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Welcome to the Green Career Tip of the Week
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Online Version of this Issue Green Career Tips Archive
Just came back from the Solar Living Institute’s Green Career Conference at UC Berkeley. What a content-rich event! So many interesting speakers and panels to learn from. We thoroughly enjoyed talking with people about their green career ideas and frustrations. To all the Green Career Central members who said hello, it was great to meet you face-to-face! We also want to welcome those who have joined us as a result of the conference. Welcome!
This is the last week to get great deals on Green Career Central membership! Check out the Highlight Announcement section for more information.
Do you want a green job, but you're not ready to make the transition? This week's tip gives you six things you can do now to prepare you for your green job of the future.
Did you get a f.r.e.e month on the Green Career Central site this week? Scroll down to see if the beginning of your email is next to the treasure chest. We do this every week!
Highlighted Announcement
Are You Ready to Discover Your Green Career?
Don’t miss this great opportunity to become a member of Green Career Central at our lowest rates.
We are hearing more and more indications that the green economy is among the top issues President Elect Barack Obama is thinking about and planning for during this transition time.
Even though we don’t know all of the specifics, now is the right time to start your discovery journey. Be ready to jump into the green economy when the time is right!
If you’ve been thinking of becoming a member of Green Career Central, join before December 1 for the best prices!
Your special rate when you join by November 30th - $14.00 / mo. (plus first two weeks are free). New Monthly rate starting December 1st - $19.00 / mo.
Your special rate when you join by November 30th - $99.00 – and this is a One Year Membership! (plus first two weeks are free). New Six-Month rate starting December 1st - $95.00
Learn more about becoming a Green Career Central member.
Ready to Join? Join Green Career Central Here.
Tip of the Week: Six Ways to Move Your Green Career Forward While Keeping Your Current Job
Does the current state of the economy have you rethinking your goal to transition into a green career?
It’s true that now may not be the best time to quit your current job, but that doesn’t mean you have to abandon your green career goal.
In fact, there may be a bit of a silver lining to this unexpected pause in implementing your plans.
Six Ways to Move Your Green Career Forward
While you have a little extra time before you make your move into a green career, use your time wisely to enhance your knowledge and your position for when the economy picks up again.
1) Read what you can about the green economy in general and your target green industry/profession. If you have the time, pick up a book. If you don’t have much time, focus on reading online sources such as blogs or newsletters (Get Your Green News! Stay Informed). If you find a source of information that’s specific to your target green industry/profession, begin reading it on a regular basis.
2) Build your network of green contacts. Reach out to your immediate friends. Ask them if they know anyone who is interested in green/sustainability/social responsibility issues. When you discover a new contact, ask for an email introduction and then follow up to connect with the new contact. Ask if they’d like to meet or set up a phone appointment. At this point you aren’t asking for a job, your main focus is to learn more about what they do and how they work.
You can also share where you are in your quest for a green career. State your status with as much clarity as you can. Don’t burden them with your confusion. It’s not their job to resolve your confusion and if you focus too much on your confusion it may leave them with a less than positive impression of you. If you are unclear about your direction, that’s fine. Frame it that you are exploring your options within this industry and that industry. If you have a specific question you can ask to gain more understanding of one of your target industries, be sure to ask it.
3) Learn a new skill. With extra time on your hands, this is a perfect time to take a course. Check the course catalog at your local community college. Explore the offerings of your industry/profession association. Do an online search to discover what online learning opportunities are available to you. Look for specialized training in your field. Investing this time and energy shows future employers that you are willing to commit your own time to furthering your career.
4) Get involved in your city/region. One of the most productive things you can do is to find a way to get involved with an organization in your local area. You might explore whether there’s a community organization focusing on green issues in your city. (If there’s not, consider stepping up and pulling one together!) Or look at the non-profits in your area to determine whether any of them share your values and goals. Volunteer at first. If you like it, then look for ways you can take on more responsibility. This action gives you several benefits: you gain accomplishments and affiliations you can add to your resume, you meet people in your region who are committed to making a difference, you learn new knowledge and skills that you’ll use again in your career, and you can test the waters to evaluate how well this topic, work setting, or goal fits your interests and needs.
5) Get involved in your current company. If you are working in a company that is open to greening their business practices, you may have a built in opportunity to gain valuable experience and accomplishments for your resume. If you can, choose a project that is aligned with your target interests. Make an effort to participate as much as possible. Take on a leadership role if possible. I’ve heard of more than one person who has been able to step into a green position in their company because they became known in the company as someone who was committed to green initiatives. It doesn’t hurt that you are likely to meet others within your company who share your values.
6) Find a part time internship –even if it is unpaid. If you are fairly close to identifying you target green career, you may want to find a way to test drive your idea. One option you might consider is finding an established internship or negotiating to create an internship where you can begin gaining the skills, experience and contacts that will help you in your ultimate transition into your green career. If possible, negotiate an internship where you can keep your full-time employment. Think project work that you can do independently from your own home office. Even a project that lasts for a month is better than no internship at all! You never know how a short term internship will open up opportunities in the future.
