Why it’s so darn hard to launch a career in sustainability (and how to make it easier)

Throughout my career I’ve talked with quite a lot of people looking for advice on how to get started in sustainability and it’s remarkable how often people encounter the same roadblocks over and over again.  I created Sustainable Career Pathways because I remember just how hard it was to get started and it doesn’t seem like it’s gotten any better in the last ten years.  Below are some of my thoughts on why this is just SO hard and some advice that will (hopefully) make your journey a whole lot easier than mine was.

1. A lot of us don’t know what we want to be when we grow up

The nice part about having a passion for sustainable business is that you can apply the sustainability lens to virtually any industry or job function.  Unfortunately, that can also make narrowing the focus of your job search a pretty daunting task.  I know a lot of students go to graduate school knowing that they want a career that uses advanced skills to make an impact, but maybe they aren’t quite as sure about what path they want to take as their admissions essays would have you believe.  While many universities around the world have been quick to develop truly wonderful sustainability education, most of them are still struggling to provide career resources with enough experience in this space to be effective.

Solution: Narrow down your search criteria as much as possible

Go through the below questions and try to really think about what you want from a job and what you bring to the table.  Eliminate anything that you know isn’t a good fit for you.  These lists are just a place to start, they’re not exhaustive so if you can think of others, make sure to add them!

• Do you have geographic constraints?
• Do you have a preference for global vs. local impact?
• Do you want to work for a company, nonprofit, government entity, or university?
• What industries would you consider?  Try thinking up and down the value chain: mining, agriculture, manufacturing, construction, electricity generation, automotive, transportation, technology, food service, hospitality, retail, professional services, education, research, government, advocacy
• What roles do you have the skills for?  Research, analysis, reporting, marketing, sales, project management, policy, operations, procurement, finance, accounting,
• What issues do you have subject matter expertise in?  Waste, water, energy, life cycle analysis, materials sourcing, built environment, communities/cities, mobility

Write down the answers to these questions, and use them to help build your story about what you’re looking for and the value you can add.  Having that written down on paper will help you prioritize what conferences to attend, what networking groups to join, what job boards to frequent, and who to stalk on LinkedIn (in a professional and friendly way of course.)

While it’s important to figure out what direction you are headed in to help you develop your story and guide your search, try to stay open to opportunities that you may come across in your networking even if they don’t match your target criteria 100%.  The reality is that sometimes the right job for you is the one that falls in your lap and meets enough of your original criteria to make you happy.

Need some inspiration for what roles, industries, or issues might be a good fit for you?  Visit our Interviews page where sustainability professionals share with us the details of what they do, how their industry works, and how they got the job.

Still not feeling sure about what direction your job search needs to go in?  Get some professional help!  Check out our Job Resources page where we have several career coaches listed as well as a great book by Katie Kross on how to get your dream impact job.

2. Just finding the job opportunities in this space is really, really hard work

Unlike banking, consulting, marketing, and other traditional graduate jobs, there isn’t really a “sustainability industry” that has a set hiring season or comes on campus for recruiting and presentations.  Roles with “sustainability” in the title can be found almost anywhere in a company’s org chart and not many companies have more than one or two people dedicated to sustainability initiatives.  This means that jobs postings are all over the place and it’s hard to know where to look since there are so many job boards out there.  Still another big challenge is that a lot of great jobs are on the “hidden jobs market” which are jobs that aren’t officially posted and usually get filled by word of mouth and referrals.

Solution: Get comfortable with networking.  Like, super comfortable.  

While some people have actually had success with haunting the job boards (our Job Resources page has over 30 great ones!) the truth is, networking is probably going to be your best bet.  The 80/20 rule really rings true here, you should spend about 20% of your time applying to jobs online and 80% of your time networking at events, asking for informational interviews, and reaching out to people via LinkedIn.

Before getting out there and making an incredibly wonderful impression on everyone you meet, make sure you’ve got your marketing materials ready.

• Invest some time in making your LinkedIn profile shine (Shannon Houde has a really great article on this here)
• Tighten up your resume so that it highlights the skills and expertise you want to showcase
• Write a solid cover letter that you can tailor as needed
• Perfect your story: have a short elevator pitch version, and a longer “walk me through your resume” version (Shannon Houde has a great article on this as well)

Dig into our Conferences and Networks pages to find events and groups that you should be a part of, and go to as many events as you can.  This is truly the best way to meet REAL people in the space you’re interested in working in, ask them questions that can help you refine your search, and hopefully get connected with someone who can help you find a great job opportunity.

