Penned by Christina

As applicants feel more and more desperate in applying to jobs, the old adage about quality over quantity holds truer than ever.  As you job search, consider that it is better to narrow your search to those positions that you are really interested AND those that you are actually qualified for.

These days, most positions are being filled with those that hit all the requirements and then some. I most certainly believe in aiming high and definitely don’t want to be a Debbie Downer, but being realistic about positions in the current job market will save you effort and should better your chances of getting the positions that you do apply for.

Consider a couple points to keep in mind as you’re searching:

• Do you fit the job description? If the job description lists 3-5 years experience of Smart Grid technology as a requirement and you are just graduating from undergrad, that is likely not a good match for you and by applying you may come across as lacking judgment. (Certainly, an unfortunate biproduct.)
• If you do fit, make it obvious!  Trying to match your background to the requirements shouldn’t be a game of memory for the hiring manager.  The less work you create for him, the better the chances that your resume will be read closely.  Mapping your skills to the job requirements is important – see Raj’s previous post.  You can do this well by really understanding what the position entails which yes, will require research, networking, etc.
• Keep cover letters short and applicable.  Again, this is a great place to highlight specifically how your background matches the requirements to be successful in the position, but if it’s too long, the reader will skim and value will be lost.

Next week: how to narrow and maximize your networking.

If you want to learn more about this in a personalized career coaching session, let us know – we’d be happy to help!

Happy St. Patty’s Day – our favorite Bright Green holiday.  If you’re celebrating, follow Tom’s example and be safe and be green!

Penned by Christina

“Should I go back to school to do a sustainable MBA program?”

I hear this question a lot.  And by a lot, I mean A LOT.  People are not just wondering about sustainable MBA programs but also whether they should enroll in a part-time program, certification class or just enroll in classes on a one-off basis in areas such as renewable energy, green/social marketing, engineering or environmental science.  If you are finding yourself in this position, remember that making educated decisions about educating yourself are made by educating yourself!  In other words, arm yourself with as much information as possible to make the best decision based on YOUR situation.

For example if you are interested in pursuing some sort of management or MBA program, consider:

Are you interested and in a position to pursue a full- or part-time program?

a) If you are interested in doing a full-time program, do some research and get on the email lists of programs you find interesting so you at least start receiving their announcements.  The Aspen Institute’s Beyond Grey Pinstripes Global 100 rankings is a great place to begin.

b) If you feel that you are more inclined to pursue a part-time program, you need to look around and find out what’s available in your area.  Here at BGT, we were very excited to see UC Berkeley Extension’s spring schedule that included a number of classes within the Environmental and Sustainability Management program.

Do you NEED to go to school or not?

Tricky to answer, I know.  The best way to determine this is to talk to as many people as you can who currently work in what you want to do and ask them what they think.  The more of them you talk to you, the better overall picture you should be able to paint to determine how necessary schooling is for you. 
It’s also important to talk to people who are in the programs you are looking at.  (The administrative or admissions offices should be able to connect you to those people.)  Why did they choose that program?  How do they feel now that they are in it?  What are they going to do when they are done?  Do they feel that they couldn’t have done that without enrolling?

Finally, if you were to go back to school, will you be motivated, excited and capable to get the most out of the experience?

No matter what type of class or program you enter, you will get out what you put in.  Will you be excited to be there or will you just be “going through the motions?”  As a good friend of mine who now works at GE within Ecomagination recently told me, going back to do the dual MBA/MS program at U of Michigan was the, “best decision of my life.  I never thought more clearly…the program gave me a second chance at life…though it is only what you make of it.”

I understand that answering these questions could potentially confuse you even more, but I also know that avoiding them will certainly not put you in a better position!

Penned by Carolyn

Christina and I spent Tuesday morning at LaidOff Camp, an “unconference” aimed at helping unemployed people network and strategize about their job search and next steps. Around 500 people showed up at the first of these conferences – a whole slew of others are being planned around the country.

We had the chance to give a workshop on transitioning into the green sector. After giving some tips on where to start researching, networking, and learning, we turned to one of our favorite topics — paying it forward. At Bright Green, we’re trying to revolutionize the job search by educating jobseekers and connecting them with great, green opportunities. However, we can’t place everyone that comes to our door into a job, so we want you to realize the power you have to find a job and help others do so too. As we’ve discussed before, it’s really hard to find a job wholly on your own — you have a much better shot if you get a referral or meet someone and have an “in” with the company. Doing someone a favor by connecting them with a friend or acquaintance might not pay off for you right now, but we believe that it will come back around when you’re in need in the future. Simply put: create good will, create opportunity.

