Join Bright Green Talent and George Kao for a free webinar:
How to Productively Use Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to Find Your Ideal Green Job

May 20 12pm-1pm
or May 21 at 9am-10am

What you’ll learn:
Whether you are a job seeker, career transitioner, or a consultant/coach, it is extremely helpful to have an action plan for the efficient use of LinkedIn (40+ million), Facebook (200+ million), and Twitter (15+ million) to find yourself a great, green job.

Join this free webinar to learn the following:
* The principles and techniques for optimizing your career and business networking using any online social network.
* An overview of how to set up Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter professionally.
* The 15-minute daily or weekly checklist for using each of these services to efficiently and effectively connect with your ideal audience (e.g. ideal employers).

Space is limited, so register now at http://social.georgekao.com.

George Kao is an expert in personal productivity and the efficient use of social media. He trains business professionals in the fields of environmental sustainability and holistic wellness, on how to maximize their daily business productivity and marketing activities in order to achieve their goals while creating/maintaining a satisfying and sustainable life-work alignment. You can learn more about George Kao at GeorgeKao.com.

Bright Green Talent is an environmentally-focused recruiting firm working to channel people into meaningful green careers. We offer job placement services as well as career coaching and other resources to help jobseekers find the next step in their green career. Learn more at www.brightgreentalent.com.

Penned by Nick

With Justice David Souter retiring, the Obama campaign has an early opportunity to leave the “conservative-liberal” politics of old behind. In its place, the Administration should consider expanding on its progressive message that reaffirms we are “not a red America, or a blue America,” but a united, green America.

Environmental justice issues are poised to shape much of our future in America, though remain poorly understood and underrepresented on the Supreme Court. Bringing an environmental justice activist to the bench would align stakeholder interests across economic, human rights, and international horizons.

Admittedly, Van Jones, though a Yale-trained lawyer, is probably not qualified for the job (if only due to his lack of time on the Circuit). But his ideas, and what he represents, are sufficiently large and inclusive to constitute a seat on the highest court in the land.

For environmentalists, seeing their agenda brought to the fore would be a giant leap forward. Industry, too, would benefit by getting greater visibility into the priorities of the Courts in the years ahead. Haromizing legislation is a big obstacle towards greater environmental investment, but could be a huge opportunity with a green hand rewriting the laws of 21st century business.

At a time when activists, lobbyists, and business people alike are all looking to preserve their own long term economic interest by preserving the environment, it makes sense to bring these pieces together. What more, the environment agenda desperately needs a strong advocate.

With unemployment starting to subside and businesses getting back to business as usual, green jobs remain a priority for the US Administration. The reality of these jobs remains somewhat hard to measure, though there are signs of life. Giving Justice Souter’s job to an environmnetal justice advocate would be yet another sign that we’ve moved the discussion about our common environmental fate beyond dialogue and into action. This decision would be a watershed event that could, in decades ahead, be the very event that saves our our planet, our politics, and our economy.

Penned by Carolyn

As impersonal, anonymous and frustrating as it feels to apply for jobs online, most companies can only process resumes that come in this way.

Hence, here are three reasons your resume might be getting passed over, and how to fight back:

1. The mistake: Your cover letter is an attachment. The remedy: If you’re applying by email, copy and paste your cover letter into the body of an email rather than having it as a separate document. Not only is it more likely to be read, but some automated resume systems will just grab the first attachment on your email and parse that — so you want to make sure it’s your resume that’s making it into the system. Check out our Greenhouse for “Do’s and Don’ts of Cover Letters” as well as some samples to work from.
2. The mistake: Your email address is ridiculous. It’s cool if your email address that you use with friends is “sk8rrrgurl1331″ or “babysealclubber” (and yes, we’ve seen that username), but when we receive applications from these types of addresses, it’s hard to take the person seriously as a candidate. The remedy: If you need to, create a more serious email address to use for job applications.
3. The mistake: the title of your resume or cover letter document is ridiculous or irrelevant, a la “MansfieldResume_EDITEDVERSION4 5-5-09.doc,” “BEST CANDIDATE FOR THE JOB MANSFIELD RESUME.doc,” or worse, “Mansfield Generic Resume.doc.” As for your cover letter, make sure it’s not “Mansfield Generic Cover Letter.doc”… you might as well title it “I took less than 2 minutes to consider and apply for this job.” If you obviously don’t care about the position, the hiring manager isn’t going to waste their time reading your resume. The remedy: You ARE tailoring your resume and cover letter to each position you’re applying to, right? Make sure the title reflects that – such as “Mansfield Bright Green Resume” or “Mansfield Cover Letter – Bright Green Talent.” Getting your name in there is important, too, so people can pull your resume back up easily.

Penned by Tom

We’re constantly reminded that many of our planet’s environmental problems stem from our relentless desire for growth. The newer, gargantuan developing economies of China and India combine to increase this pressure. We’re told we have to stop consuming ‘for the sake of the planet’. It’s a tired message, which often falls of deaf ears in the absence of a personal incentive. As s result, we’ve yet to see real, lasting change at the levels needed to prevent further environmental decline. Which is why the messaging needs to change.

My business partner Nick continually reminds us that we need a billion people to act to prevent climate change. No mean feat, particularly if these actions sit contrary to natural or adopted inclinations. Demanding that people stop flying for environmental reasons when their disposable income and affordable flights have only recently aligned has little effect other than initiating, if we’re lucky, a smidgen of guilt. Telling people to stay in a locally-run hotel because it results in a better, cheaper, more comfortable holiday, regardless of the social or environmental benefit, is likely to pique more interest.

