Green Graduate, Seeking Job

NWF   |   July 22, 2008

The buzz on green jobs is especially loud in the summertime, when new grads flood the email boxes of HR managers with carefully composed resumes. Luckily, the environmentally-sensitive have more options than they did in the past, and not just in the traditional "forest ranger or nonprofit administrator" range.

This Worldwatch Institute Report on green jobs claims that part of demand will come from the fact that "renewables tend to be a more labor-intensive energy source than the
still-dominant fossil fuels, which rely heavily on expensive pieces of
pro­duction equipment. A transition toward renewables thus promises job
gains." We anticipate that these gains will include everything from the so-called "green-collar" hands-on positions to advocacy and strategy work. And then there are the needs in rapidly expanding sectors such as climate monitoring, public transportation, green building, green agriculture, urban planning, energy conservation, education* …well, you get the idea.

With all these new opportunities come search engines and job sites designed to help everyone from entry-level to experienced workers find their perfect green niche. Even Experience, once of the biggest job search engines directed at graduates, has launched a Green Internships and Jobs section, which promises to plant a tree for every new member.

Need more proof? Check these out:

Cyber-Sierra: Natural resource, ecology and environmental occupations.
Earthworks-jobs: "Jobs in oil, energy, mining, geoscience, seismology,
geodesy, earth science, earth system science, environmental science,
environmental engineering, remediation, contaminated land, agriculture,
forestry, ecology, plant science, meteorology, atmospheric science,
oceanography, marine science, geography, hydrology, hydrogeology, soil science,
remote sensing, GIS, geomatics, geotechnical / civil engineering, transport,
asbestos surveying, renewable energy, carbon management, EIA, EMS, waste
management and related subjects."
North American Asociation for Environmental Education: Mostly media, education, communications and outreach work.
EcoEmploy: All sorts of green jobs, from data managers to naturalists.
EnvironmentalCareer: "Helping people work for the environment"
Environmental-Expert: Jobs are posted at almost all levels of experience, and across categories such as climate, energy and renewables, environmental management, health and safety, monitoring and testing, soil, waste, and water.
Greenbiz: Engineers, project managers, nonprofits, etc.
Idealist: This popular nonprofit site is one of the easiest to use, and lists volunteer and intern positions, as well as full-time and contract jobs.
Stopdodo: More globally focused than the others, this engine offers environmental job listings on every continent.
SustainableBusiness: Focused on the corporate world, rather than nonprofit.
sustainjobs: "Sustainability, climate change and renewable energy jobs."

(*If you’re looking for something education-focused, there’s always AASHE‘s email bulletin, which contains a few postings targeted to the higher education community each week, NWF’s own Career Gateway, and all kinds of specialized listservs and forums.)

So if you’re on the hunt, good luck! And if you know of engines that aren’t listed here, please add them in the comments.