The Environmental Job Search
An Excerpt from The Complete Guide to Environmental Careers in the 21st Century
By The Environmental Careers Organization, Kevin Doyle, Editor (Island Press, 1999)
June 15, 2001
"The successful job search begins long before you start applying for positions," says Bob Robataille, national director of programs for the Environmental Careers Organization (ECO). "The most competitive people have a quality education, good skills and experience, some contacts and a strong sense of direction. If you start with these things, the job search itself is much easier."...
Sources of Written Information |
Sources of Information - Business and Trade |
Sources of Information - People! |
A Few More Resources and Tips...
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The Hottest Environmental Careers
 If you're not sure what direction to take your environmental job search, then maybe you should start here: What are the hottest enviro careers for the 21st Century? This excerpt, also from Kevin Doyle and the Environmental Careers Organziation, gives the details. >>>
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RESOURCES FOR THE ENVIRONMENTAL JOB SEARCH
When you are looking for a job, you have a strong need for information concerning the following:
- What's going on in the environmental and conservation world.
- Employer needs at organizations that interest you.
- Changes in budgets and revenue streams that create (and destroy) jobs.
- The structure of employment (e.g., permanent, temporary, contract, intern, and volunteer) at organizations you've targeted.
- Current job openings (posted and unposted)
You can obtain this information by reading and talking to people. A dynamic job search is the interplay between these two activities. Everything you read leads you to more reading and more people to talk with. Everyone you talk with leads to additional people and more reading.
When job seekers are first starting out, there is a tendency to approach the search from an assumption of scarcity. Are there any jobs out there? Will people be willing to talk to me? Can I find good information about employers and opportunities? Before long, you will have a completely different problem- deciding how to make sense of the deluge of information, contacts, and advice that a good job search produces.
SOURCES OF WRITTEN INFORMATION
Written information for your job search includes employer data, job postings, media stories about environmental professionals and issues, salary surveys, financial and budget information about environmental organizations, and more. Fortunately, there is no shortage of information, if you know where to look.
The Internet. The Internet is a great resource for the environmental career seeker. Today's career seeker can find more truly useful job search information in a single afternoon, than his or her counterpart of ten years ago could have located in two weeks. Look at the information listed above. Working the Internet helps you with all of them, and it does it quickly and inexpensively. If you have access to a personal computer and a phone line, you are well on your way to getting a lot of the information you need for your search. Best of all, more and more organizations are putting information online. Data that were once available only through the mail, or on a bulletin board in another city, is now just a click away.
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Great Examples of Environmental Web Sites for your Job Search
Note: Each of the above sites are also featured on the Careers/Jobs page of EnviroEducation.com - click here to read a more detailed description of each!
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There are any number of good resources with information about using the Internet in your bog search (see the Resources section at the end of this chapter). These resources can help you with the details of on-line job applications and resumes, setting up your own homepage in a way that encourages interaction with employers, finding appropriate newsgroups and listservs for job seeking, locating the most popular job data bands on the Internet, and so forth.
There are also sits that are loaded with available job openings for environmental professionals in different fields. We've listed some of them in the Resources section, and they will automatically link you to many more.
For at least 25 years, career advisers have been reminding job seekers that only a small fraction of all available jobs appear in the "help wanted" ads, and have urged people to go digging in the "hidden" job market. The Internet has changed that somewhat. Many employers, including most government agencies, now automatically post all of their available jobs on their websites. Much of the hidden job market is not as hidden as it used to be. This is a tremendous benefit to you, and not to be underestimated.
The idea behind the advice about job ads is still true, however. Actual job postings, while incredibly valuable, are perhaps the least important types of information available to you on the Internet. After all, by the time a job is posted, a lot of people know about the position and have had time to talk to friends, classmates, colleagues, and family members. In addition, if you found the listing on the Internet, so did hundreds of others. Anyway, how many of those thousands of jobs on The Monster Board are right for you?
The real power of the Internet for job seekers lies in the opportunity it gives you to research an organization and get the information you need to contact real people for your search.
For example, suppose you live in North Carolina and you are interested in The Nature Conservancy (TNC). You're not exactly sure what you're looking for, but you know the TNC is certainly a big employer in the environmental world and you want to research them. You log on to your favorite Internet server (e.g., Yahoo!, AltaVista, or Lycos) and do a search for "The Nature Conservancy." In an instant, you're logged onto their website at http://www.tnc.org. In less than an hour (depending on how fast you read and how fascinated you get while browsing around), the following are a few of the things you can find out:
- A detailed description of the organization and its programs.
- Where TNC nature preserves are located in the U.S. and around the world.
- Details of as many of them as you would like to visit.
- The names and job responsibilities of all TNC staff people in North Carolina, with telephone number and addresses.
- Current and recent job postings, broken down by category (e.g., science, fundraising, or administrative) and by location.
- Just about anything else you would like to know about the organization.
This is a revolution. A few years ago, up-to-date employer information about employee numbers, job titles, new programs, contracts and grants, budget size, and current new was difficult to come by. Job seekers often viewed the world of environmental employers as though it was a medieval map of the world-a few patches of relatively well-known territory surrounded by terra incognita. Now, a little time with the mouse paints a much clearer picture.
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"A few years ago... job seekers often viewed the world of environmental employers as though it was a medieval map of the world... Now, a little time with the mouse paints a much clearer picture."
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Finally, of course, looking for career information on the Internet offers you the incalculable advantage of instant interaction with environmental professionals at companies, agencies, and nonprofit groups. Through email links to websites you can ask questions and (usually) get better, quicker, and more targeted answers than you would have gotten through a blind phone call, or writing away for information. In addition, most good sites have links to other related sites, so a single research session can provide a journey through educational choices, good employers, current jobs, professional trends and debates, journals, magazines, and articles.
Where should you start? One good place is ECO's website at http://www.eco.org. The ECO site has links to many others and should help launch you on your way. Check to resource listings at the end of each chapter in this book for numerous websites of special interest. Or, go directly to any agency, nonprofit, college, or company you know by name.
Newspapers. Read at least one major metropolitan newspaper, especially the newspaper that covers the geographic area in which you would like to work. Environmentally related stories will give you the names of important leaders and suggest major issues that are dominating the news. You will also get the names of agencies, corporations, and individuals to contact in your job search. The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and New York Times are excellent sources of information on national environmental issues.
Don't forget the "help wanted" ads, especially those in the Sunday editions. These ads are valuable not only as a source of job leads, but as a barometer of who is hiring and what kinds of people are most in demand. Employers take out paid ads when they are really looking for someone. This may mean that the place is booming and can't find people fast enough. It may also mean that the set of skills being sought is hard to find in your area. Retain any ads that look interesting, even if you could not hope to compete for them. They can lend clarity to the development of you personal job vision.
Free Publications. Government agencies, nonprofit organizations, trade associations, and some businesses offer free literature on environmental issues, programs, business developments, and laws. These are often good sources of contacts, job openings, and events. Professionals in the field are resourceful in finding these freebies to stretch their budget. Ask each person you meet for the names and addresses of their favorites. Some of the best of these for the job seeker are the internal newsletters of agencies such as the Environmental Protection Agency. Get on the mailing lists for these publications and you will have inside information that may never appear anywhere else. More important, you will have current names of people to talk to about priority projects.
Job Listings. There are a number of national, regional, and local environmental job listings. Some of these listings are specific to particular employers, and you must contact the agency's personnel department to check them out. You can receive other listings by getting on mailing through the employer, who will then send you relevant announcements. Finally, publications such as Earth Work and Environmental Career Opportunities are filled with current job openings and are available at reasonable subscription rates (Editor's Note: Earth Work has recently been discontinued). Keep in mind, however, that many of these printed job listings are moving to the Internet, for an obvious reason. By the time the publisher has received a listing, printed it with others, and mailed it, it may be obsolete. On the Internet, the job can be posted in minutes and removed as soon as it is filled. If you are going to subscribe to an environmental job listing service, you may want to choose one that has an Internet option.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION - BUSINESS AND TRADE
Conference and Job Fair Publications. These little-used resources are invaluable barometers of the times. Even if you are not able to attend events, retrieve copies of conference programs. Look over the lists of topics and speakers. Good conference organizers know what environmental professionals want to discuss and learn. People who speak at conferences are usually respected leaders in their field or people who hold key positions. In addition, they have already shown an interest in communicating what they know to others. Finally, scope out the display ads. Companies and agencies who pay for such ads are often the same ones who are hiring.
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On-line Environmental News, Journals & Magazines
Note: Each of the above sites are also featured on the News page of EnviroEducation.com - click here to read a more detailed description of each!
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Magazines, Trade Journals, and Newsletters. There are over 1,000 journals and periodicals dedicated to environmental issues, science, technology, law, and careers in the Environmental Periodicals Bibliography at the Environmental Studies Institute in Santa Barbara, California. This number does not include many organizational newsletters at nonprofit organizations. There is absolutely no specialty or issue you can imagine that does not have a journal or newsletter, either on paper or on the Internet. These are an incredible source of information for the job seeker, not because they carry job listings (although many of them do), but because they keep you up to date about what is going on in the environmental world.
Journals, especially, are the major source of communication in most scientific and technical fields. Inevitably, your field will have one or two that are considered indispensable. Make it a point to visit a good university library, major consulting firm, and federal government regional library just to take in what's available (or do a Web search for "environmental journals"). Also , ask working professionals in your field about which periodicals they find most useful.
Annual Reports. Virtually all government agencies and nonprofit groups publish some kind of annual report. Public corporations publish annual reports and financial disclosure (10-K) reports, which are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission. You can find both at many university business libraries and some public libraries, or you can request them from the human resources or investor relations department of the organization you are interested in. Many organizations now post their annual reports on the Internet.
Both annual reports and 10-Ks can provide excellent snapshots of an organization. They usually discuss who owns and manages the organization, what the company does, issues the company is facing, strategic plans, and budgetary data. Even if annual reports do not directly discuss a company's environmental work, they identify facilities, plants, and all other company properties, as well as the top one or two officials in health, safety, and environmental affairs. Many larger companies now publish special reports that specifically address environmental concerns. Firms in the energy, chemicals, heavy manufacturing, electronics, and forest products industries are particularly likely to have such reports.
Realize, however, that organizations use annual reports to portray themselves in the best light possible. Although they are usually far drier, 10-Ks are sometimes more useful than annual reports. Reading either or both prior to a job or informational interview will arm you with knowledge that will help you formulate specific, insightful questions. Naturally, your current knowledge about an organization demonstrates initiative and commitment.
Directories. There is something encouraging about directories, about all those organizations, names, addresses, p[hone numbers, and websites in one place. And some directories are as helpful as they seem. In chapter 2, for instance, we highlighted some great directories of colleges, graduate schools, scholarships, intern programs, and adventure volunteering opportunities. Employer directories are a much more "hit and miss" proposition. A good place to start is with the environmental employer "directory" you probably have in your home right now. The phone book (with the Yellow Pages) will put you in touch with all environmental and conservation companies, agencies (local, state and federal) and nonprofit groups in your area. Check the Resources section at the end of this chapter for two directories that are particularly useful, as well as for employer listings on the Internet.
SOURCES OF INFORMATION - PEOPLE!
People. As we said earlier, written resources eventually lead you to people. No newspaper or website has hired a person yet. People are your best resource in the job hunt, be they neighbors, professionals, classmates, relatives, friends, experts, writers, or casual acquaintances. One of the cardinal rules of job hunting is to go out of your way to tell everyone you know or meet that you are looking for a job- and give them as much specific information as possible on they type of job you want. Most of us love to help others, especially when it is as easy as offering a name or making a telephone call. Each time you tell someone of you job search, your list of potential contacts expands logarithmically. To job your creativity, the following are a few groups of people who can help.
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How to Build a Green Network
According to recent sources, 85 percent of the job market is "hidden": All the positions advertised through job search firms, newspaper and magazine advertisements, and college placement offices represent only 15 percent of all the jobs out there. It is networking that provides 85 percent of the people with their jobs. The "net" is the matrix of people you know who can assist you with employer contacts. Each is a "source." This net or matrix can also be a tremendous reservoir of information and encouragement to begin your job search.
- excerpt from EarthWork, a book (out of print) by the Student Conservation Association, Inc.
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College Faculty, Staff Members, and Students. Talk to current or former teachers, advisers, and fellow students. Many professors engage in outside research or consulting projects and know professionals in the field. They may be able to provide a recommendation to an employer they know personally. Students from smaller colleges should consider seeking advice form staff members at universities with larger environmentally related programs. Such programs often have at least one career counselor. Time permitting, these counselors will often accommodate nonstudents, especially if you express an interest in graduate study at their university. In addition, many state universities and community colleges employ general career counselors who are paid by the state and thus provide their services free to any state resident.
Alumni. This resource is probably the most underutilized by environmental job seekers. Think about yourself. If someone called you tomorrow who was a recent graduate from your college major department, wouldn't you talk with that person and try to help out a little? Many graduates of your institution are now working in your field of choice. Because they share the bond of having attended the same school, and because many have been through difficult job hunts themselves, they are often willing to help. To find alumni, ask whether your school's alumni relations department publishes a directory. Some programs actively track alumni careers for the benefit of current students and recent graduates. For example, the Cornell University Department of Agriculture and Biological Engineering has developed the Cornell Alumni Career Advisory Network. If your school does not conduct such a program, you might suggest it start one. In the meantime, at least get a few names from your major department. They are certain to be in touch with a few alumni informally.
Friends, Relatives, and Neighbors. Do not overlook the obvious. Think of how many successful job-hunting stories you know of that start this way: "May uncle put me in touch with my cousin, who knew a consultant who was hiring for a position. I called her, and...."
Professional Societies and Trade Associations. Professional societies are a helpful in providing job leads as they are in giving you good information about educational requirements. Associations for people in a specific field offer journals, newsletters, job listings, placement services, and more. Using the staff at society headquarters is helpful, but active participation in your local chapter (or student chapter) is much better.
Temporary Employment Agencies. The demand for technical temporary employees in the environmental field has grown dramatically in the last few years, and working in a temporary position can be a great way to meet environmental employers. You are clearly showing what you can do, and you have an opportunity to talk as colleagues and professionals in a low-risk setting. Don't hesitate to ask your temporary employer for ideas on permanent employment, and to gather names of others you should talk to. For those outside of technical fields, temping can still be a good idea. Although the work you do may not be as "environmental" as you would kike, working as a temporary still gives you entree to the working professionals you would like to meet. Be careful, however. If the work you are looking for (legislative analysis) is too far removed from your temp responsibilities (answering the phone), it may be hard for you to be seen as capable of more responsibility.
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Environmental Internships
Note: Each of the above sites are also featured on the Careers/Jobs page of EnviroEducation.com - click here to read a more detailed description of each!
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Internships and Volunteering. These two opportunities were discussed in greater detail in chapter 2. Clearly, working with environmental professionals and leaders is one of the best possible ways to build the environmental network you will need for your job search.
Meeting People through Events. Conferences, trade show, seminars, classes, fundraisers, receptions, and other events are a fantastic way to interact with the environmental professionals you want to know. Conferences can be a perfect opportunity to expand your network,. You are meeting as professionals, the subject matter is related to your mutual environmental careers. and talk flows naturally toward work and careers. There are also a lot of people you want to meet together in one building at the same time.
Attending a conference allows you to meet people in a way that may be less intimidation than cold calls or visits. If, for example, your are looking for a career in brownfields redevelopment, you could probably benefit greatly from meeting people at an EPA conference on the topic. You can learn about key people and issues by attending panels and sessions. Not only would you make personal contacts, but you would also discover where some jobs might be created as a result of new grants and contracts. Moreover, simply mentioning to an interviewer something you learned at such a conference makes a good impression. You were there. You are a working professional.
Students and aspiring professionals attending these conferences have little competition from their peers, since most attendees are seasoned managers. They are usually impressed when they see students and job seekers at conferences.
There is, however, a catch. For many of us, the idea of approaching new people, introducing ourselves, striking up a conversation, and then doing it all over again with someone else, is a very difficult thing to do.
If you are shy, there are still ways to use conferences effectively for environmental professionals. People who speak on panels, for example, are usually glad to answer questions after the formal time is done. Ask your question and get a business card. You can follow up afterward via email, letter, or phone-at least connection has been made. In a similar vein, make the rounds of the conference exhibit hall and collect as many business cards and as much promotional material as you can. Contact people later and express your regret that you missed them at the conference. They'll usually be glad to talk to you, and you may be more comfortable.
Informational Interviewing. Would you like to meet a marine biologist who is studying global climate change? Do you have some questions to ask about getting started and what the work is really like? Do you have the person's name and contact information? The give him or her a call and set up an appointment! Sometimes the direct approach is the best one of all, and that's the basic idea behind informational interviewing.
Informational interviewing has received something of a bad name because it's been used as a manipulative technique by people who pretend to want information, but are really looking for a way to get past the secretary and ask for a job. Most hiring authorities are well protected against job seekers, and creative people are always looking for new ways to get past the screen.
Employers caught on to the informational interview ploy years ago, however, and are rightly suspicious of it. If you are sincere in your desire for information about a person and their work, don't use the expression "informational interview." Simply tell the truth-you are interested in the field and would like to ask a few questions.
The following are some tips to make there meetings a success:
- Talk to people who are doing the work that interests you, not to those who hire them. If you really want to know about the marine biologist, it does no good to talk to the personnel director at the lab. Go straight to the source.
- Tell your prospective interviewee that you will only need 20 or 30 minutes, and do not stay any longer.
- Do not waste your interviewee's time by asking questions that you could have answered on your own through research, or by talking to somebody below the person in the organization's hierarchy. In fact, if you find yourself looking for the "right" questions to ask in informational interviews, think carefully about what you're doing. The whole point of these meetings is for you to ask your questions. If you don't have any, don't bother. Otherwise, an artificial setting is created, where your are pretending to have questions in order to "network" and "make a contact," and the other person is pretending that your questions are sincere.
- At the conclusion of each interview, ask for the names of two people who do similar work and who might be willing to meet with you. Also ask this question if you are refused an interview.
- Thank your interviewee profusely. Thirty minutes is a big gift for a busy professional to give to a stranger.
- Always send a think-you note, and, later, apprise the person of your progress.
- Finally, there is nothing wrong with coming back to the same organization when you are looking for a job. Just be forthright about your request. The employer will probably already have a positive impression of you based on the initiative you have shown in your career search.
A FEW MORE RESOURCES AND TIPS...
Resumes, Cover Letters, Interviews, and More. If you are a well-qualified job seeker who is searching the Web, meeting people, working on projects, and reading widely, you will find plenty of environmental jobs that interest you. Here are a few last pieces of advice from environmental employers that you will find useful as you apply for jobs, interview, and start the career that's right for you.
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Cover Letters, Resumes & Interviews
Note: Each of the above sites are also featured on the Careers/Jobs page of EnviroEducation.com - click here to read a more detailed description of each!
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- Take the time you need to find the right job. Do not expect it to be a quick process. Career counselor not that the average career-related job hunt takes between six months and one year. One free-lance consultant from Seattle tells students: "You need to look at your career search as a long-term research project that always takes much longer and more effort than you want it to." If you possibly can, try to structure your life so that you are not forced by economics or anxiety to take the first thing that comes along. Lay some groundwork a few months before you actually want to start your job.
- Work hard at the search. This sounds obvious, but What Color Is Your Parachute? reports that two-thirds of all job seekers spend fewer than five hours a week on the process. At that rate, it takes two months to log just one week of full-time job hunting.
- Shotgun approaches don't work. A strategy of blanketing employers with resumes and to-whom-it-may-concern cover letters takes an enormous amount of time and almost never works. One study found that employers sent out one invitation to interview for every 245 resumes sent cold to their firm. use resumes to cement a building process that begins with conversations, contacts, and reputations. Although resumes are not useful when sent out in a scattershot approach, they are nevertheless important.
- Be brief and specific. Although employers are usually pressed for time, they do want to know as much about you as possible. Be crisp. Also, become skilled at tailoring resumes to specific jobs so that an employer quickly reading your resume can easily perceive pertinent experience and interests.
- Master the art of the cover letter. Cover letters are meant to highlight parts of your resume that especially qualify you for the job, demonstrate that you have done your homework, and convey your enthusiasm for that particular line of work. A carefully written cover letter can go even further than your resume in getting you an interview.
- Use the spell check. Never have a misspelling or a typographical error on your resume, cover letter, or any other correspondence to an employer. He or she will inevitably ask, "If they can't even get it right on a job application, what kind of attention will they pay to important details after we hire them?"
- Ask questions at job interviews. This shows your interest and conveys the feeling that you have options, which immediately boosts your stock. Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes job seekers make during interviews is being so determined to come across as cool and professional that they do not show any enthusiasm. Employers like to hire upbeat, excited, and motivated people.
- Remember your manners. Always send a thank-you note to the interviewer and anyone else you met, including support staff members. Employers often solicit input from everyone who met you, especially future colleagues. Reiterate any points you want to make about your interest and skills.
- Close the deal. Very close to the week when the employer will be making a decision, call to express your interest. Many times, a decision on whom to hire is a close call. Once the field is narrowed to a few qualified finalists, gut reactions are important. Showing interest in a professional manner could tip the balance in your favor.
- Learn from your setbacks. If you do not get the job, send a letter to the lead interviewer expressing interest in future positions. You may want to call and ask about other job leads and ask the interviewer to circulate your resume if appropriate. In some cases it is appropriate to ask why you were not chosen. The answers may help you solve problems or address issues in later interviews.
- Help others. As you progress through your career, don't forget how hard the job search can be, and how lonely. Be a friend and mentor to others who have chosen an environmental an career path. Speak at school and career fairs. Be a source of names, contacts, internships, and volunteer opportunities. Do a little extra to create a new generation of environmental leaders.
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