is your biggest weakness? (Never answer that question directly! Always change your weakness into a strength!) The more prepared you are, the more comfortable you'll feel and the better you'll be able to sell yourself. Good luck! Let us know how things go.

It is my understanding that most stores no longer have the ability to accept applications, because their headquarters had put it on line. That being said, here are some thought I had. Any high schooler has had experience in organization when doing home work and determining what to do first and what method to use to complete the homework. They also have experience in dealing with people; other students, teachers, siblings, and perhaps negotiating resolutions to conflicts. If they have been in debates, they have experience in putting thoughts down and attempting to persuade others, in writing and in speaking, to their way of thinking. Writing skills are another thing that can be addressed in an application. If after-school activities are part of their life, think of the skills required in those areas. If they participate in church activities, peruse those activities and determine what skills are required. Just think of it as volunteer experience and see how much they can include on an application.