3. The experience/job, chicken/egg problem

One of the top questions I get asked all the time is “How on earth am I supposed to get experience if no one will hire me?”

Solution: Get experience in any way you can, even if it’s unpaid

If you believe a career in sustainability is truly what you want but you have absolutely no experience, it’s time to get some and it probably won’t be paid (at least at first).  Ideally you would go to graduate school or find an internship or fellowship that would pay you while you learn but if that’s not possible, volunteering is a fantastic way to get some experience with sustainability issues while building your network.

• Find a nonprofit organization that’s working on the issues you want to learn about (there are a million of them out there – head on over to our Recommended Resources tab if you need ideas) and ask them how you can get involved.  Let them know what skills you have to offer or what you’re trying to gain experience with
• If your company has a sustainability team, reach out to them and volunteer to help with anything they’re working on.  Even if they don’t need any help, ask them out for lunch to learn more about what they do
• If your company doesn’t have a sustainability team, see if you can get one started.  Think strategically about what your company could do, find the right people internally, and pitch your ideas!
• If you’re a student, check to see if your school has a sustainability office or Net Impact chapter you can get involved with
• Join a network of professionals in your area of interest and volunteer to help put together some events
• Look for community project opportunities through your local Environmental Commission or Solid Waste Advisory Board
• Join an environmental advocacy group that focuses on the issues you care about

4. All the job listings want perfection!

People agonize over the requirement details in a job listing.  I’ve had clients that have met virtually every criteria in a job posting except for one and they still wouldn’t apply for that job.  It’s hard because you don’t want to waste your time applying for a job you won’t get… but is that necessarily the outcome?

Solution: Apply anyway, you never know!

There was a fantastic HBR article in 2014 about why people did’t apply to jobs.  Over 80% of the time, the reason was because people believed they wouldn’t be hired because they didn’t meet the qualifications listed in the job requirements.  Allow me to share a story about why you shouldn’t make that same mistake.

I was working at a large, prestigious company that very much seemed to have its act together.  One day my manager told me we were opening up a new position on the team and asked me to draft a job requisition.  I spent a considerable amount of time drafting a very well thought out list of requirements that was later posted on our company website.  The applications came pouring in, there were so many that we had to skip the cover letters and just quickly scan the resumes for the very core requirements (education and related job experience).  We interviewed several candidates and I was totally perplexed when my manager hired someone who met only about 40% of my well crafted wish list.  When I asked him about it he said, “Well, I know she doesn’t have all of the experience you were hoping for, but she’s got a great attitude and she’s so smart and outgoing I’m pretty sure she’ll figure it out.”  And guess what?  She totally did.

The point is, if you find a job posting that looks like something you know you’d be great at but you don’t fit a good chunk of the requirements, APPLY ANYWAY!!  It’s usually pretty hard to find postings that fit what you’re looking for, so if you find one that even kind of sounds good, it’s worth trying.  The worst thing they can do is not hire you, and that’s going to happen anyway if you don’t apply.  You never know when a company’s actual key requirement is something like fit with the culture, willingness to learn, or something else you can’t put on a resume.

5. There’s no hiring season

The majority of sustainability jobs that are out there are hiring to fill an immediate need so if you’re a student, that means you very well could be graduating without a job.  This is a particularly hard pill to swallow when all your banking and consulting friends get jobs in January and spend their last semesters on the beach.

Solution: Have patience, have faith.  You’ve got this.

Take a deep breath because I’m going to say it again: You may graduate without a job and that is OK (and actually kind of normal in this field).  That can be slightly terrifying and probably NOT what you want to hear, but for a lot of sustainability students it’s the truth.

That’s not to say you should wait until spring to start your job search – figuring out what you want, refining your positioning, networking, and building relationships take a lot of time, and your goal is to be the first person people think of when a new job opens up at their organization.  That doesn’t happen overnight, so get started!

Are there any roadblocks you’ve faced that I didn’t mention?  Send me a note through the Contact Us page and I’ll do my best to help you with them!

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