To facilitate this favor exchange, we used the “post-it exercise,” where everyone wrote a question or interest on a post it that they left on the wall. We encouraged people to check out those post-its during the day, and, if they felt they could help, to leave an email address. The hope is that everyone can pick up their post-it at the end of the day and have a group of folks to reach out to as they move their job search forward.

If you have success stories from “paying it forward” in your jobsearch, please leave us a comment –  we’d love to hear them!

Here are photos taken by Steve Rhodes. You can find the rest by searching Flickr for “brightgreentalent.com.”

Penned by Christina

I have spent the last few weeks addressing those of you wanting to get into sustainability consulting. When it comes down to it, these jobs are relatively few in number. However, don’t despair: there are an unlimited number of other ways to have a positive impact through your work. Thus, I am thrilled to move on this week to talk about those other ways.

If you haven’t done this already, take a step back and consider where is it that you can have the greatest impact. I mentioned a book last week (Tempered Radicals: How Everyday Leaders Inspire Change at Work by Deborah Meyerson) that focuses on individuals creating change “from the inside” by successfully balancing a passion for radical change with an ability to conform to the norms of an organization. I have met a number of people from organizations such as The Gap, Whole Foods and Ford that have told me stories about how being a “tempered radical” in those organizations allowed them to bring about significant sustainability changes and initiatives. (Stay tuned as we bring you interviews with some of these people in the coming weeks!)

1. If you are currently employed, look around and take action! Whatever organization you’re in, whether it’s 5 people or 5,000, there are likely countless ways for you to carve out a sustainability-oriented project. Look for inefficiencies — people leaving the lights on, no composting, excessive airplane travel… and think about constructive, cost-effective ways to change these practices in your company. Sure, these projects might have to be done on your own time (ie, you’re not paid for them), but that’s worth it because it gets things moving in the right direction at the organization and it provides you with a project to talk about in the future – if you think about it, creating change from within a non-green organization is actually much harder than working on sustainability initiatives from within a green company. (Not to mention, “displaying initiative” is always a good thing…) And if things go really well who knows…that side project could grow into a full-time position! (It has happened.)
2. If you do have experience in a traditional discipline such as accounting or marketing, you may be able to impact a company, whether it is the one you currently work for you or another, by figuring out where you can infuse sustainability principles. (For example if you are an accountant, volunteering to help with your company’s CSR report or GRI initiative will get you plenty of exposure to a growing field.) This can be very effective but certainly requires you to do some homework to determine how to make that happen.
3. Whether you’re employed or not, it’s a great time to (strategically) volunteer. Look at organizations that are aligned with your dream job and start networking to get in there as a volunteer. Non-profits need a lot of help, given recent cuts in donations and funding. And remember, this is not limited to non-profit organizations. You should pitch a project proposal rather than just offer you time since this benefits you in two ways:

• You are more likely to be selected (since many organizations are being inundated by offers to work for free.)
• You are more likely to get a substantive project that you can utilize later in your job search.

Check out the Taproot Foundation, a great organization that matches folks with non-profit volunteer opportunities. Also, to move into solar, check out Grid Alternatives.

If you have other ideas about how to create change “from the inside” or success stories of doing so, feel free to post them here! More ideas next week.

Penned by Christina

“Don’t think of climate change as an environmental issue; think of it as a market issue. In fact, you can remain agnostic about the science of climate change but still recognize its importance as a business issue.”*

As individuals from all kinds of backgrounds and industries push into the field of sustainability consulting, it can become murky as to what that work even entails. This is especially true when considering the different perspectives and methodologies that are employed and adding even more complexity is the variability among clients and their needs. Thus, this quote sums up for me what sustainability consultants are trying to do – they help businesses address and redress the way in which they operate so that they will be better positioned for the market of the future a la decreasing their negative impact on the natural environment. Some argue that like the trends of international business and e-commerce, sustainability will at some point cease to be its own discipline and assume its rightful place within all of business practices. (At which time sustainability consultants will become just “consultants” and we can never have enough of those!)