These are tiny pieces to a giant jigsaw. If we want a billion people to act, we have to make a billion people want to act. The inconvenient truths are increasingly recognised, now we need convenient actions. We need to demonstrate the rewards of acting responsibly and sustainably.

Given the complexity of modern life, it’s ironic to note that much of mankind’s toiling has been an attempt to simplify – whether that be getting from A to B (cue the automobile, the aeroplane), communicating (the telephone or the computer), staying warm (the house and electricity), to eating what we want when we want (mechanized farming, irrigation, supermarkets).

Marketers recognize a yearning for simplicity and continue to tantalize. Our banks, our supermarkets, our computers, our phones – each claim to offer us a simpler life; of one-stop-shops, single-clicks, free delivery, instant communication, no-hassle purchases and ease-of-use. Yet our world seems increasingly complex. The sheer quantity and accessibility of ‘information’ is mind-boggling. Apparently Google processes approximately 20 petabytes of information each day – impressive considering that it is estimated that the entire works of humankind from the beginning of history would stretch to a meagre 50 petabytes. Inevitably, as the rate of change advances, it becomes harder for each of us to keep up.

Over the past few months, I’ve been experimenting with ‘real’ simplicity (www.simpletom.wordpress.com) and have found it to be deeply rewarding and, indirectly, environmentally beneficial. I’ve been eating simpler foods. I’ve been cycling rather than taking public transport. I’ve been walking in the park, surfing and hiking, rather than eating, drinking and going out. I’ve been trying to spend less time in front of my computer, and more time in front of people. I’ve been reading more and watching less. I’ve been focusing on the present rather than the future. The ideas aren’t new, but my renewed focus on them is.

I could go into a smug and lengthy diatribe about the carbon I’ve saved and the good I’ve done. I could explain, in no uncertain terms, which environmental problems I’ve been helping to alleviate by changing my behaviour. I could demonstrate how this small contribution, if multiplied by billions the world over, might help prevent certain crises. I could feel angered by the selfish people who continue to do nothing.

Or, I could appeal to their selfishness. I could merely state that my attempts to simplify have resulted in immediate, palpable financial, health and personal benefits. Simply stated, I’m happier. And I’m not alone. Leonardo Da Vinci once said that, ‘simplicity is the ultimate sophistication’. The deeper I delve into the topic, the more I believe it.

Within business, simplicity can also bring about lasting benefit; whether that’s reducing consumption or packaging, to keeping designs or messages basic, easy-to-understand and clear. This Fast Company article helps businesses understand the power of simplicity, in both message and action.

Real, lasting simplicity (rather than the simplicity marketers tout) is perhaps one of many ways we can spread a new message of sustainable, responsible living. It taps into a desire many people share – to work a bit less, to spend more time with ones family, to be richer (simpler tastes means spending less money). Plus the message is easy to push, namely: ‘Do this because it benefits you personally’… rather than, ‘do that because otherwise the planet is in jeopardy’. If we appeal to people’s desires and open up a world of possibility and benefit, rather than limitation, whilst aligning these actions with the environmental movement, then changing the world won’t be that difficult.

Penned by Nick

We’re 5 people at BGT, working with over 10,000 green jobseekers. For those who want to do the math, it means we’re averaging ~2,000 relationships per person. The majority of these relationships are our source of inspiration–new ideas from new people wanting to find new careers.

However, every once in a while we cross a candidate who has a different view on who BGT is, and what we should be doing.

Last week we received the following note from a candidate:

We believe in honest dialogue and transparency at BGT. Instead of hiding this comment in the dark, it’s worth airing out.
We receive more demand for our services than we’re able to meet. We’re doing our best to scale to meet demand, but it takes time. When folks are unemployed and looking for a new green career, it can seem like an eternity. We get it.

More importantly, it means a lot to us that folks are holding us accountable and looking to us for guidance. But at times, it feels like our candidate lose perspective and think that they’re the only one who’s unemployed, or that their skillset is so strong that they deserve a job.

The hard reality is that we can’t place everyone (though it’s our goal!). It’s not that we don’t want to help–quite to the contrary, that’s our driving motivation. We’re insanely service-oriented–check out Christina’s feedback for a few examples of the praise we’ve received.

We can’t be all things to all people. That’s obvious. In the cases where it’s not, trust that we’re taking the long-view, that we value every relationship, and that where we can, we’re helping folks in a variety of ways: career counseling, job placement, industry information, etc.

This is a collective movement towards a brighter, greener future. It will take time–for those willing to join us for the long haul, we look forward to an opportunity to work together to realize our common vision.

Penned by Christina
Everyday we see people giving out advice often in forms of lists – e.g. Get a Green Job in 3 Simple Steps! Though we admittedly sometimes do the same thing ourselves sometimes to make our advice digestible, it’s important to take this type of guidance with a grain of salt. As many of you have probably noticed, it takes much more than any 3 simple steps to find your way into a meaningful career.

Thus, I was delighted to receive an update from my new favorite blogger (and surprisingly, a marketer) Seth Godin, that highlighted this issue from a marketing perspective and can certainly be applied to the job search process.  It’s important to remember that it is rare to find a one-size-fits-all-solution to a complex problem.  You must look at your background, experience and personality and evaluate based on that how to make your impact.  Thus, be wary of simple solutions (especially those that have an “infomerical feel”) to solve all of your career woes.  It’s as true as ever that self-reflection and subsequent effort on your part is required.  Exactly what that effort entails is up to you to figure out…

On a side note, I was thrilled to see that who you are and not just what you have done is still managing to get some credit even in this economic environment from the Delta CEO.  Cheers to interesting, thoughtful and ethical individuals!