For three years, I’ve run a green job placement agency in San Francisco: Bright Green Talent (shameless plug, apologies). So when San Francisco’s own Byron York broadsided green jobs — “whatever they are” — as poorly defined and understood by the very government financing and supporting them, I felt obliged to step in and ask a couple questions of Mr. York:

1) What’s your definition? And why are we debating this to begin with? Please, Mr. York, at a time of painfully high unemployment, lets not get caught on the semantics, and instead get behind the effort to put people back to work.
2) At a time of environmental devastation writ large, why shouldn’t we pursue green jobs? Green jobs — however they manifest themselves –- are part of the solution.

If Mr. York can’t decode “green jobs” by walking around San Francisco, then I’d invite him to join me for a day of volunteering with SF Rec and Park department, where he can get a first-hand view of what frontline green jobs look like across the economic spectrum — from volunteerism to gardening to high level management and strategy.

To those of you out there keeping the “green job” faith — rock steady. The tide’s turning, and green shoots are sprouting — it’s just a matter of time until the whole world comes to understand the impact green jobs can have on our economy, environment, and souls. And if you want to be on the frontlines of environmental change, join a generation of change makers finding new, more meaningful gigs at Job Rooster.

Here’s to being part of the solution…

Plenty of Advice…
It’s tough to avoid the influx of career advice these days – it seems to have infiltrated all my LinkedIn groups and there is no limit of people offering free webinars, paid events, etc. Through my coaching, I have had to re-work many resumes that people paid (top dollar!) to have created for them. And I am happy to report that at this point, I can sniff out a ‘professionally’ done resume which more often than not, is not a good thing since those resumes are often filled with phrases like:

- Self-Starter
- Top Performer
- High-Level Strategist
- Critical Thinker
- Strategic Visionary
- and the list goes on and on…

Ugh, Those Catch Phrases
Usually, my job involves parsing out which of these are truly and authentically, the main points that the individual is really ‘selling’ themselves on and then, figuring out how to weave those ideas into the content of the resume where these attributes can be tied to actual experiences rather than rattled off as list of attributes we would all love to have. Vindication arrived this week for me in the form of an article titled, “Catch Phrases That May Bust Your Resume,” arguing the same exact thing and I thought…Finally!!

How does this apply to you?
As is often the case, this issue is ubiquitous whether you are applying to jobs focused on sustainability, social impact or other. So I encourage you to take a look at your resume and consider:

- Are there words or phrases in there that don’t mean much?
- What do you REALLY want to convey to the reader and are you doing that by embedding those ideas where the work or experience happened?

If you put in the time to make your resume do all this, I can assure you, it will be much more powerful making the time invested well worth it!

So we’re out there trying to “save the earth” everyday with our work. And every April 22nd, we see this cornucopia of folks feed their message into our movement’s daily alms, and offer up a new way to help us in our mission. What’s most worrying to me is that a lot of folks are using today as little more than a public relations day.

We’ve debated this question of “authenticity” internally for years. There’s no easy answer. Ultimately I come down on the belief that however you become an environmentalist, it’s a good thing. If that happens through a corporate revivalist effort to greenwash products and services on Earth Day, but ultimately ends as you becoming the internal advocate for real change, then so be it. “The path is long and winding”, as we all know.

So with that in mind, our hope at BGT is that folks take a few minutes to think through their environmental commitment both today, and every day. Meditate on what it means to be green, and when you do next act, act with purpose and commitment. It’s a big task we’re undertaking, and many hands make light work. Lets just make sure that we’re all working together, daily, so that this dream of “saving the Earth” can become more than a catchphrase or one-day effort — we want saving the Earth to become a reality.

Here at Bright Green Talent, we’ve always aimed to do things a little differently - not just the way we go about business, but through the sectors we choose to work in. We want to try to have a positive impact through our efforts.

This is a fantastic piece of news in isolation. It is particularly fantastic for us because we helped the lead environmental organization lobbying the government find their Campaign Manager. Obviously, many, many people played a part in the creation of this reserve. Ours was a tiny contribution to the process. Perhaps another recruiting firm would have found someone just as good. Nonetheless, it’s stories like this that give us a glimpse of the way in which we’re able to help our clients achieve great things and change the world, one person at a time.

After a rough year of tough breaks for jobseekers, employers, and BGT, it’s a pleasure to see 2010 starting off so positively. We’ve been engaged on three separate executive searches — one pushing green education in Ohio, and two working to preserve marine fishery populations in New Zealand. Thrilling stuff, especially in light of Copenhagen’s stalemate. It appears the private sector is moving forward in the absence of any clear regulatory framework for environmental conversation.

That’s the quick update — just wanted to let folks know that the labor market appears to be opening up, and not to lose faith. As Harvey Dent says in The Dark Night: “The night is darkest just before the dawn.”

Let there be (green) light in 2010!

With the holidays rounding the corner, we wanted to offer you a present, which is our Green Job mega-guide. 50+ pages of the very best tips and tricks for finding a green job ready to download.

Download here for free (normally $10) - http://www.brightgreentalent.com/jobseekers/greenhouse

It was an impressive show this weekend at Ithaca, NY, where ~2,200 folks gathered for the annual Net Impact conference.

Adam Werbach gave a great talk on bringing sustainability to the masses — and finally connected to dots as to why Act Now! joined with Saatchi. I caught glimpses of a few other well received presentations, but the main event happened on the sidelines: this was, by far, the most networked, interactive conference I’ve attended in years. My hat goes off to Liz Maw and her team — well done.

General key takeaways from my perspective: green washing is dead, biofuels have been relegated to the fringes of the energy discussion, supply chains now dominate conversations at every level of corporations, and there’s an informal army of volunteers pushing progressive initiatives in companies nationwide.

If I left the conference with any reservations, it would relate to the fact that the majority of corporate sponsors/attendees present were Big Business, but didn’t seem authentically eco/socially-responsible. I heard a lot about “northstar goals” that are leading these companies to greater sustainability, but my gut said that it still felt a bit hollow.

From a personal stance, I believe this entire movement is about people finding purpose. If true, that core insight remains at the fringes of everyday corporate practices — it still seems to be about the bottom line, not the people helping you get there.

Though we’ve made progress, I think we’re at an inflection point where there’s much more to come. Hopefully it’s a completely different type of organization that integrates novel, meaningful best people practices at its core, and then builds the products and messages around the things that matter most. As they say, time will tell…

I’ve just returned from a month-long honeymoon, which was a breath of fresh air. The past two years at Bright Green Talent have been some of the most rewarding…and exhausting.

Upon returning, I’ve settled into the reality that two of our superstars on the team — Carolyn and Raj — have moved on. It’s humbling to work with such shining stars, and a stark reminder of how much you lean on talented colleagues when they’re finally gone.

Which brings me to what happens “when you’re not looking.” Being away for a month, I was pleasantly surprised to see that BGT continues to click on. Business has slowed, but we’ve seen a few placements and been reminded of how we can help others.

For those who continue to seek a more meaningful career — either through forced unemployment or while still working, I thought it worth reminding folks of how important it is to let your mind wander at times, think big thoughts about your future, and remember what we’re all working for. Though not always welcome, a bit of space from the working world can often be the very thing we need most.

Now, here’s to getting back to the grind.