Great Green Careers : An Interview with Bizymoms Top Blogger 2010 Recipient Carol McClelland

1. What exactly is a "green career?" How is it different from a normal one?

Green careers are jobs that have a positive impact on the environment. In some cases the people holding these jobs have a direct impact on the environment through a variety of green goals such as generating renewable energy, restoring nature, reducing waste, and increasing energy efficiency. Another set of careers, often non-technical professional jobs, have an indirect impact on the environment by shaping the green economy and motivating individuals and organizations to take greener actions. You can't always tell if a job is green just by looking at the job title. The key to knowing whether it's a green career is to consider the intention of the job holder, company, and industry. Is part of their job to take greener, cleaner, more sustainable actions?

2. What type of demand is present for green jobs and careers at the moment?

There are a couple of ways to assess the demand for green jobs. To understand these demands you must realize that there are over 50 industries and sectors making a concerted effort to take greener, cleaner and more sustainable actions. As a result, the demand for green jobs varies considerably across industries and regions. A few of the industries are currently seeing growth and will continue to see growth include the solar industry, energy efficiency industry, and the smart grid sector. This is not to say those are the only industries that are developing.

Other industries are evolving too - green building, green manufacturing and green hospitality. Whether there are jobs available today in your area depends on a number of factors including the industries in your area, the political climate, the funding situation, and policies and regulations that are in place.

3. How willing are people to change their normal careers into green ones?

I think there are three groups of people. One group is exploring the idea of transitioning into a green career. They are doing what they can to prepare for their future green career while they are currently employed. Making a career transition, especially to a new industry or profession, does take time and it's always more comfortable to prepare when there’s income coming in the door! Another group of people, who may be currently out of work or ready to change jobs, are actively searching for green careers right now. The third group is people who are looking for ways to green the position they hold now. All three of these groups are at the forefront of a transition to a new economic era that will continue to unfold for years to come.

4. What sort of advice do you provide to professionals who want to change their careers to green ones?

The first stage of transitioning to a green career is to take some time to understand the scope of the green economy. My book, "Green Careers For Dummies," has a couple of chapters that lay out the basics that you could read in an hour or two. It's critically important to understand what basic green terms mean as well as the industries and sectors that make up the green economy. To get a sense of the industries, you can scan the 50 green industry profiles in the book or, if you are a visual learner, you can check out the 'Green Economy Map' (www.greencareercentral.com/map) I created after writing the book.

When you have a good picture of the full range of career opportunities it's time to figure out your place in the green economy. What part of the green economy is a good fit for your skills, interests, passions, experience, and education? Don't limit yourself to just a couple of skills or interests. Explore your options before you narrow your focus to a particular industry.

5. Is the planning process for a green career different from planning for a normal career? If so, how is it different?

The actual job search strategies are very similar. You must understand your field, build your network, target your ideal companies, search for job openings, and interview successfully. The differences come in the fact that the green economy is new and constantly evolving. As a result, you won’t find the occupational profiles, company lists, and other tools you are accustomed to using in your job search. Furthermore there's no common wisdom yet about which companies are in the top tier of each green industry. Instead, the job seeker must dive in to do more of their own research to understand the industry to know where their skills fit, to determine which companies to target, and to uncover job openings. Early phase green career seekers are like pioneers, they must understand that the paths are not clear, they are not paved. In fact the seekers themselves are forging those trails! It may take a bit more determination and effort, but the results are possible and rewarding.

6. What are the compensation packages like for new green careers? Are they up to par with the conventional ones?

The myth that green jobs pay less probably comes from the early days of the environmental science field when much of the work was done through nonprofits and grant funded organizations. Current day green careers have pay that is on par with conventional positions. A number of very established companies such as Google, Cisco, Coca Cola, Clorox, and many others are investing heavily in green/sustainable projects. These companies are not going to pay their "green" employees less than their existing employees. The other consideration to keep in mind is that some emerging industries are spawning a number of start up companies. It's possible that in the early days, when funding is tight, that salaries will be slightly lower. This same process has occurred in other emerging sectors, so I don't consider it a big issue. The other category of jobs that's important to think about are trade and union jobs. There are a number of advocacy groups that are lobbying hard to ensure that all green collar jobs pay a good wage with full benefits. The good news is that there are a number of options for trade and union workers which are likely to help communities that have been hard hit in the recent economic shift.

7. Do you think all the careers in our world will change into green careers in the future? Or has it already got there?

We aren't already there, but eventually, as green/clean/sustainable business practices become more of the norm than the exception, it's likely these descriptive words will disappear. When we automatically build sustainably or manufacture products efficiently because it makes more economic sense than our business-as-usual practices, we won't be concerned whether the action is green or not. We'll take the action because it's what we do! Given that we are in the earliest phases of the new economy it's difficult, at this point, to predict when this may happen.