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Online Version of this Issue Green Career Tips Archive Carol has some incredibly exciting news! Read the Highlighted Announcement to learn more! "Green Job" is used so much, but with so much growth and innovation has the definition changed? Check out this week's tip for an updated definition and more!
Highlighted Announcement: Finally…I Can Share My Big News After talking with my publisher on and off since August 2008, I can finally say I’m writing my next book! Green Careers For Dummies will be out in Jan 2010! My first chapter is due this week and my last chapter is due in mid-September. Between those two deadlines are another 22 chapters to write. I am very excited about this opportunity to create a book that is accessible to many readers here in the United States and around the world. The book will be useful to students, tradespeople, professionals, and career counselors. We’ll share more details as time goes by… It’s amazing to me how far Green Career Central has come.
More news next week.
Tip of the Week: What Counts as a Green Job: An Updated Definition
When I think through whether a job is green or not, I think about the intention or the goal of that position. In my mind, a “green” goal is one that helps the planet/environment in some way, whether directly or indirectly. This is my working list of green goals. (The underlined/bold words indicate additions above and beyond the White House Definition of green jobs.) Green Goals that Have a Direct Impact on the State of the Planet The jobs that incorporate these goals are critical to the well being of the planet. Some jobs may focus on just one of these goals while other jobs may tackle several of these goals at once. Companies and industries may focus on these goals as well.
Green Goals that Help Move the Green Economy Forward The jobs in this category have a more indirect impact on the planet. What they are doing is helping the green economy evolve. Don’t take these to have a secondary role, however. In many instances, the people in these jobs will be front runners, setting the stage for the green economy.
(As this is a working definition, I reserve the right to evolve these lists. In fact, while writing this newsletter I broke one list into two lists that reflect a direct and indirect impact on the planet. These are changes and enhancements that I have never articulated before. ) Why is Defining Green Jobs So Difficult – Reality Check I have several perspectives on this subject. Reality Check #1 – Look at All that Has Happened Since An Inconvenient Truth Was Released in 2006 Three years ago this month, before An Inconvenient Truth became part of our national and international psyche, very few people were talking about green jobs or green careers. When the documentary was first released in May 2006 and became the fourth highest grossing documentary to date, we were focused on changing our light bulbs. Now, less than three years later, look where we are! Think of the changes the nation and the world have gone through with respect to environmental thinking, climate change, and taking green actions. Reality Check #2 – We Are in the Early Stages of a New Industrial Revolution Thomas Friedman, author of Hot, Flat, and Crowded and Green: The New Red, White and Blue, says that we are on the cusp of another Industrial Revolution. As forces of the global economy, the population explosion, and the climate come together, it’s going to be critical that we evolve how we do business and how we live on the planet. We are running out of other options. An industrial revolution is not just a new industry showing up on the horizon. We are in the very early stages of an entirely new way of living and working. This transformation isn’t going to happen over night. It can’t. There are too many factors, too many unknowns, and too much innovation to be able to pull all that is going on into a tidy little package with a green bow on top! Out of curiosity, I did a little research on the “original” Industrial Revolution. There were actually a series of critical discoveries and shifts that took place:
Remember Henry Ford’s assembly line? That assembly line didn’t just pop up in full form as you might have imagined from what you learned in school. It was the culmination of 150 years of technological enhancements and discoveries. The push for efficiencies in production and economies of scale led to a series of incremental changes that ultimately created a huge economic breakthrough. The early stage discoveries and technological advances we are seeing in the green economy right now are just the tip of the iceberg (sorry, but icebergs are an important part of this story too!). We aren’t “there” yet. We don’t even fully comprehend yet where “there” is! I don’t think it’s a bad thing that we can’t define the final, ultimate “there” of the green economy. I think it’s a sign we are onto something big. In fact, I sincerely doubt that the people and generations who first invented a mechanized way to create fabric or steel could have accurately defined, counted and forecasted all of the jobs that would eventually be created as a result of their innovations. I bet they didn’t have clear job descriptions of these jobs either. In an even more ironic twist of fate, I really doubt they could have anticipated that their actions back in the 1700’s, 1800’s, and early 1900’s would create the drastic circumstances that are now fueling the new Green Revolution. Reality Check #3 – The Green Economy Is Evolving and Will Continue to Evolve for Decades to Come If you are looking for the green economy to be in that tidy little package with the green bow on top…the one where
You may be in for some surprises. We (politicians, career counselors, journalists, states, companies, economists) don’t have a clear, crisp definition of green jobs yet. We can’t. We are an economic age in motion. Technologies are evolving in front of our eyes and will continue to do so at a much faster rate than in the earlier Industrial Revolution. Multiple factors are coming together at this time to shift the way we interact with each other and the Planet. This is not the time to stop, block, or prevent the flow of this evolution. This is the time to facilitate the flow. Be alert. Prepare yourself for the future. Be nimble. Be ready to jump when your passions, skills, experience, and education are exactly what is needed to move the green economy forward.
Copyright © 2009 Transition Dynamics Enterprises, Inc.
Green Career Trends: This week we explore whether going green really saves money, how solar companies are using innovations to save money, and what various car companies are up to these days. Follow the Green Money: Discover where Google is investing, where the stimulus funds are going, and where venture capital funding bright spots are.
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
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What's New at GreenCareerCentral.com New Industry Profile Industrial Ecology offers insight into how we can use natural ecosystems as models for improving our design of industries, processes, products and services, from including materials procurement, production, delivery, usage and disposal. Green Career Central Discussion Forum
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