We just started using Scribd to post our documents, such as a sample resume and our extensive interview preparation packet. Log in to our Greenhouse to access the others!
[scribd id=15629617 key=key-2929zxlc3buxgg8qptz3]
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
Stick to your routine. Do you usually work-out in the mornings or wear a suit to work?! If so, keep doing it! The NYT agrees with this one.
Set-up an ASG* (Accountability Support Group.) If you have friends or acquaintances also looking for a job, set up a “check-in group” to bring structure and accountability into the process. You’d be surprised how motivating it is to have a friend ask you, “So did you call those 3 people you said you would?”
Stay positive. I know you have heard this about 1000 times but for the 1001st time, I’d like to add that you should find something that is uplifting that you can come back to as needed. That could mean joining a soccer league that gets you out running around on grass and really feeling the “team spirit” again. But it can be even simpler that that… My own personal choice for a 5 minute pick-me-up is listening to a story or two from This I Believe on NPR. Hearing others share stories of dealing with obstacles much more harrowing than your own can put your own situation in perspective, help you feel grateful for all that you DO have and restore your energy to keep on keepin’ on! Try a few and see how you feel! (Send me your favorites!)
* Don’t worry, this is a made-up acronym…you aren’t behind on some fancy new lingo or anything.
Since February, we’ve been putting out daily advice for green jobseekers. If you’re new to our blog or want to poke around in a specific topic, here’s a nearly-complete list of our advice posts. Have a look around!
General:
Bright Green Talent’s 5 Ways to Ramp up your Job Search
Getting Oriented to Go Green
Getting Radically Tempered: Creating Change from the Inside
Paying it Forward
To School or Not to School?
Job Search Tip: Quality over Quantity to Keep Your Sanity
Linking People and Planet: Our Partnership with Solar Richmond
“Oh no, please don’t make me NETWORK!”
Sustainability Consulting:
Sustainability Consulting: What is it, and am I qualified? Part I
Sustainability Consulting: What is it, and am I qualified? Part II
Career Transitioning:
Perspectives from a Green Career Transition-er
To School or Not to School?
Getting Oriented to Go Green
Getting Radically Tempered: Creating Change from the Inside
Engineering:
Renewable Energy Inroads
Solar Opportunities to Match your Skill Set
Solar Classes and Certifications
Students and Recent Grads:
The Real Deal on Green Jobs for Students and Recent Grads
Get Skills; Get Savvy Part I
Get Connected (Networking 101)
How Not to Be a Jobseeker Horror Story
Resume Boot Camp I
Resume Boot Camp II
Resume Boot Camp III
Get Linked(In)
Networking:
“Oh no, please don’t make me NETWORK!”
Get Connected (Networking 101)
Get Linked(In)
Career Coaching:
Here to Help: BGT Launches Career Coaching
Career Coaching: Launch is a Success!
Kudos to Christina: Career Coaching Feedback
Tom’s (Rules of) Thumb
Green Jobs: The Definitive Article
Top Skills for Getting a Green Job
What’s the Best Way to Find a Green Job?
Twit Your Way to a Green Job
On Eco-preneurship
Penned by Tom
At Bright Green Talent, we’re always concocting new ways to help out our community. We’re not your typical recruiting company — we want to build lasting relationships with both clients and candidates and help you in the years to come as you settle into your green career.
Here are some ways you can engage with us today and tomorrow:
1. If you haven’t yet, register your resume:
2. Sign up for career coaching.
3. Follow our blog and twitter!
4. Sign up for our new weekly tips, and register to enter the Greenhouse, our jobseeker resource center.
5. Refer a friend or fellow jobseeker to Bright Green Talent!
Penned by Nick
Yesterday, due to popular demand, we launched our Career Coaching service to offer individuals 1-on-1 consultations.
Choose your flavor — $57 for 30 minutes, or $97 for 60 minutes — and enjoy a generous, fun, professional portion of career counseling, courtesy of Bright Green Talent.
Though this announcement itself is hardly newsworthy, the back story on why we’ve brought this service to the fore, well, that’s worth delving into:
Recruiters live somewhere between lawyers and tax collectors on the professional reputation scale — nearly universally reviled, we’re ultimately seen as a necessary evil. Many charge too much for services that oftentimes seem unprofessional and unscientific. There’s little transparency in the industry, and even fewer firms have innovated in the sector.
Candidates also conventionally dislike recruiters. Most candidate-recruiter interactions feel like the exchange of a $1 bill: something done quickly in order to consummate a transaction, with little personal appeal. The industry’s ethics industry, are questionable at best. Having worked in the field for 15 months, I’ve seen enough to make a dead executive turn in his grave. “Bait and switch” tactics where recruiters say they have a candidate just to get a job order, only to then say “the candidate took another job, but I’ll find you another one” are rampant.
Bright Green Talent has always aimed to set new ethical and practical standards in the recruiting industry, building our practice around helping people find meaningful careers. With the launch of our Career Coaching service, we take another step in this direction. We’ve always been focused on building long-term relationships with candidates. By sharing with candidates what we’ve learned from sending folks on over 500 interviews in the last year, we hope to improve others’ chances of getting a green job, and also increase transparency in the field.
This is a small step towards a more personal, professional service. More importantly, we’re moving towards a more human practice that reconnects people with quality, practical information on green jobs in hopes that we can start putting people back to work.
To learn more or sign up, please visit www.brightgreentalent.com/career-coaching. As always, we’re happy to help.