Arch Coal is a St. Louis-based natural resource company specializing in high-quality metallurgical and thermal coal, which are mostly used to produce steel and generate electricity. The company has been around since 1997 (after a merger between two companies, one of which dates back to the 1960s), and has remained a leader in the industry through its sustainable practices and adaptation to an evolving world.
Diving Into the Values at Arch Coal
Arch Coal outlines three main core values that guide them in the way they do business and operate in the field. Thos are Safety, Environmental Stewardship, and Shareholder Value. But they go one step further and elaborate on what exactly their mission is. In order to live by those three values, Arch Coal and its employees:
Arch takes responsibility for the land seriously. They integrate land reclamation into every phase of their mining process. Once mining is complete, Arch goes above and beyond to ensure that the land is restored to the natural, productive state that it was in before the work ever started. In the past five years, Arch Coal has planted more than a million trees on reclaimed mine sites, and they continuously support ongoing research on the land.
The Culture at Arch Coal
The culture at Arch coal is all about serving the communities where the company and its employees work. Employees donate their time, enthusiasm and talents to all kinds of social causes, the main of which being education. Arch and its employees do things in their communities such as:
The flagship sponsorship program that Arch does is the Teacher Achievement Awards. This is where Arch awards more than $70,000 in rewards to teachers in the communities where Arch employees and their families live and work.
Arch and its employees have also donated to communities in other ways. The company has donated to art museums, theaters, and Opera houses. They build up communities as a whole, and it is exhibited by the thriving economies in those places.
Additionally, working in an industry such as this and doing the work required creates strong bonds between co-workers. A lot of the time, employees rely heavily on each other, not just to get a job done right, but to maintain a safe atmosphere for everyone. You learn to trust and lean on each other. There are lots of events to get involved in and there is never a shortage of food lying around just waiting to be shared.
The Office at Arch Coal
The Arch Coal headquarters is located in the Maryland Heights area of St. Louis. The area is growing at a rapid pace. There are a plethora of restaurants, nightlife spots, and living accommodations in the area. The office is also only a short trip from the city, with its many attractions. You would never be too far from catching a Cardinals game downtown, or getting out into some wilderness at Weldon Spring Conservation Area, Edmund Babler Memorial State Park, or Cuivre River State Park a few miles north.
The mines that Arch operates are located in a few different states. The closest to the STL HQ is located in Williamsville, IL. Arch has several mines in the Appalachian region as well. Those are all scattered throughout West Virginia. Arch has mines out west, too. Those are in Colorado and Wyoming.
The Benefits at Arch Coal
One major benefit of working for Arch Coal is the big emphasis they put on employee safety. They have award-winning proactive and innovative safety practices that enlist top-of-the-line equipment and training procedures. Over the past 10 years, they've won over 50 awards for their safety practices. Some other benefits to working with Arch Coal are:
Current and past employees have also praised the flexibility that comes with working at Arch Coal. People in management positions are understanding and realistic when it comes to expectations.
The Interview at Arch Coal
Interviewing with Arch Coal is a pretty standard process. There will likely be two phone interviews, followed by in-person interviews. Current and past employees have said that the process is very relaxed but well structured. Some questions you might be asked during the interview process are:
