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Tip of the Week | Blog | Upcoming Events | What's New | About | Subscription
Welcome to the Green Career Tip of the Week
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Online Version of this Issue Green Career Tips Archive
Don't miss the Good Jobs Green Jobs Conference and Job Expo in Washington DC. Check out the Highlighted Events section for all the details.
Tap into your green community and build your green network. Read this week's tip to learn how motivation pays off.
Are you ready for help finding your green niche? Sign up for this great workshop on March 7th with Carol: Finding Your Green Niche Workshop.
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 Events: Good Jobs Green Jobs Conference and Job Expo
If you are in the Washington DC area, you don’t want to miss this opportunity!
The Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference is coordinated by the Blue Green Alliance, a partnership between the Steelworkers Union and the Sierra Club. They have partnered with a number of sponsors to bring awareness to the need to create green jobs that help the environment while giving workers good, well paying jobs.
The conference begins on February 4th with an Advocacy Day on Capital Hill.
The conference continues on February 5th and 6th with a wide variety of presentations and break out groups. When I attended this conference last year the line up included a number of innovative CEOs, elected officials, and green professionals. Review the entire schedule for all the details about this year’s lineup and the list of breakout workshops.
If you are looking for a green job, don’t miss the Job Expo, which is open to the public. Green Career Central will have a table in the Job Expo—please come introduce yourself!
Carol will be a panelist on the Green Career Expert Forum, talking about green careers—what they are, how you can find your green niche, and the best strategies for landing a green job. You’ll have two opportunities to hear Carol and the other panelists (Kevin Doyle, Jim Cassio, and John Esson) in the Job Expo Theatre at 10 am and at 1:20 pm on Thursday, February 5th.
Tip of the Week: Finding the People You Need to Know in the Green Economy - Part 1
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “It’s all in who you know.”
How are you doing building a green network in your area?
Are you struggling to find a way to tap into the green movement in your area? Are you afraid one doesn’t exist—that you are all alone in your green values and goals?
Although it’s true that it’s easier to connect with green causes in certain areas of the country, don’t make the assumption that it’s impossible to connect with others interested in global warming issues.
In this Green Career Tip of the Week, you’ll find four ways to tap into the green movement in your region. (In next week’s Green Career Tip of the Week, I’ll give you several networking groups you can join to expand your network.)
Local Community Opportunities
One of the most effective ways to enhance your visibility in your community is to get involved. Use these sites to find ways to plug into your local community.
The benefits will be many—you’ll build your green network, you’ll gain valuable skills, and you’ll collect experiences and projects to your resume. Volunteering even a few hours a month will pay off if you find volunteer opportunities that match your target green niche.
- Cool Cities –Sponsored by the Sierra Club, Cool Cities is working with communities all over the United States to help them take action to solve global warming. Check out the Cool Cities map to find a group near you! If you don’t see a group in your town, take the initiative to start a group in your region. The Cool Cities organization will provide training and support you in building a team.
- Focus the Nation – Each year Focus the Nation organizes a nationwide event. They describe their current efforts in this way:
“On April 18th, 2009, town-hall meetings across the country will explore local, regional and national solutions to the climate-energy challenge. These meetings will facilitate communication with elected officials and address the opportunities of the new energy economy.”
They are looking for volunteers in every district in the US and Canadian Provinces. Check it out!
If you are a student, your school may already have an active Focus the Nation group on campus. If you aren’t a student, look for community groups that are organizing a district meeting.
- Idealist – Use the volunteer area of the Idealist site to browse over 9500 opportunities listed on the site this week. You can narrow your search by a number of factors: keywords, area of focus, country, state/province, city/town, postal code, language, skills needed by organization, language needed by organization, and when will you be able to volunteer.
- Volunteer Match – Use your favorite green key words (green, recycling, environmental, energy efficiency, etc) and your location to search for relevant volunteer opportunities, non-profit organizations, and disaster relief opportunities. You can also mark the Search for Virtual Opportunities checkbox to find projects you can work on via computer. A great option if you have a tight schedule.
As you begin your volunteer activities, be sure to be mindful about your behavior “on-the-job.” If you want to leverage your connections to discover green job openings, you want to make sure those you volunteer with see you as dependable, reliable, and responsible.
You’ll also want to network actively with other volunteers. Collecting business cards is only the first step. After you have contact information, reach out to set up a time to talk, by phone or in person. When you have the opportunity to meet with a new contact, be sure to do as much listening as you do talking. Listen to their story, their passion, and their work. By learning a larger picture of who they are, you’ll be able to connect them with resources that will help them meet their goals. They in turn will think of you when resources cross their path.
To make the most of your networking, be sure you have a clear, concise way to describe your target green niche. If you aren’t completely clear about your target green niche, describe what you do know about your interests. Prepare a few questions you want to ask your new contact. Beware…if you can answer a question with a quick Google search, you probably aren’t served by asking that question of your new contact. Instead, do your own web research and then ask your contact’s perspective of what you’ve discovered. (See last week’s Green Career Tip for more information about how to ask the right questions.)
Copyright © 2009 Transition Dynamics Enterprises, Inc.
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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.
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