I am often asked to rattle off sustainability consulting firms so I decided to do just that right here (not an exhaustive list!):

Large Firms with a Growing Sustainability Practice
- Deloitte
- Accenture
- BCG
- McKinsey & Company

Well-Established, Boutique Firms
- Business for Social Responsibility
- Blu Skye Consulting
- Green Order
- SustainAbility
- Natural Capitalism, Inc.
- Natural Logic
- Ecosecurities

Lesser-Known, Boutique Firms
- InterfaceRAISE (offshoot from well-known sustainability pioneer Interface, Inc.)
- Domani
- Strategic Sustainability Consulting
- Business Evolution Consulting
- Green Squad (Waste Management endeavour)
- Garretson Group (now Pinyon Partners LLC)
- Five Winds International
- Cameron-Cole

There are countless others – not to mention (though I guess I am) many firms that have traditionally focused in environmental consulting (more on the compliance and regulatory side), marketing, law, PR, etc. that are building out sustainability practices and showing up at events such as the Sustainable Brands Conference or Net Impact’s National Conference. If you have friends or a network rooted in a “traditional” field, you should reach out to them to talk with them about what those plans might be. At best, it positions you for the future and at worst, you further educate yourself on where this field is and is NOT going by giving you a sense of the ubiquity of these ideas from an industry and geographical perspective.

I also know of a number of people who have ventured out to create their own sustainability practices. This takes an established network, an ability to display salient work experience, a salesperson’s tenacity and potentially some savings in the bank so you’re not sleeping on the street in between gigs. This is a tough path to forge but if you have all of the above, it is certainly possible…I’ve seen it!

Finally, the lack of a specific definition for what sustainability consulting IS also probably adds to its attraction — it’s easy to think, “Hey, I can help a company turn off its lights more or use fewer plastic water bottles.” Next week, I’ll talk more about the specific skills that are important if this is indeed the type of work you want to do. Through outlining those skills, you should be able to evaluate whether sustainability consulting is really where you fit best or whether there is a different space where your skill set and background is a better fit AND you can still have the impact you want.

* “Climate Change: What’s Your Business Strategy?” by Andrew J. Hoffman and John G. Woody. I recommend this book as it serves as a crash course highlighting the major issues that companies should be considering to be better positioned for the future. It’s a quick read as it is a part of the Memo to the CEO series. (In the interest of full disclosure, one of the authors was my adviser at the University of Michigan and The Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise.)

Penned by Christina
Over the coming weeks, I will cover various topics on what you can do to find a job within the sustainability/green job space. I am a graduate of the University of Michigan’s Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise where I completed an MBA and MS in the School of Natural Resources & Environment. Obviously that doesn’t make me an expert on this weighty topic, but having the academic background coupled with the practical experience I get everyday talking to both our clients and candidates (and friends!) hopefully provides me with the perspective to be able to give salient advice to those of you who happen to be looking for it…

Big Picture Impressions

Over the last few months, many job seekers and job “inquire-ers” have asked me for my impressions of when green companies will start hiring and in which specific sectors will the highest demand be. As you might imagine, this is a bit difficult to predict but in my efforts to be helpful, I have tried my darn-dest to do so! For those of you with whom I have not had the pleasure of speaking with, here’s what I CAN tell you:

Realistically, this is a difficult time to be job hunting (be it within the sustainability realm or otherwise) since the economic situation has ensured that there are fewer jobs to be had while the number of people looking is increasing exponentially. Thus, the hard truth is that if you are looking for a job today, you must think long-term as to what you can do right now to better position yourself for that moment in time when the economy does begin to pick up and with it, the sustainability agendas of companies. And here at BGT, we do believe that the first sectors/jobs to feel the uptick will specifically be those operating in the green space.

So. Depending on your current employment situation, it is critical to consider what you can do in the short-term to better position yourself for the long-term. I know that seems vague but in the coming weeks I will attempt to hone in on what that means depending on your current situation and where it is that you are trying to get.

Starting from the Basics

Our first piece of advice is always to be informed — legitimacy is extremely important in the green space, which has battled greenwashing over the past several years. I know there are an overwhelming number of websites out there that provide information and guidance in the sustainability realm so I would like to point out some of our favorites to begin and/or continue your research and networking efforts:

• greenbiz.com
• makower.typepad.com
• treehugger.com
• dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com
• grist.org

For basic education on topics of the environment and sustainability, this site is often useful (and a personal favorite): gristmill.grist.org/skeptics

Next week I will begin to dissect the sometimes-elusive world of sustainability consulting and provide some thoughts on what you can do to try to get yourself in the door of the firms doing that kind of work. Until then, keep up the good work – we need you all!