Follow the Green Jobs Road

In the spirit of Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz, following the green jobs road to the Emerald City (gosh, green again!) may be a strategy for re-inventing your career. Jobs in renewable energy, hydropower, fuel cells, and biofuels are just a few of the industries involved in the continuing creation of green-collar jobs. An array of industries, such as pollution control and waste reduction, organic farming, clean manufacturing, alternative fuels, and the smart grid and energy efficiency all will impact the green revolution.

While many of these jobs require technical or professional training, there will be openings at all levels and job functions. Every burgeoning or established green company or organization needs staff in finance, sales and marketing, and human resources, for example, to be viable. Think about how your career could transfer to the industries involved in the green sector. Here are some useful resources:

1. April 2009 Reach Personal Branding Interview Series “How to Green Your Career” with Frank Marquardt, author of A Guide to Green Careers. This complimentary teleseminar on April 23, 2009 at 12 noon EST is open to 150 attendees. There is no registration required, but do plan on calling in early to grab your spot. The interview with Frank and interviewer William Arruda will be recorded.
   
2. Career Voyages Renewable Energy careers offers links to important industry sectors to explore, such as the U.S. Department of Energy and Green Energy Jobs.
   
3. GreenCareerCentral, created and run by Carol McLelland (a career counselor) is a favorite of mine with tons of green-economy information and resources, including links to jobs.
   
4. Job-Hunt Green Jobs is another fav compendium of links to job boards, company career pages, industry associations, and articles all dealing with green industries.
   
5. GreenCollarBlog focuses on news and resources related to green collar jobs (including non-profit jobs), training and education, associations, job fairs and events, and more. This blog should be on your bookmark list if you are interested in green job openings and events.
   
6. GreenForAll is a national non-profit that advocates for green sector job creation, training, and new-business growth as a socially responsible avenue to fight poverty and pollution. With links to service jobs and political activism both locally and nationally, for example, it also maintains an online community of thought leaders and evangelists who share their perspectives and insights.
   
7. Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference in early February 2009, hosted by the Blue-Green Alliance (a partnership between the Sierra Club and the United Steelworkers), has archived presentations and links to featured speakers.
   
8. GoingGreenEast Conference, held in March 2009 in Boston, brought greentech CEOs, investors, and entrepreneurs together from more than 100 countries via webcast and the live forum for two and one-half days to discuss and debate proven and promising greentech technologies. The GoingGreenEast Archives include recordings from that event.

While jobs such as green building managers and eco-consultants may seem exotic right now, they will become mainstream as the transition to sustainability and green industries takes hold. The impetus for this is driven not only by global warming, increased energy consumption worldwide, and rampant pollution issues (just to name a few), but also by profitability. As Reza Kazerounian, President of the Americas subsidiary of STMicroelectronics, a global leader in microchip technology, said in the February 2009 issue of Chief Executive magazine, “Every dollar we invested in ‘green’ initiatives has resulted in a better than 300 percent net return-on-investment – usually in two-and-a-half years (or less)”.

Comments

[Kevin Gulley]

There is no doubt that the green economy is going to be the great driver of innovation, economic growth, and job creation over the next 50 years. The directory at http://www.greencollareconomy.com has thousands of businesses listed that are creating green collar jobs today.

[Grant Crow]

In the UK, most professional roles in green careers require a fairly heavy study commitment - Masters degree is normally required to work as a junior consultant in noise pollution as an example. If entry requirements are so tough, that's bound to put otherwise interested youngsters off.