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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
The Green Career Central Job Board is more than a place to hang your resume. Learn how the Green Career Central Job Board really makes a difference in this week's Highlight.
Books can be fun, informative, or both, but can they lead to getting hired in the green economy? Read this week's tip to learn why a little reading can help you to your green career.
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!
Highlight: Have you posted your resume on the Green Career Central Job Board yet?
With our robust job board system, you can:
- Post your resume anonymously--at no charge.
- Search the job postings.
- Bookmark job postings that are of interest to you.
- Create personalized job alerts that are e-mailed to you when positions that match your skills are added to the Job Board.
- Manage multiple versions of your resume and cover letter.
- Receive, review and respond to the inquiries from potential employers.
Check out the instructions and then click through to the job board.
(If you are a Green Career Central member, log in first and then click on the GCC Job Board button. As a GCC member, your resume will be marked with a small Green Career Central icon to show employers you are committed to finding a green job. Your resumes will be listed ahead of non-member resumes.)
Tip of the Week: Green Business Books to Boost Your Success
One of the keys to getting hired in the green economy is to be able to demonstrate your knowledge of green and sustainable concepts. Although you may, in some cases, need to take courses or get a degree, you also can significantly upgrade your knowledge by reading several well chosen books.
Seven Reasons to Read (or Listen to) Green Business Books on a Regular Basis
- Understand the impact of the problems we face locally, regionally, nationally, and globally
- Recognize how all the issues are interconnected
- Learn what commonly used phrases really mean
- Be inspired by innovative solutions that are available now
- Identify best practices and real life examples
- Follow the logic in detailed discussions of the pros and cons of this solution or that solution
- Demonstrate your knowledge in conversations and interviews
Our Recent Reading List
Check out these titles and summaries. Choose a couple you’d like to read or listen to. Be strategic and proactive by putting these on your to-do list or making these part of your job search/business start up plan.
In addition to gaining a lot of knowledge, I’m sure you’ll be inspired and motivated by any of these books.
- Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage by Daniel Esty and Andrew Winston
Reviewers on Amazon called this book the “Best Available Primer for Top Management” and an “Essential Book for Managers.” I’d take it one step farther. I think this book is essential reading for anyone who wants to work in a green/sustainable company. If you have time to read only one book, I’d choose this book.
Over a four year period, the authors conducted hundreds of interviews, searched out success stories, and identified initiatives that didn’t pan out. The goal of their book is to show businesses how combining environmental thinking and good business strategy makes for stronger businesses and a healthier planet.
In the book you’ll find:
- A very valuable discussion of the Top 10 Environmental Issues and the related business consequences. (If you only read that section, you’d increase your knowledge of why the problems we face are so critical to solve.)
- Their list of Top 50 “Wave Riders,” big name companies that are actively wrestling with environmental issues as part of their business strategy. These are companies you’ve heard of. You can see their initiatives in action. A great source of case studies for learning and justifying green actions on the job.
- The eight fundamental strategies and three business tools that companies are using to reduce their environmental impact while also making their companies more viable.
- Thirteen reasons companies fail in their implementation of environmental sound measures. (What can you learn here to help your next employer?)
- Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution by Paul Hawken, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins
Based on an article for the Harvard Business Review, this book that was first published in 1999 and more recently re-released in 2008, is another must-read for anyone who wants to work in the green/sustainable economy.
Based on the principle that business can improve its bottom line while solving environmental problems, the book is a “blueprint for sustainable development.” We must change our ways and reduce the environmental messes created by the last industrial revolution. To illustrate their points, the authors use real world examples and talk about companies that are already using the Natural Capitalism model successfully.
By reading this book, you’ll understand:
Why it’s important to value natural capital as well as human capital. (Hint: When we put a value to our natural resources, we’ll pay more attention to how we use them or misuse them.)
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Four core business strategies already being adopted by the most innovative corporations across the globe.
- Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things by William McDonough and Michael Braungart
Although published in 2002, long before the Inconvenient Truth documentary opened our eyes to the threat of climate change, Cradle to Cradle is still a seminal book in the field of industrial design.
Their premise is manufacturing systems that grew out of Industrial Revolution produce a variety of unintended consequences in the form of waste and pollution. By designing with the intelligence of natural systems in mind we can create products, industrial systems, buildings, even regional plans that allow nature and business to co-exist.
The cradle to cradle phrase means that products can be used, recycled, and used again without losing any material quality. Their goal is to create zero waste; any waste becomes an input in another process.
Even if you aren’t an industrial designer, you may want to familiarize yourself with these concepts to gain a better grasp of why this way of thinking is important in any setting.
- Biomimicy: Innovation Inspired by Nature by Janine Benyus
Biomimicry is a revolutionary new science that encourages biologists, designers, architects, manufacturers and engineers to come to the same design table to discover bio-inspired solutions to problems in the built environment. In her book, Benyus proposes "ten lessons" that companies, cultures, or economies can use to promote a healthier existence for all of us. Why use exploitive and toxic technologies and materials when nature has elegant, naturally non-toxic solutions for many of the design issues we face.
Janine is passionate about this work. Her examples are fascinating and inspiring. Her work will help us live more sustainably on the planet. In the book she introduces us to scientists and researchers who are applying nature's ingenious solutions to the problem of human survival: analyzing how spiders manufacture a waterproof fiber five times stronger than steel; studying how electrons in a leaf cell convert sunlight to fuel in trillionths of a second; discovering miracle drugs by observing what animals eat -- and much more.
- Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – And How It Can Renew America by Thomas Friedman
This book is about the big picture, the global picture, of the state of the planet as a whole. In the book Thomas Friedman talks about climate change (hot), globalization (flat), and over population (crowded). Although each one of these issues is far-reaching enough to impact our planet, the combination has some extra punch that demands our attention…NOW!
Although this book isn’t specific to business, it lays out the issues through stories and examples around the world.
- The first half of the book describes the issues that got us where we are now.
- The second half of the book offers ideas on how we can move forward.
In addition to these general titles, I recommend that you also do a search on titles that are relevant to your specific profession or industry. Remember, the more you immerse yourself in your target profession/industry, the easier it will be to ace your interview!
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:
Van Jones Appointed to Position on White House Council on Environmental Quality: We extend our congratulations to Van Jones, founder and former Executive Director of Green For All, who has been asked to join the White House as an expert on green jobs!
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: mnorman
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 Industry Profile
This week we add our first installment in the Geosciences area, with an overview of the entire field and an in depth description of Geography. Next week we’ll add more in depth resources for Geology, Geophysics, and Geodesy. Overall, these various areas of the geosciences focus on four spheres: the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, the atmosphere, and the biosphere. You can think of these as the studies of rocks, water, air, and life.
Geosciences
Take Action on Your Green Career Goal
Are you looking for some ideas on how you can move yourself forward toward your green career goal? At this link you’ll find suggestions whether you are looking to
...Green Your Job
...Give Back
...Green Experience
...Green Education
...Green Job Search
...Green Business
Feeling Stuck? Learn How to Move Forward
It’s not a matter of if you will get stuck during your search for your green career; it’s a matter of when. When you are feeling stuck, visit this section of our site to read articles that will help you find new ways to look at your situation. It’s likely you’ll find something to shift you focus.
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
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