I know it’s sometimes hard to imagine how you can possibly fit more activities into your busy life. Do what you can. Be creative in exploring your options. Look for what will work, rather than what won’t work.
As your vision becomes clearer and more focused, you’ll find your passion and excitement will allow more openings and opportunities to become apparent.
Copyright © 2008 Transition Dynamics Enterprises, Inc.
"GCC's process was incredibly helpful in getting me started in a new career direction. The worksheets and brainstorming exercises in the What's Your Green Niche ebook helped me realize I already had the skills to launch a new green career. Today, less that four months later, I have a terrific salary doing business development for energy and environmental projects. Thanks to Green Career Central, my dream of merging my personal conviction with professional life came true."
-- Kelly Fergusson
Menlo Park Councilmember (Mayor, 2007) turned Business Development Manager of Energy & Environmental Solutions |
Are You Searching for Your Green Niche?
You know you want a green career, but do you know what you want to do in the green economy?
The key to discovering your green niche is pinpointing how to leverage your skills, passions, talents and experience to plug into the green economy.
When you know what part of the economy you want to target, you’ll have an entirely new level of clarity. With that new clarity, your current level of overwhelm and confusion will decrease.
The What’s Your Green Niche eBook eBook takes you through a step-by-step process to determine your green niche. Here's a list of some of the things you'll gain as you work through this eBook. You'll:
- Create your personal definition of success.
- Discover how you know what you are drawn to.
- Develop a list of your 40 favorite skills and interests with the help of checklists.
- Brainstorm over 40 career ideas based on your favorite skills and interests in an hour or so.
- Narrow your career ideas to your top two ideas.
- Develop a plan to achieve your green career goals whether you want to return to school, launch your job search, or start your business.
Members - Download (part of membership)
Non-Members - $55.00 |
Green Career Central Blog:
Green Career Trends: Our trends this week include reducing power consumption in IT centers, a new move to have IT in charge of facilities, and a new way to make water purification more energy efficient.
WorldChanging’s Inaugurate Change Campaign: Check out WorldChanging’s campaign to ask Barack Obama to focus on climate change in his inaugural address. I’ve also included a link to Obama’s most recent weekly address video where he talks about green jobs as a cornerstone to his plan to get people back to work.
Membership Has Its Advantages!
The discussion forum topic, audios, ebook, and articles listed below are available to members of GreenCareerCentral.com as a part of their membership. If you're not a member and would like to have immediate access, we'd love to have you join us now!
Green Career Central is a membership site with a comprehensive set of easy-to-use programs, resources, and events to help people achieve their green career dreams whether they want to find a green job, start a green business, or get a green education.
  
"Carol, thanks for your first Tip of the Week. Connecting with what I'm drawn to brought tears to my eyes and made me feel happy and excited. I now know what I'm looking for in my green career. I will continue to look to you and yours for support as I make my way forward. Thank you." -- Cheryl, Chicago, IL
Read what other members are saying about Green Career Central here....
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This Week's Drawing for a
30-Day Trial Membership: lesliemgershon
If this is the beginning of your email address, contact us with a subject line of "Trial Membership" and we'll tell you how to get signed up for your 30-day trial membership to GreenCareerCentral.com. You must reply within 2 weeks of the date of this newsletter.
Current Members...you didn't think we'd leave you out, did you? If you see the beginning of your email address, we'll add one more month to your membership.
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What's New at GreenCareerCentral.com
New Map of the Green Economy
As I was preparing for one of my presentations this month, I had an insight that allowed me to create a one page table that provides a broad-brush map of the green economy. Take a look. Let me know what you think. Hopefully this “work in progress” will provide you with some new insights about the options that are available within the green economy. We plan to keep working on this table, we’ll let you know when we have the next version for you.
Download the Green Career Map
Cool Green Career Interviews
One of the best ways to learn what's possible in the Green Economy is to hear from people who have green careers.
Check out these great interviews here.
Tips To Get You Moving Again
As you work through the steps on Green Career Central™, you are likely to feel stuck once in a while. When you feel stuck, you are on the edge of making a breakthrough-as long as you find a new way to look at your situation. The articles in this career step show you how to do just that.
Gain a different perspective by clicking here.
Did You Know...
...if you missed a Tip of the Week, you can read the archived publications?
Green Career Tips Archive
About Us
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Green Career CentralTM is a virtual career center for motivated professionals who are ready to find a green career that fully expresses their passions, skills, values, and talents.
Carol McClelland, PhD, founder and Executive Director of Green Career Central, has helped thousands of people discover their dream career through her book Your Dream Career For Dummies and her work with individuals, groups, and students. Together with her team of experts, researchers and writers, Carol has pulled together sixteen years of experience into a broad collection of how-to articles, resources, support, and teleclasses to help you find your way to make a difference and prosper.
Why not have the green career you've been dreaming of? You can struggle on your own or gain support throughout your journey. The decision is obvious ... Join Us Now!
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Copyright (c) 2007-2008. Transition Dynamics Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Green Career CentralTM is a trademark of Transition Dynamics Enterprises, Inc
PO Box 354, Menlo Park, CA 94026
650 322 8661 | Contact
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