The green job market is exploding; at any given time, you can find tens of thousands of eco-friendly career options on job websites if you know where to look. While many people initially assumed that green positions would suffer following the economic downturn, the reverse was actually true. The green sector recovered much more quickly than other areas, a phenomenon that many believe is due to the fact that green jobs help save money over the long term. Still, some cities offer more opportunities than others to land a position; read on for more information.
What Is A Green Job?
A green job offers a service, or creates a good, that will help the environment in some way. It may also help to conserve natural resources or simply cut down on the negative impact that humans are having on the Earth. While there are many manufacturing jobs that fall under this category, green positions are not limited just to manufacturing. There are construction positions as well, which may involve building wind mills or eco-friendly buildings. Green jobs are also available in the engineering, teaching, and architecture fields, among others. Some specific positions include an environmental compliance specialist and a sustainability coordinator.
San Francisco has a wealth of green jobs available, particularly in the energy storage, clean technology and energy efficiency areas. Because the Silicon Valley is a hub for the technology industry, a number of green positions are available as a result of that. New York City is also a great place to be for green job seekers; there tends to be a high number of engineer positions, and there is even work for eco-friendly New York City pest control technicians. Finally, Washington D.C. is the perfect place for green scientists to find work, as well as those who want to get involved with environmental research. Boston and Houston are also great cities to look for an eco-friendly job.
Are you interested in working at a green job, but you aren’t sure what you want to do? The sustainability management field may be a good choice, particularly if you studied business in school or have relevant work experience. Such a position involves taking sustainability initiatives and working to implement them at a given business. In addition to having some knowledge of the business world, it is also important to have leadership and communication skills as well.
While there has been substantial growth in the green job field, the government initially believed there would be more positions available today than there actually are. Still, companies are increasingly making sustainable business practices a priority, opening up the green job market for interested individuals.