Career Market Fair

If it was easy, everyone would do it. That said, there are many things you can do to make yourself better prepared:

- Be well-read. The green movement has many different facets and lots of niches. Do some reading on the types of industries that you would best fit into. Solar power expert? Biofuels salesperson? Carbon credit trading? Recycling technician? Xerogardening consultant? There are so many different paths into the green movement, some of which are very technical and many which just need common sense and sensitivity to things most of us take for granted like cheap clean water.

- Understand the payback versus the effort and skill. Some careers require great amounts of knowledge and training, but still pay relatively little compared to similar industrial or scientific careers. It may not seem fair, but it often happens. Don’t get a graduate degree and spend years learning a skill that gets you a lower wage than working as a lawnboy. I’ve seen it happen.

- Living it helps. There are a lot of fakers in supposedly green jobs. Presenting yourself as a smart-fuels consultant, then yakking about the new Tahoe you bought will tell people you don’t take the movement seriously.

Best of luck to you.