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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
In the Northwest? Come see us at the Better Living Home, Garden, and Lifestyle Show in Portland. Read the Highlighted Event section for more details.
Do you sometimes feel that without an engineering degree, you'll have a hard time finding a green job? Read this week's tip to discover why green business needs you too.
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 Event
Come see us in Portland, Oregon at the Better Living Home, Garden, and Lifestyle Show at the Portland Expo Center. The focus of the expo is living a sustainable lifestyle.
We’ll be exhibiting at the Green Job Fair on Friday, March 27th from Noon to 4 pm. The employers exhibiting at the job fair want to make a difference in a way that benefits the environment. Check back to see the employers who will be at the job fair.
The Expo itself continues on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is Fr.ee. Find all the details on the Expo site.
Tip of the Week: Where, Oh Where, Are the Non-Technical Green Careers?
Last week we wrote Where Are the Green Jobs? Maps Are Worth Ten Thousand Words. For the most part, those maps showed the location of Cleantech companies as well as companies focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency.
But what about the jobs that aren’t so technical? They are out there, but you may need to take a slightly different tactic as you search them out.
Can You List the Top Ten Green Careers?
I’m often asked to answer a question like this. Although I’ll answer this question if pushed, I find lists like this provide a very limited view of the green economy.
Here’s my thinking.
- Most of the jobs within the green economy have the same job titles they have in the traditional economy. You aren’t going to be able to spot them just by their title. Marketing/Finance jobs within a green industry or company are examples.
- Furthermore, each industry had a full range of job titles…and by green career researcher, Jim Cassio’s analysis there are over 125 green industries…so trying to pinpoint a handful of job titles as the hot careers feels insufficient.
- What’s the best job for one person might be the worst job for another person, even when they have similar skills.
What Can I Do If I’m Not Technical?
Although the industries getting the press at the moment are technical/scientific in nature, don’t despair.
Here are several ways you can see yourself in the green economy.
- As the green industries mature, they are going to need all the functions that thriving companies in the traditional economy need
- Managers
- Marketing
- Sales
- Operations
- Human resources
- Training and development
- Finance
- There are also a number of functions that can be directed toward green efforts in just about any green industry.
- Advocacy
- Policy
- Law
- Regulation
- Writing
- Public relations
- Education
- We must also remember the green services that play a part in the green economy.
- Real estate
- Hospitality
- Travel
- Printing
- Cleaning
- And more
What’s My Next Step?
If you want to fulfill one of these non-technical roles within the green economy, use the following steps as your map.
- Take a look at you favorite skills, experience, and education to determine the parts of your past you can leverage to move into the green economy. (If you need some help with this, you’ll want to work through the What’s Your Green Niche ebook…see details below.)
- Pay attention to your interests and passions within the green economy. What green industry interests you most?
- Identify what you need to learn about your target industry to contribute within your skill set.
- Target companies in your area that are mature enough to hire someone with your talents. If you can’t find companies that are ready to hire you full time, consider whether there’s enough business to launch a consulting company.
- If the timing isn’t quite right, use the intervening time to build your skills, strengthen your network, and gain knowledge about your target industry.
Copyright © 2009 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: This week we discussed the AlwaysOn GoingGreen East 50, a list of the top green cleantech companies in the Eastern US, we also noticed how corporations are creating a sustainability employment track to the top spot, Chief Sustainability Officer and how the City of San Francisco wants to get started generating renewable energy by harnessing the power of waves and tides.
International Greenhouse Gas Measurement Symposium, March 22-25, 2009 – Interested in learning more about how upcoming regulatory changes will impact th green economy and open up new green job opportunities? Take a look at this blog post.
Green Career Central Founder On KGO-AM Radio March 8th: Carol was on Marty Nemko's career makeover radio show on KGO AM.
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.
  
"My New Business Startup: It's a hard to find an investment these days that pays for itself many times over but the annual fee for joining Green Career Central is certainly worth every penny. The process laid out is structured and easy to follow. It takes you through the steps to get a truer understanding what your interests and skills are and makes you excited about researching your career options, while giving you a sense of progress and accomplishment. The weekly tips and "how to" resources on the website are time saving and are in of themselves an invaluable resource. Thanks Carol."
~WG Becoming an Energy Systems Consultant
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: ugly_48
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
Industry Profile
We’ve just added even more depth to our Ecology Industry Profile. Interested in learning more about Agroecology, Conservation Biology, and Environmental Chemistry? Click through to read more.
Explore Your Green Career Options
If you’ve identified your green niche, then your next step is to investigate your target industry. At this link you’ll find time effective ways to investigate your green niche.
Identify Your Green Niche
If you’ve just become a member this is your #1 destination! This step will help you determine what you want to do within the green economy.
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) 2007-2009. 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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