IT’S EASY BEING GREEN

Doug HanveyCareer Development Center

and Arts and Sciences Career ServicesIndiana University Bloomington

Overview

• Defining “green”• Job outlook• Green career advising• Career center trends• Green career options• Values in career advising

Definitions of Green

• Green careers vs. greening of economy

• “Green” definitions– Sustainable– Triple bottom line

Outlook

• Outlook for greening of economy?• Growth in green careers– Like Internet boom of 90’s– 40 million jobs in clean energy / energy

efficiency alone by 2030 (Business Week)

– “All sectors of the green economy growing faster than their conventional counterparts” (Green Jobs)

Outlook by Sector

• For-Profit / Corporate–Next Google or Microsoft?–Major sustainability initiatives– Entrepreneurial opportunities• D.light Design: people, planet, AND profit

• Nonprofit–WiserEarth

• Government– Largest green employer

Green Career Development

• 2007 MonsterTrak survey: 80% of college graduates wanted a job that had positive impact on earth

• Educate students about possibilities• Top skills for green professionals– Regular “transferable skills”– Emphasis on• creativity/innovation• broad environmental knowledge

Liberal Arts Majors andGreen Careers

• Options in business, science, engineering

• Liberal arts?–Wide variety of opportunities for most

majors (Kevin Doyle):• Geography, Political Science, Economics• Journalism, English, Communications• Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, and

Psychology

Green Self-Assessment

• Focus on problems of concern in world

• Relationship to interests, values, skills, etc.

Green Career Research• Organization’s policies/initiatives

– “Greenwashing”• Web resources

– Working on reducing carbon footprint? (cdproject.net) – Global Reporting Initiative: globalreporting.org– CoopAmerica’s Green Pages: coopamerica.org/pubs/greenpages– Ecopreneurist: ecopreneurist.com– Global Reporting: globalreporting.org– Green Biz: greenbiz.com– Grist: grist.org– Net Impact: netimpact.org – Sustainable Business: sustainablebusiness.com– Wiser Earth: wiserearth.org

• Books– Eco Guide to Careers that Make a Difference– Green Jobs: A Guide to Eco-Friendly Employment– WetFeet: Insider Guide to Green Careers

Getting Experience / Job Search• Getting experience– Suggest green volunteer work on or off-campus

• Job search: networking ideas– Green Professional Associations

• umich.edu/~meldi/4_genprofass.html– Conferences / Trade Shows

• environmental-expert.com (scroll down to Events Calendar)

• organicexpo.com; expoeast.com; expowest.com– Basic Networking

• greendrinks.org• indianagreencampus.org

Emerging Diversity in Green Jobs

• Climate Economist• Coordinator of Sustainable Practices• Environmental Educator• Climate Health Coordinator• Green Buildings & Infrastructure Intern• Green Communications Specialist• Green Kitchen Designer• Solar Energy “How To Guide” Writer

Green Job Resources• GreenBuzz newsletter (via greenbiz.com)• green-jobs.monstertrak.com• greenjobs.com• jobs.grist.org• Green Dream Jobs at sustainablebusiness.com• idealist.org• bsr.org/resources/jobs/index.cfm• jobs.treehugger.com• environmentalcareer.com• americorps.org• ecojobs.com

Suggestions for Students

• Have skills? Begin search• Need skills?– Get experience– Graduate school• Many innovative green graduate program

options• Entrepreneurship• “Green” a current or prospective job

Greening Career Centers

• University of Colorado• University of North Carolina • Arizona State University • University of South Carolina • University of Vermont • IU Bloomington• IUPUI

Brainstorming Activity

• Choose a note taker. Brainstorm and list:–How might sustainability issues affect or

change common occupations in this field? • How might people now working in the field need

to think or do things differently?–What new occupations in this field might be

useful or necessary? Be creative!–How might this discipline begin working

synergistically with other disciplines on sustainability concerns?

Values Exploration for Green Career Advisors

• Learn about sustainability• Keep up with trends• Consider discussing environmental impacts of career choices:*

– “Career counseling should take into account and create awareness of the environmental impact of vocational choices.”

– “Career development services should play a proactive role in establishing training and educational opportunities with a positive contribution in environmental terms.”

– “Career development services themselves should inspect their own practice: How ‘green’ are our routines in the office/school in terms of, for example, recycling waste and cutting down on power consumption?”

*Plant, P., in the Journal of Employment Counseling, Sept. 1999, Vol. 36, pp. 131-140

Values in Green Career Advising• “Some career counselors will find this approach

dangerously fundamentalistic . . . and directive as opposed to non-directive Rogerian counseling. At its best, however, green career development could be proactive, questioning, probing, reflexive, and client-centered in the real sense: it still leaves the decisions to the client, but, perhaps, on a higher note of personal commitment. Moreover, especially in relation to globalization, it puts career counseling into a central position – environmental issues and concerns have no boundaries.”*

*Plant, P., in the Journal of Employment Counseling, Sept. 1999, Vol. 36, pp. 131-140

The End

• Want Powerpoint?– Email Doug Hanvey:

dhanvey@indiana.edu – Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery!